The first ever Test Match was played in Melbourne on the 15th, 16th, 17th and 19th of March, 1877. This was to be the first time England toured Australia without being invited by the Australian organizers. The tour was arranged by Sussex cricketer James Lillywhite, and naturally managed and captained the touring party of only twelve players. Many saw the side as a 2nd rate side due to the fact that many first choice players didn't go, including W.G. Grace. Although the batting was considered to be weak, the bowling most certainly wasn't and included the three leading bowlers in the country, namely Alfred Shaw, Allen Hill and James Southerton. Included in the party was the best wicket-keeper at the time, Ted Pooley of Surrey. However due to unfortunate set of circumstances, he didn't play in the series as he was arrested in New Zealand.

 

During the tour, there was great interest in the outcome of all the matches and Pooley was a lot wiser in the ways of betting than the local people. Needless to say, Pooley placed a bet on one of the matches, guessing how many players would receive ducks. Pooley cleaned up and won handsome amount of money, £10. The man refused to pay, a fight broke out, damage was caused to property and this is why England's leading wicket- keeper was in New Zealand awaiting a trial ! As a postscript to this story, Pooley never did play another match for England on the tour, incredibly enough, the new Zealand public felt so bad for him that they collected money for him, the amount raised ...£50 !

 

When the English team finally made the trip back to Australia they were not in good shape, many exhausted from the trials and tribulations of the New Zealand leg of the tour. Players had had to contend with landslides, forced to swim across a river and rescue the horses at the same time ! Due to the unavailability of Pooley, Henry Jupp was expected to fill in, however he was suffering from inflammation of the eyes and a bout of insanity. Jupp had to play however as the party were down to 11 men, not trusted to keep wicket, John Shelby stood in. The top scorer of the England team I hear you ask ? ... The insane Jupp with 63 !

 

The first ball bowled in test cricket was bowled at 1:05pm on March 15th 1877 by Notts professional bowler Alfred Shaw, Charles Bannerman faced it for Australia. The first run was scored off the second ball by Bannerman. Bannerman then went on to score the first century in Test cricket, and the only one of his career. Australia's batting was unimpressive and when Bannerman retired hurt he had scored 165 from a total of 240 and final total of 245. England were then dismissed for 196, William Midwinter taking 5 for 78. Bannerman's innings is remarkable in that he scored %67.3 of his sides total, a record that still stands today. In the second innings, things looked better for the touring side after bowling Australia out for 104 runs, leaving England to score 153 to win the match. However England's batting failed and Australia won the first ever test match by 45 runs.

 

After three country matches England returned to Melbourne to play a return match against a strengthened Australia side. Many gamblers claimed that the first test was fixed to attract spectators back to watch the second test and see if England could 'do better'. These claims were given more strength when England comfortably beat Australia by 4 wickets. An interesting fact from this match - players from Yorkshire scored the most amount of runs, 329 of England's 383, with a % of 85.9.

Australia Squad