Tour of England 1981           Captain: Kim Hughes

44th Test tour

Thirtieth Test-playing tour of England by Australia

 (April -

       September 1981)

England won this series as decisively as they had won in 1977, and again much of praise went to the recalled captain, Mike Brearley, to whom the selectors turned when England were one down and in trouble against the Australian fast bowling.  Brearley did little for England's brittle batting but was capable of bringing out the best of Ian Botham, and this one player was the principal difference between the two sides.

 It became known as Botham's Ashes, from the third Test onwards anyway once he was relieved of the burden of captaincy. He took most wickets and scored more runs for England but it was the fashion in which he did so that so excited the public imagination. His brilliant centuries, one of which retrieved a lost Test at Headingley and one which ensured victory at Old Trafford, were great innings to be compared with any in Test history. 

For Australia Alderman, with stamina and accuracy, captured a record 42 wickets in his debut series and combined with Dennis Lillee who took 39 wickets himself, but the attack needed the support of Hogg and Lawson who were injured.  Allan Border with the bat was Australia's only other major player, returning more than twice the average of any other player, and they sorely missed Greg Chappell who rested himself for this tour.

Other Australian Tours

Previous tour

England 1980

Next tour

New Zealand 1981-82

Next tour of England

1985

Members of the Test tour party (16  + 2)

Opening batsmen:  John Dyson,  Graeme Wood

Middle-order batsmen:  Allan Border, Trevor Chappell, Kim Hughes, Martin Kent, Dirk Wellham, Graham Yallop.

Wicket-keeper:  Rodney Marsh, Steve Rixon.

Spin bowlers:  Graeme Beard, Ray Bright.

Fast bowlers:  Rodney Hogg,  Terry Alderman, Dennis Lillee, Geoff Lawson (reinforced by Carl Rackemann and Mike Whitney).

Comments taken from

State representation

   Sheffield Shield teams

NSW   New South Wales (6)

Qld  Queensland (2)

SA   South Australia (1)

Tas   Tasmania (0)

Vic   Victoria  (2)

WA  Western Australia (5)

 Average age of  team at time of first Test match

    (18 June 1981) : 

         27 yrs  6 months

ODI  Member of the one-day squad for Prudential Trophy series.

Test Appearances made before the tour

Marsh 68,  Lillee 48,  Hughes 33,  Border 27,  Yallop 25,  Wood 22,  Hogg 20,  Rixon 10,  Bright 9,  Dyson 9, Beard 3,  Lawson 1,  Alderman 0,  TM Chappell 0,  Kent 0,  Wellham 0,  Whitney 0.

Tour Officials

Selectors

Phil Ridings (South Australia - chairman),  Alan Davidson (New South Wales),  Ray Lindwall (Queensland), Sam Loxton (Victoria).

Selection

In January 1981 the Australian Cricket Board decided to take sixteen rather than the traditional seventeen players, owing to all the one-day matches programmed.  When Doug Walters was omitted and his supporters started some fund-raising to pay for a 17th player, the Board said it was not a question of money but that an extra player would hardly get any cricket.

The names of the captain, vice-captain, manager and coach were all announced on 13 March, earlier than expected.

Unavailable :  Bruce Laird (achilles tendon operation); Len Pascoe.

On 4 February the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Greg Chappell would not tour for personal and business reasons, though this was not confirmed until after the tour party was announced.

Tour Party Announced :  Wednesday 11 March 1981.

Not selected :  Jeff Thomson ("I always thought the selectors were idiots; now I know it") ; Doug Walters.

Time between selection and departure from Australia   

 48 days

(11 March - 28 April)

Travel

Sydney  Q  Colombo

ColomboQ  London

Graeme Beard had left Sydney with his wife for a holiday in Europe before joining Lancashire League club Bacup as their professional, leading to speculation that he had not heard about his selection and could not be found.

The team flew out of Sydney on 28 April 1981, landing at Colombo for a short tour on the night of Wednesday 29 April 1981

During the ten-day Sri Lankan tour, Lillee (sinus operation) and Marsh who was unfit flew on to London, arriving on Sunday 10 May.  The remainder left Katunayeke Airport (after a 3-hour delay), via Singapore, and next day arrived in London.

Time spent in England

   116 days

(11 May -  4 September)

On-tour selection

Kim Hughes (captain),  Rodney Marsh (vice-captain),  Peter Philpott (coach).

Reinforcements

 Carl Rackemann(Q), playing for Surrey second XI, played in a one-day match when Hogg was unfit.  Jeff Thomson, playing for Middlesex, was sounded out when Lillee was unfit with bronchial congestion.

 Mike Whitney playing for Fleetwood in the Lancashire League and Gloucestershire second XI, reinforced the team when Rodney Hogg (back) and Geoff Lawson (fractured vertebra) could not play.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

§  one-day international

Time spent in England before First Test: 

 38 days

(11 May -  18 June)

Test appearances on tour

6 -  Alderman,  Border,  Hughes,  Lillee,  Marsh,  Wood,  Yallop.

5 -  Bright,  Dyson

4 - 

3 -  TM Chappell,  Kent,  Lawson

2 -  Hogg,  Whitney

1 -  Wellham

0 -  Beard,  Rixon.

Highlights

•   Lillee (39) and Alderman (42) shared 81 wickets in the Test series.

•   Geoff Lawson with 7-81 had the best figures by an Australian at Lord's apart from Bob Massie in 1972

•   Australia reduced England, following-on, to 135 for 7, still 92 runs behind at Leeds but lost the match

•   Set 506 to win at Old Trafford, Australia reached 402 with centuries from Yallop (114) and Border (123*)

•   Allan Border followed up with 106* and 84 in the final match at The Oval.

Tour Summary

Return to Australia

London Heathrow  Q  Sydney

On 2 September the side played Gloucestershire in a floodlit game on a football ground

The team flew out of Heathrow on 4 September after a brief visit to Holland.

They arrived at Perth on Saturday 5 September and flew on to the eastern states.

(28 April to 5 September)

Finances

 The tourists’ county programme was sponsored by Holt’s Products.

Accounts of the tour

"Phoenix from the Ashes”   (1982)  by Mike Brearley (Hodder & Stoughton)

Botham Rekindles the Ashes"   Michael Melford (Daily Telegraph)

"The Incredible Tests"   Ian Botham with Peter Smith

"A Summer to Remember"   Patrick Eager & Alan Ross

Postscript