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Test Cricket Tours - Australia to England 1961

 

 

Tour of England 1961              Captain: Richie Benaud

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

28th Australian Test tour

 

22nd Test-playing tour of  England by Australia

 

 

 

 (April - October 1961)

 

 

 

It had been five years since the last Australian tour of England in 1956, and this equalled the previous longest gap, War years excepted. These 22nd Australians were the last touring side to travel to England by sea there and back.

The tour represented a centenary of sorts, the first England-Australia tour having been in 1861-62, when no Tests were played; no ceremony was made to mark this anniversary.

Of those on their first tour, Booth, Misson and Quick had been to New Zealand in 1959-60, so only Lawry and McKenzie were really new to touring. Those two went on to become Australia’s leading players of the next decade.

Because the tour followed the exhilarating 1960-61 series between the West Indies and Australia, hopes were raised for an exciting season - and promptly dashed. Test cricket went back to its normal, cautious way in the first match at Edgbaston. Fortunately, there then followed three absorbing matches, Australia winning on a sub-standard pitch at Lord’s and England on another at Headingley, before a classic Test match at Old Trafford where on a memorable afternoon Benaud spun England to defeat and retained the Ashes for Australia.

 

 

Other Australian Tours

 

 

Previous tour

Pakistan & India 1959-60

 

Next tour

England 1964

 

 

Next tour of England

1964  

 

 

 

 

Members of the Test tour party  (17)

 

 

 

Opening batsmen:  Bob Simpson, Colin McDonald, Bill Lawry.

Middle-order batsmen:  Neil Harvey, Brian Booth, Norman O’Neill, Peter Burge, Ken Mackay

Wicket-keepers:  Wally Grout, Barry Jarman.

Spin bowlers:  Richie Benaud, Lindsay Kline, Ian Quick.

Fast bowlers:  Alan Davidson, Ron Gaunt, Frank Misson, Graham McKenzie.

 

 

R Benaud

NSW

30

RHB    LBG     captain

Journalist

 

B C Booth

NSW

27

RHB  

School teacher

 

P J P Burge

Qld

29

RHB

Accountant

 

A K Davidson

NSW

31

LHB      LFM

Bank officer

 

R A Gaunt

Vic

27

RFM

Paint salesman

 

A T W Grout

Qld

34

WK

Sales rep

 

R N Harvey

NSW

32

LHB     (OB)        vice-captain

Sales manager

 

B N Jarman

SA

25

deputy WK

Sports goods salesman

 

L F Kline

Vic

26

SLA

Sales rep

 

W M Lawry

Vic

24

LHB  opener

Plumber

 

C C McDonald

Vic

32

RHB  opener

Insurance officer

 

G D McKenzie

WA

19

RF

Student teacher

 

K D Mackay

Qld

35

RHB       RM

Insurance officer

 

F M Misson

NSW

23

RFM

Clerk

 

N C O'Neill

NSW

24

RHB      (LB)

Trainee executive

 

I W Quick

Vic

27

SLA

Salesman

 

R.B.Simpson

NSW

25

RHB  opener      LBG

Tobacco sales rep

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

 

State representation

  Sheffield Shield teams

NSW   New South Wales (7)

Qld  Queensland (3)

SA  South Australia (1)

Tas   Tasmania (0)

Vic  Victoria  (5)

WA  Western Australia (1)

 

 

 

Average age of  team at time of first Test match                              

    (8 June 1961): 

    28 yrs  1 month

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Test Appearances made before the tour

 

Harvey 69,  Benaud 50,  McDonald 44,  Davidson 34,  Mackay 29,  Grout 22,  O’Neill 18,  Burge 16,  Kline 13,  Simpson 11,  Misson 3,  Gaunt 1,  Jarman 1,  Booth 0,  Lawry 0,  McKenzie 0,  Quick 0.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Officials

 

Sidney G Webb

Tour manager

Ray C Steele

Assistant manager/ Treasurer

J Cameron

Scorer/Baggage

Arthur James

Physiotherapist

 

Sydney Webb (described by Gideon Haigh as “an infamous martinet” who stopped Benaud talking to the press) and Ray Steele were appointed on 15 September 1960.

 

 

 

 

 

Selectors

 

Sir Donald Bradman (South Australia),  Dudley Seddon (New South Wales),  Jack Ryder (Victoria).

 

 

 

 

 

Selection

 

The touring party was chosen immediately after the Australia-West Indies series had ended.

Unavailable:   Ian Meckiff (foot injury)

Tour Party Announced:   16 February 1961.

Not selected : Les Favell,  Des Hoare,  Johnny Martin.

 

 

 

Time between selection and departure from Australia          

       41 days

(16 February - 29 March)

 

 

 

 

Travel

Melbourne  T   Tilbury

                ‘Himalaya’

 

The team assembled in Melbourne on 14 March. They played two games in Tasmania and one in Perth before departure from the port of Fremantle on 29 March 1961.

The team sailed on the ‘Himalaya’. Hundreds of fans waiting on the dockside at Bombay on 7 April gave a wild welcome as the players were driven to the Cricket Club of India for a reception lunch.

