The English team in Australia, 1886-87

The team taken out to Australia in the autumn of 1886 was one of the strongest that ever left England for the Colonies.

It consisted of A. Shrewsbury, W. Barnes, W. Gunn, W. Scotton, W. Flowers, M. Sherwin and A. Shaw (Notts), R. G. Barlow and J. Briggs ( Lancashire), G. A. Lohmann and M. Read (Surrey), W. Bates (Yorkshire), and James Lillywhite (Sussex).

The team took part in twenty-nine matches, of which ten were of first-class importance. Of these ten first-class matches the Englishmen won six, lost two, and left two unfinished. They lost two matches out of three with New South Wales, but on the other hand they beat two combination teams (one of them a very powerful side), gained two victories over the Melbourne Club's Australian team, and won their return match with Victoria. It is understood that the tour did not yield much profit, but the cricket shown was very fine indeed, not a single defeat being sustained on a hard wicket. An accident he met with at Sydney prevented Barnes playing after the end of January, and the loss of his batting and bowling made a great difference to the eleven.

Turner, the New South Wales bowler, met with extraordinary success against the team, and, though the wickets gave him great assistance, it would be impossible to say too much in his praise. The Englishmen thought that not even Spofforth, in his best day, was more difficult on slow grounds, the ball breaking back at such a pace as to beat even Shrewsbury's defence. In all Turner bowled 429 overs and a ball, 217 maidens, for 424 runs and 55 wickets, his average being 7.39 runs per wicket.

Match reports for

1st Test: Australia v England at Sydney, Jan 28-31, 1887
Report | Scorecard

2nd Test: Australia v England at Sydney, Feb 25-Mar 1, 1887
Report | Scorecard