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 edit
First Test edit
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- 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 edit
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Third Test edit
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- Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
- 17 January was taken as a rest day
Fourth Test edit
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- 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 edit
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- 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 edit
South Australia v M.C.C. edit
7–11 November 1903 (4-day match)
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- 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. edit
13–16 November 1903 (4-day match)
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- 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. edit
20–23 November 1903
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- 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. edit
27–30 November 1903
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- 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. edit
2, 3 December 1903 (2-day match)
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Northern Districts XVIII
283 (86.1 overs) & 241/6 (53.3 overs) |
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Newcastle XV v M.C.C. edit
Melbourne Colts XVIII v M.C.C. edit
Bendigo and District XVIII v M.C.C. edit
Ballarat XVIII v M.C.C. edit
Tasmania v M.C.C. edit
Tasmania v M.C.C. edit
29–30 January 1904 (2-day match)
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- Tasmania won the toss and elected to bat.
- Total attendance was about 5,000.
Victoria v M.C.C. edit
5–9 February 1904
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- 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. edit
12–15 February 1904
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- 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. edit
South Australia v M.C.C. edit
12–15 March 1904 (timeless match)
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- South Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
- 13 March was taken as a rest day.
- Total attendance was about 7,500.
References edit
External sources edit
Further reading edit
- 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