The liner arrived at Tilbury at 4 in the morning on Friday 21 April 1961.

 

Time spent in England

   158 days

(21 April - 26 September)

 

 

 

 

On-tour selection

 

 Richie Benaud  (captain),  Neil Harvey (vice-captain).  Colin McDonald.

 

 

 

 

 

Reinforcements

 

  None.

 

 

 

 

Fixtures/Results

 

a

Launceston

Tasmania Combined XI

Won 192 r

b

Hobart

Tasmania

Won inns 62 r

c

Perth

Western Australia

Drawn

d

ϯ Colombo

Ceylon  (1-day)

Drawn

 

 

 

 

e

Worcester

Worcestershire

Drawn

f

Chesterfield

Derbyshire

Drawn

g

Bradford

Yorkshire

Drawn

h

Old Trafford

Lancashire

Won 4 w

i

Kennington Oval

Surrey

Won 10 w

j

Cambridge

Cambridge University

Won 9 w

k

Cardiff

Glamorgan

Drawn

l

Bristol

Gloucestershire

Drawn

m

Lord’s

M C C

Won 63 r

n

Oxford

Oxford University

Drawn

o

Hove

Sussex

Drawn

p

EDGBASTON

ENGLAND  First Test

DRAWN

q

Leicester

Leicestershire

Won 10 w

r

Canterbury

Kent

Drawn

s

LORD’S

ENGLAND  Second Test

WON 5 w

t

Taunton

Somerset

Drawn

u

Old Trafford

Lancashire

Drawn

v

HEADINGLEY

ENGLAND  Third Test

LOST 8 w

w

ϯ Blackheath

Club Cricket Conference (1-day)

Lost 8 w

x

Trent Bridge

Nottinghamshire

Drawn

y

Northampton

Northamptonshire

Drawn

z

Lord’s

Middlesex

Won 10 w

a’

OLD TRAFFORD

ENGLAND  Fourth Test

WON 54 r

b’

Kennington Oval

Surrey

Won 255

c’

Swansea

Glamorgan

Drawn

d’

Edgbaston

Warwickshire

Drawn

e’

Sheffield

Yorkshire

Drawn

f’

KENNINGTON OVAL

ENGLAND  Fifth Test

DRAWN

g’

Southend

Essex

Won 55 r

h’

Southampton

Hampshire

Won 5 w

I’

Lord’s

Gentlemen

Drawn

j’

Hastings

A E R Gilligan’s XI

Won 3 w

k’

Scarborough

T N Pearce’s XI

Won 3 w

l’

ϯ Jesmond

Minor Counties  (2-day)

Drawn

m’

ϯ Edinburgh

Scotland  (2-day)

Drawn

n’

ϯ Ormeau, Belfast

Ireland  (2-day)

Drawn

o’

ϯ Dublin

Ireland  (2-day)

Won 282 r

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

† not first-class

 

 

 

Time spent in England before First Test: 

  48 days

(21 April - 8 June)

 

 

 

 

Test appearances on tour

 

5   -   Burge,  Davidson,  Grout,  Harvey,  Lawry,  Mackay,  O’Neill,  Simpson.

4   -   Benaud

3   -   McDonald,  McKenzie.

2   -   Booth,  Misson.

1   -   Gaunt.

0   -   Jarman,  Kline,  Quick.

 

 

 

 

 

Highlights

 

 

    

   

   W

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Summary

 

 

 P

 W

L

 D

Aban

Test Matches

  5

  2

1

 2

-

Other first-class matches   in England

27

 11 

 0 

16 

-

                                          in Australia

  3

  2

0

 1

-

ϯ Minor matches including Ceylon

  6

  1

1

 4

-

All Matches

41

16

2

23 

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return to Australia

Tilbury     T    Sydney

            ‘Strathmore’

 

 

The team left England on the ‘Strathmore’ on 26 September 1961.

The liner sailed from Tilbury, via Gibraltar, Port Said, Colombo, and arrived at Fremantle on 24 October;  Jarman and O’Neill’s wives had flown from the eastern states to meet them and show them their children born while they were away.  Eight members of the team landed at Sydney on Thursday 3 November

 

Time away from Australia

   209 days  

(29 March to 3 November)

 

 

 

 

Finances

 

The Australian Cricket Board meeting of February 1962 reported that the tour profit of almost £38000 was about £12000 less than in 1956, and only half of the profit made in 1953. Income from the gates was £99000 while the expenditure was £61000.

 

 

 

 

 

Written accounts of the tour

 

“The Australian Challenge”   by John Arlott  (1961)

“Aussies & Ashes” by Bill Bowes   (1961)  

“The Fight for the Ashes”  by Ron Roberts  (1961) 

“The Challenging Tests”  by Ray Lindwall (1961) 

“The Australians in England” by Charles Fortune  (1961) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Postscript

 

 

On arriving home in Sydney, Benaud announced that he would retire at the end of the 1963-64 season and that he would not tour again as a player (but he returned to England as a reporter for every Test series up to 2013).

 

 

 




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