English cricket team in Australia in 1903–04
The English cricket team's tour to Australia in 1903–04 was the first time the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) took over responsibility for sponsoring and arranging an overseas tour representing England. England had not won the Ashes since the 1896 series in England. The MCC appointed Plum Warner to put together and captain a team, which was very much seen as the underdogs against Australia. Warner and his team, however, pulled off the upset the English were looking for and won the five-Test series 3–2. In the first Test at Sydney, R.E. "Tip" Foster scored 287 to set the world record for the highest individual Test innings; the innings remains the highest by a Test debutant.
Test series[]
First Test[]
Australia
|
v
|
England
|
485 (145.2 overs)
VT Trumper 185* W Rhodes 5/94 (40.2 overs) |
- Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
- 13 December was taken as a rest day
- EG Arnold, RE Foster, BJT Bosanquet and AE Relf (all ENG) made their Test debuts.
Second Test[]
England
|
v
|
Australia
|
122 (30.2 overs)
VT Trumper 74 W Rhodes 7/56 (15.2 overs) | ||
111 (29.4 overs)
VT Trumper 35 W Rhodes 8/68 (15 overs) |
- England won the toss and elected to bat.
- 3 January was taken as a rest day
- AE Knight and A Fielder (both ENG) made their Test debuts.
Third Test[]
Australia
|
v
|
England
|
- Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
- 17 January was taken as a rest day
Fourth Test[]
England
|
v
|
Australia
|
- England won the toss and elected to bat.
- 28 February was taken as a rest day.
- There was no play on the third day
- PA McAlister and A Cotter (both AUS) made their Test debuts.
Fifth Test[]
Australia
|
v
|
England
|
61 (31.2 overs)
RE Foster 18 A Cotter 6/40 (15.2 overs) | ||
- Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
- 6 March was taken as a rest day
- DRA Gehrs (AUS) made his Test debut.
Tour matches[]
South Australia v M.C.C.[]
7–11 November 1903 (4-day match)
Scorecard |
MCC
|
v
|
South Australia
|
- MCC won the toss and elected to bat.
- 8 November was taken as a rest day
- Total attendance was about 19,000.
Victoria v M.C.C.[]
13–16 November 1903 (4-day match)
Scorecard |
v
|
MCC
| |
- Victoria won the toss and elected to field.
- 15 November was taken as a rest day
- The match was scheduled for four days but was completed in three.
- Total attendance was about 23,500.
New South Wales v M.C.C.[]
20–23 November 1903
Scorecard |
v
|
MCC
| |
108 (37.2 overs)
VT Trumper 46 W Rhodes 6/55 (17 overs) |
||
- MCC won the toss and elected to field.
- 22 November was taken as a rest day
- The match was scheduled for four days but was completed in three.
- Total attendance was 40,589.
Queensland v M.C.C.[]
27–30 November 1903
Scorecard |
v
|
MCC
| |
215 (53 overs)
AE Knight 46 T Byrne 5/74 (24 overs) | ||
119/4 (33 overs)
RE Foster 34* HB Griffith 3/34 (12 overs) |
- Queensland won the toss and elected to bat.
- 29 November was taken as a rest day.
- Total attendance was about 19,000.
Northern District XVIII v M.C.C.[]
2, 3 December 1903 (2-day match)
scorecard |
Northern Districts XVIII
283 (86.1 overs) & 241/6 (53.3 overs) |
v
|
MCC
453 |
Match drawn
Albion Ground, West Maitland, New South Wales |
Newcastle XV v M.C.C.[]
4, 5 December 1903 (2-day match)
scorecard |
MCC
306 (76 overs) & 381/8 (82 overs) |
v
|
Newcastle, XV
203 (80 overs) |
Melbourne Colts XVIII v M.C.C.[]
Bendigo and District XVIII v M.C.C.[]
26, 28 December 1903 (2-day match)
scorecard |
Bendigo XVIII
94 (46.4 overs) & 64/7 (28.4 overs) |
v
|
MCC
273/5d |
Match drawn
Upper Reserve, Bendigo, Victoria |
Ballarat XVIII v M.C.C.[]
8, 9 January 1904 (2-day match)
scorecard |
MCC XVII
326 (104 overs) & 226 (55 overs) |
v
|
Ballarat XVIII
197 (72 overs) |
Tasmania v M.C.C.[]
Tasmania v M.C.C.[]
29–30 January 1904 (2-day match)
Scorecard |
Tasmania
|
v
|
MCC
|
- Tasmania won the toss and elected to bat.
- Total attendance was about 5,000.
Victoria v M.C.C.[]
5–9 February 1904
Scorecard |
v
|
MCC
| |
15 (12.1 overs)
GHS Trott 9 W Rhodes 5/6 (6.1 overs) |
- Victoria won the toss and elected to field.
- 7 February was taken as a rest day
- There was no play on the second day.
- Total attendance was about 6,100.
New South Wales v M.C.C.[]
12–15 February 1904
Scorecard |
MCC
|
v
|
|
- MCC won the toss and elected to bat.
- 14 February was taken as a rest day.
- The match was scheduled for four days but completed in three.
- Total attendance was 28,296.
Western District XV v M.C.C.[]
19, 20 February 1904 (2-day match)
scorecard |
Bathurst XV
248 (74.4 overs) & 151/3d |
v
|
MCC XVII
176 & 115/5 |
Match drawn
, Bathurst, New South Wales |
South Australia v M.C.C.[]
12–15 March 1904 (timeless match)
Scorecard |
South Australia
|
v
|
MCC
|
- South Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
- 13 March was taken as a rest day.
- Total attendance was about 7,500.
References[]
External sources[]
Further reading[]
- H S Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962
- Bill Frindall, The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877–1978, Wisden, 1979
- David Frith, The Golden Age of Cricket 1890–1914, Lutterworth, 1978
- Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993
- Plum Warner, How We Recovered The Ashes, Longman, 1905
- Roy Webber, The Playfair Book of Cricket Records, Playfair Books, 1951
- Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1905
Categories:
- 1903 in Australian cricket
- 1903 in English cricket
- 1904 in Australian cricket
- 1904 in English cricket
- Australian cricket seasons from 1890–91 to 1917–18
- English cricket tours of Australia
- International cricket competitions from 1888–89 to 1918
- The Ashes