On 11-12 February 1851, eighteen years before the Federation that would create modern Australia, teams representing the colonies of Van Diemen's Land and Port Phillip met at the Launceston Racecourse for what is now reckoned the first first-class cricket match played on Australian soil. About 2,500 spectators watched William Henty open the bowling underarm to Duncan Cooper; Van Diemen's Land won by three wickets.
By 1851 cricket was already an established pastime in the Australian colonies. The Melbourne Cricket Club, founded 1838, and the Launceston club had organised local fixtures for years. The idea of a representative inter-colonial match had been canvassed for several seasons before the Launceston cup finally provided the prize and the structure.
Port Phillip's eleven sailed from Melbourne in late January 1851. The trip was rough and several players were said to be still queasy when the match began. Spectators travelled in from across northern Tasmania.
The fixture grew out of correspondence between the Melbourne Cricket Club and the Launceston club, the latter offering a silver cup as the prize. Port Phillip — the southern district of New South Wales that would become the colony of Victoria five months later, in July 1851 — sent eleven players across Bass Strait under the captaincy of John Marshall. Van Diemen's Land's eleven, drawn mostly from Launceston club cricketers, included a number of recently arrived English emigrants. The pitch was at the Launceston Racecourse (later the Northern Tasmania Cricket Association ground). The match was played to four-ball overs with no boundaries — every run had to be run — and was timeless, although it ended on the second day. William Henty bowled the first ball, underarm, to Duncan Cooper. Port Phillip made 82 in their first innings; Van Diemen's Land replied with 104. Port Phillip's second innings reached 57, leaving Van Diemen's Land 36 to win, which they reached for the loss of seven wickets. The crowd of around 2,500 was substantial for the small Launceston population. The silver cup was presented to the local captain. The match was retrospectively declared the first first-class match in Australian cricket history; first-class status was agreed on by historians in the early twentieth century when the records were tidied up.
Port Phillip eleven sails from Melbourne to Launceston in late Jan 1851
11 Feb 1851: William Henty bowls the first ball, underarm, to Duncan Cooper
Port Phillip 82 all out in first innings
Van Diemen's Land 104 in reply
Port Phillip 57 in second innings
12 Feb 1851: Van Diemen's Land 36-7 to win by three wickets
Silver cup presented to the home captain
Jan 1851
Port Phillip eleven sails for Launceston
11 Feb 1851
Match begins; Henty bowls first ball
12 Feb 1851
Van Diemen's Land win by three wickets
Jul 1851
Port Phillip becomes the colony of Victoria
“About 2,500 people watched the locals win the match by three wickets.”
Port Phillip became the colony of Victoria in July 1851. The two sides did not meet again for several years; Van Diemen's Land was renamed Tasmania in 1856. Inter-colonial cricket between Victoria and New South Wales began in 1856; the Launceston match was the prototype.
The seed match of Australian first-class cricket, played a generation before any Test, between two colonies that would shortly be reorganised as Tasmania and Victoria.
The 1851 match is the conventional starting line of Australian first-class cricket history. The Cricket Australia record book counts it as match number one. The four-ball over and lack of boundaries are reminders of how different the cricket of the day was from the modern game.
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