Two years after the Stephenson tour, the All-England Eleven captain George Parr led a second English party to Australia and added New Zealand to the itinerary for the first time. The twelve professionals, again playing against odds, lost only one of their thirteen Australian fixtures and introduced overarm bowling — legalised back home midway through their voyage — to colonial spectators who had never seen it.
Spiers and Pond, who had largely funded the 1861-62 tour, had relocated to London by 1863 but retained their Melbourne contacts. The success of the first tour had made a sequel inevitable; the only question was who would captain it. George Parr, the leading English professional batsman of the 1850s, was the obvious choice after Stephenson declined.
Parr's twelve trained on board ship as Stephenson's had done. The party included the volatile E.M. Grace (older brother of W.G., then 17), who had not been on the first tour. The colonies awaited the Englishmen with greater experience and several stronger sides than in 1861-62.
The 1863-64 tour was organised by the Melbourne caterers Spiers and Pond, building on their 1861-62 success. Parr was a more authoritative captain than Stephenson and his side included William Caffyn (touring for the second time), E.M. Grace, Robert Carpenter, Tom Hayward (the elder), George Tarrant and the Yorkshire roundarm bowler Edwin Willsher's contemporary E.J. 'Ned' Tinley. The party sailed from Liverpool on the SS Great Britain on 16 October 1863 and arrived in Melbourne on Christmas Eve, mirroring the schedule of two years earlier. They played thirteen matches in the Australian colonies — winning ten, drawing two, losing one (to Twenty-Two of Bendigo) — before crossing the Tasman to play seven matches in New Zealand, the first English cricket ever staged there. Caffyn was again the leading bowler. Tarrant, bowling fast roundarm, terrorised colonial batsmen on rough pitches. The most consequential development was off-field: the MCC at Lord's legalised overarm bowling on 10 June 1864 while the tour was on, and Parr's men adopted the new style for the New Zealand leg, giving Antipodean spectators their first sight of the modern delivery.
16 Oct 1863: Twelve professionals sail from Liverpool on SS Great Britain
24 Dec 1863: Arrival in Melbourne
Christmas 1863: First match against Eighteen of Victoria at the MCG
Feb 1864: Loss to Twenty-Two of Bendigo (the only defeat in Australia)
10 June 1864 (mid-tour): MCC legalises overarm bowling at Lord's
Feb-Mar 1864: Tour crosses to New Zealand for seven matches — first English cricket in NZ
May 1864: Party returns to England
16 Oct 1863
Party sails from Liverpool
24 Dec 1863
Arrival in Melbourne
10 Jun 1864
Overarm legalised at Lord's, mid-tour
Feb-Mar 1864
Tour crosses to New Zealand
May 1864
Party returns to England
“We were fortunate in having for our captain a man of George Parr's experience and authority.”
The tour reinforced commercial interest in Antipodean cricket and entrenched the touring-eleven model. New Zealand cricket dates its earliest formal English contact from this tour. William Caffyn, who had been on the first tour as well, decided after the 1863-64 trip to emigrate to Australia permanently and took up coaching duties in Sydney, becoming arguably the most influential single figure in colonial cricket development.
A second commercially successful tour that introduced New Zealand to international cricket and demonstrated the new overarm bowling action to colonial crowds.
Parr's tour established a four-year cycle of English cricket visits to Australia that would continue until the first Test match of 1877. The introduction of overarm bowling to colonial pitches accelerated the technical development of Australian batting that would, within a generation, produce Spofforth and Murdoch. New Zealand's seven-match leg is treated as the founding moment of the country's organised cricket.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.