Unlike the last tour, the 1881 - 1882 party was an entirely professional affair, and much stronger. The English party arrived in Australia after touring America and was again a private venture organised by Alfred Shaw, Arthur Shrewsbury and James Lillywhite. Two thirds of the group were made up of cricketers from two counties, Notts and Yorkshire.

Melbourne hosted the first test on the 31st December 1881 and saw Lillywhite, who captained England in the first ever Test match, officiate as umpire in the game. England's captain was Nottinghamshire Alfred Shaw and Midwinter was in the side. The fact that Midwinter was included was an amazing piece of history as had played in the two tests of 1876 - 1877, for Australia and therefore became the only player to play for both countries in England v Australia matches.

Ulyett and Selby added 137 for the second wicket, a test record stand and helped England's total reach 294. Australia after the first innings led by 26 runs after scoring 320, with Tom Horan being the main contributor with a fine 124. Australia were left to make 279 runs to win after England had completed their 2nd innings with a score of 308.

The test went into the fourth day and saw for the first time ever 1,000 runs scored in a test match. The Steamship that was to take the England party to New Zealand had to be delayed due to the length of the game but unfortunately there was no time to complete the game, and it was declared a draw with Australia ending on 127 for 3.

The second test match was played at Sydney, and was the first match to be held in Sydney. England struggled to 133, mainly due to the continuous bowling of Palmer (7 - 68) and Evans (3 - 64). England fought back dismissing Australia three runs short of 200. England faired a little better in the second innings scoring 232, Ulyett again found himself in the runs with a knock of 67. Australia only needing 168 runs to win reached the total for a loss of 5 wickets and therefore took a 1-0 lead in the 4 match series.

Sydney again hosted the third test and again England struggled to reach a fighting score and were bowled out for 188 runs, Shrewsbury scoring 82, Palmer taking 5 wickets. Australia replied with a score of 260, with the two main contributors being McDonnell (147) and Bannerman (70) setting a new record stand for the 4th wicket of 199. England failed in their second innings and the home side won by 6 wickets taking a winning 2-0 lead in the series.

The 4th and final Test was to be played in Melbourne. Both sides were evenly matched after the first innings were completed and when the final ball was bowled on the third day, a draw was declared. It so happens that this was to be the last draw in Australia for over 60 years - in the test match arena.