#murdoch

3 incidents tagged

Australia's 1884-85 Strike — Eleven New Caps in One Test

Australia v England

1885-01-19

When the 1884 Australian touring side returned home and demanded 50% of the gate receipts for the second Test of the 1884-85 series at Melbourne, the Victoria Cricket Association refused. The result: nine of the eleven first-Test players boycotted; Australia fielded a side with eleven changes (only Sammy Jones and Tom Horan retained from earlier matches), all eleven men were Test debutants for that match alone, and England won by 10 wickets.

#1885#player-strike#australia

🔥Explosive

The Sydney Cricket Riot — Lord Harris Attacked, 1879

New South Wales v England

1879-02-08

On 8 February 1879 — strictly outside the 1880s but the curtain-raiser to the decade — about 2,000 Sydney spectators invaded the pitch after Australian batsman Billy Murdoch was given run out by the English-engaged Victorian umpire George Coulthard. Lord Harris, the English captain, was struck with a stick; AN Hornby's shirt was torn off; play was suspended. The riot poisoned Anglo-Australian cricket relations for years and explains why no Test was scheduled in England before September 1880.

#1879#sydney#riot

⭐Mild

The First Australian Tour of England — May-September 1878

Australia in England

1878-05-01

From May to September 1878 the first representative Australian XI toured Great Britain and North America. Captained by Dave Gregory and managed by John Conway, the side played 37 matches in four months, beat MCC at Lord's in a single day, and turned a profit of £750 each for the players. None of the matches were Tests — but the tour established that cricket between the two countries was financially and competitively viable.

#1878#first-australian-tour#dave-gregory