The first Prudential one-day
World Cup was held in England
in 1975. Australia were beaten in the final.
The Australian Board agreed
to play three Test matches, later increased to four, in the second half of
the summer. Then England
would be put to the test by Lillee and Thomson who had destroyed the English
batting in the previous winter. The first match at Edgbaston was won by an
innings as England seemed
to be continuing their misfortunes of the last Ashes series under Mike Denness,
in his last appearance as England
captain. This was enough to retain the Ashes but England
fought doggedly under the new captain Tony Greig to restrict the Australian margin
of victory to a single Test.
The third Test at Headingley
was abandoned after protesters had poured oil onto the pitch before what would
have been an interesting final day's play.In a summer of unusually dry and hot weather, Lillee took 21 wickets
and Thomson 16 in the four Test matches.
Opening batsmen:Bruce Laird, Rick McCosker, Alan Turner
Middle-order batsmen:Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Ross Edwards, Doug Walters
Wicket-keepers:Rodney
Marsh, Richie Robinson
Spin bowlers:Ashley Mallett, Jim
Higgs,
Fast bowlers:Gary Gilmour, Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson,
Alan Hurst, Max Walker.
G S Chappell
S
26
RHB RM
ODI
I M Chappell
S
31
RHB LB captain
ODI
R Edwards
W
32
RHB
ODI
G J Gilmour
N
24
LHB LFM
ODI
J D Higgs
V
25
LBG
A G Hurst
V
24
RFM
ODI
B M Laird
W
24
LHBopener
ODI
D K Lillee
W
25
RF
ODI
R B McCosker
N
28
RHBopener
ODI
A A Mallett
S
29
OB
ODI
R W Marsh
W
24
WK LHB
ODI
R D Robinson
V
29
RHB second WK
J R Thomson
Q
24
RF
ODI
A Turner
N
24
LHBopener
ODI
M H N Walker
V
26
RFM
ODI
K D Walters
N
29
RHBRM
ODI
State representation
Sheffield Shield teams
NNew South Wales (4)
QQueensland
(1)
SSouth Australia (3)
TTasmania
(0)
VVictoria
(4)
WWestern Australia (4)
Average
age ofteam at time of first Test
match
(10 July 1975) :
27 yrs3 months
ODI Member of the squad for Prudential Trophy
Test
Appearances made before the tour
I M Chappell 62, Walters 53, Marsh 31, G S Chappell 30, Mallett 25, Lillee 17, Walker 17, Edwards 16, Thomson 6, Gilmour 3, McCosker 3, Hurst 1, Higgs 0, Laird 0, Robinson 0, Turner 0.
Tour
Officials
Fred
Bennett
Manager
David
Sherwood
Scorer
Dave
MacErlane
Physiotherapist
Tony
Smith
Transport/Baggage
Selectors
Neil Harvey (New South Wales),Sam Loxton (Victoria),Phil Ridings (South Australia).
Selection
Unavailable: Ian Redpath (for family
reasons - to be present at the birth of his baby - and to devote time to his antique
business).
Tour Party Announced :10 March
1975.
Not selected : Geoff Dymock,Terry Jenner, Kerry O'Keefe,Wally Edwards.
Time between selection and departure from Australia
40 days
(10 March - 19 May)
Travel
SydneyQVancouver
TorontoQLondon
The team flew from Sydney on 19 May to Vancouver.
They played five one-day
matches across Canada (one
of which they lost) and then flew into Heathrow
Airport, London,on 29 May 1975.
Time spent in England
99 days
(29 May - 5 September)
On-tour
selection
Ian Chappell (captain), Greg Chappell (vice-captain), Rodney
Marsh (third selector and deputy captain)..
Reinforcements
None
Fixtures/Results
a
†
Brockton Point
British Columbia
Won
153 r
b
† Victoria
Canada West
Drawn
c
† Toronto
Eastern Canada
Lost
5 w
d
† Toronto
Ontario
Won
159 r
e
† Toronto
Toronto
Drawn
f
†
Lord's
Middlesex
(one -day practice match)
Won
24 r
g
§
Headingley
Pakistan (1st World Cup ODI)
Won
73 r
h
§
Kennington Oval
Sri Lanka (2nd World Cup ODI)
Won
52 r
i
§
Kennington Oval
West Indies(3rd World Cup ODI)
Lost
7 w
j
§
Headingley
England (World Cup semi-final ODI)
Won 4
w
k
§
Lord's
West Indies(World Cup ODI final)
Lost
17 r
l
Canterbury
Kent
Lost
4 w
m
Southampton
Hampshire
Won 4
w
n
Lord's
M C C
Won 7
w
o
Swansea
Glamorgan
Won 7
w
p
BIRMINGHAM
ENGLANDFirst Test
WON inns 85 r
q
Hove
Sussex
Drawn
r
Chesterfield
Derbyshire
Won
inns 38 r
s
Manchester
Lancashire
Drawn
t
Leicester
Leicestershire
Lost
31 r
u
LORD'S
ENGLANDSecond Test
DRAWN
v
Taunton
Somerset
Won 9
w
w
Northampton
Northamptonshire
Won 5
w
x
HEADINGLEY
ENGLANDThird Test
DRAWN
y
Chelmsford
Essex
Won
98 r
z
KENNINGTON OVAL
ENGLANDFourth Test
DRAWN
† not first-class
§one-day
international
Time spent in England before
First Test:
42 days
(29 May - 10 July)
Test
appearances on tour
4 -G S
Chappell, I M Chappell, Edwards, Lillee, McCosker, Mallett, Marsh, Thomson, Walker, Walters.
3 -Turner.
2 -
1-Gilmour.
0 -Higgs,
Hurst, Laird, Robinson.
Highlights
•
•Rick McCosker was denied a century at Headingley, being 95 not out
before the final day's play was cancelled.
•McCosker scored his century (127) in the final Test at the Oval and
skipper Ian Chappell also made a hundred (192).
Tour
Summary
P
W
L
D
Aban
Test Matches
4
1
0
3
-
Other first-class matches
11
7
2
2
-
ϯ Minor matches
6
3
1
2
-
§ One-day internationals
5
3
2
0
-
All Matches
26
14
5
7
-
Return
to Australia
LondonQSydney
For the first time in nearly a century a Test match
was still in progress in England
during the month of September.
After a day's rest, the Australian team flew out of London’s Heathrow
Airport on 5 September
1975.
They landed at Perth
and Sydney on Saturday 6 September (and the players
flew on to Melbourne, Brisbane, etc).
Time away from Australia
110 days
(19 May to 6 September)
Finances
…..
Written
accounts of the tour
……..
Postscript
By 1975 the income of the Australian players from
tours had slipped to merely 13 % better than average national male earnings,
sowing the seeds of the Packer affair two years later.
The chairman of the Australian Cricket Board, Mr Tim
Caldwell, announced in Sydney on Tuesday 18
Feb 1975 that the planned Australian cricket tour of South Africa,
scheduled for the 1975-76 season, was cancelled. After discussion with the
cricket boards ofIndia, Pakistan
and New Zealand about a
tour to take its place, a visit by West Indies
was negotiated.