Lord Harris's 1878-79 tour of Australia was the first England touring side led by an amateur captain to play what would later be recognised as a Test match. The trip produced the third Test in history — the Spofforth hat-trick match at Melbourne — and the Sydney Riot at the Association Ground in February 1879.
Lord Harris was MCC's rising amateur star and Kent's captain. He had played in a number of Gentlemen-Players matches and was the establishment choice to lead the side.
The tour party of 12 sailed in October 1878. They played fixtures around Australia and New Zealand from November to March, with the only Test scheduled for early January at Melbourne.
George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, was 27, an Old Etonian and Oxonian, captain of Kent and just emerging as a leading figure at MCC. The 1878-79 tour was a private venture organised by the Melbourne Cricket Club, originally billed as 'Gentlemen of England (with Ulyett and Emmett)' — eight amateurs and two Yorkshire professionals. The tour produced the only Test match (3rd in history), at Melbourne in January 1879, which Australia won by 10 wickets after Spofforth's hat-trick. The most famous incident of the trip was the Sydney Riot of 8 February 1879. Harris returned to England with bruised feelings and published an open letter to the press in March 1879 condemning the conduct of the Sydney crowd. The letter, reprinted in Australia, caused a year of bad-tempered correspondence and very nearly ended Anglo-Australian cricket relations. The 1880 Australian tour of England proceeded only because Harris himself relented and agreed to a single Test at the Oval that September.
Tour party sails October 1878
Loses to NSW XI at Sydney in November
Loses third Test at Melbourne by 10 wickets — Spofforth 13/110
Sydney Riot at Association Ground 8 February 1879
Lord Harris struck by intruder; Hornby restrains assailant
Open letter published in England March 1879
Oct 1878
Tour party sails from England
Jan 1879
Third Test at Melbourne — England lose by 10 wickets
8 Feb 1879
Sydney Riot at Association Ground
Mar 1879
Tour ends; Harris's open letter published
Sep 1880
Harris captains England in first home Test at Oval
“We have been treated as no English team has ever been before.”
Harris returned to England a hardened cricket administrator. He played in the 1880 Test at the Oval, captained England in three further Tests in the 1880s, and became one of the most powerful figures in cricket administration over the next four decades. He was Governor of Bombay 1890-95 and remained a figure at MCC until his death in 1932.
The first England tour of Australia led by an amateur captain. It produced one Test match, one riot, and a serious diplomatic incident.
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.