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Test Cricket Tours - Australia to England 1985

 

 

Tour of England 1985             Captain: Allan Border

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

49th official Test tour         

 

Thirtieth Test-playing tour of England by Australia

      

 

 

 

 (May - September 1985)

 

 

The shadow cast by a proposed Australian rebel team to South Africa blighted the tour. Once Kim Hughes was omitted from the touring party, it was learned that he would captain unofficial Australian tours of South Africa for the next two seasons.  Three members of the official side side selected to tour England - Terry Alderman, Rod McCurdy and Steve Rixon - were sacked for failing to sign the Australian Cricket Board's contract preventing them from playing in South Africa. To join the rebel tour was precisely their intention, as emerged on 19 May, and their places in the team for England went to Thomson, Gilbert and Ray Phillips - three substitutes who had no impact on the Test series.

By changing their minds about joining the South African tour venture, Wayne Phillips, Dirk Welham and Graeme Wood retained their places on the England tour group.  The Australian Cricket Board now felt it was time to obtain an undertaking that the South African Cricket Union would make no raids on players contracted to the Board, and threatened to impose a ten year ban on any players who signed for South Africa.

As for the official six-Test series for The Ashes, Australia were defending the urn won by Greg Chappell in 1982-83.  But amid accusations of being too friendly with the England side, Border’s 1985 Australians lost the series and gave back the Ashes 3-1 which was as wide a margin as in 1981. 

 

 

Other Australian Tours

 

 

Previous tour

West Indies 1983-84

 

 

Next tour

New Zealand 1985-86

 

 

Next tour of England

1989

 

 

 

Members of the Test tour party (17)

 

 

Opening batsmen: Kepler Wessels, Andrew Hilditch, Graeme Wood.

Middle-order batsmen: Allan Border, David Boon, Wayne Phillips, Greg Ritchie, Dirk Wellham.

Wicket-keepers: Wayne Phillips, Ray Phillips.

Spin bowlers:  Murray Bennett, Bob Holland, Greg Matthews

Fast bowlers : Dave Gilbert, Simon O’Donnell, Geoff Lawson, Jeff Thomson, Craig McDermott.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments taken from

 

M J Bennett

N

28

SLA

 

 

D C Boon

T

24

RHB  opener

 

 

A R Border

Q

29

LHB  captain

 

 

D R Gilbert

N

24

RFM

 

 

A M J Hilditch

S

29

RHB  vice-captain

 

 

R G Holland

N

38

LBG

 

 

G R Lawson

N

27

RFM

 

 

C J McDermott

Q

20

RF

 

 

G R J Matthews

N

25

OB

 

 

S P O'Donnell

V

22

RFM

 

 

R B Phillips

Q

31

second WK

 

 

W B Phillips

S

27

WK

 

 

G M Ritchie

Q

25

RHB

 

 

J R Thomson

Q

34

RF

 

 

D M Wellham

N

26

RHB

 

 

K C Wessels

Q

27

RHB  opener

 

 

G M Wood

W

28

LHB  opener

 

 

 

 

 

FLAG_Australia 

  

 

 

State representation

  Sheffield Shield teams

 

 

N   New South Wales (7)

Q  Queensland (2)

S   South Australia (1)

T   Tasmania (2)

V   Victoria  (1)

W  Western Australia (1)

 

 

 

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

  (13 June 1985) :

       27 yrs  9 months.

 

 

 

 

 

ODI played in the one-day  Texaco Trophy series

 

 

 

 

 

 

Test Appearances made before the tour

 

Border 66,  Thomson 49,  Wood 48,  Lawson 28,  Wessels 17,  Wayne Phillips 12,  Hilditch 11,  Ritchie 9,  Matthews 4,  Wellham 4,  Boon 3,  Holland 3,  Bennett 2,  McDermott 2,  Gilbert 0,  O'Donnell 0,  Ray Phillips 0.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Officials

 

Bob Merriman

Tour manager

Geoff Dymock

Assistant  manager / coach

M P Ringham

Scorer

Geoff R Mackay

Physiotherapist

Tony Smith

Baggage/ Driver

 

 

 

 

 

 

Selectors

 

Lawrie Sawle (Western Australia - chairman),  Greg Chappell (Queensland) and  Rick McCosker (NSW).

 

 

 

 

 

Selection

 

Mr Robert Merriman was appointed manager.

 

Unavailable: none declared  but eight of those selected in March has signed up to play in South Africa.  Five of those players swiftly changed their mind (Bennett, Wayne Phillips, Wellham, Wessels, Wood) but three did not (Alderman, McCurdy, Rixon)  "The quintet were not popular with the rebels …. and Border was equally unimpressed to be taking them back." (Peter May 'The Rebel Tours' 2009)

 

Tour Party Announced :  delayed one week to 20 March 1985.

 

Not selected/Near Miss:  Kim Hughes (W), who believed he had been promised a place in the tour party.

 

Withdrawals:  Terry Alderman, Rod McCurdy and Steve Rixon.

 

The Australian Cricket Board named Maguire and Rackemann to take their place - only to learn that they too had signed for the rebel tour.

 

Additions  made to tour party  on 24 April 1985:   Jeff Thomson, Dave Gilbert (whose place on an Esso scholarship with Essex was taken by 19 year-old Steve Waugh) and Ray Phillips (who withdrew from the Australia's Maccabiah Games team).

 

 

Time between selection and departure from Australia

      41 days

(20 March - 30 April)

 

 

 

 

Travel

MelbourneQ  London

 

Departure was on 30 April 1985. The team boarded the plane in Melbourne.

The team arrived in England on 1 May for three days of practice at Lord's. The Australians' baggage van was impounded by police at Heathrow for being illegally parked, and a £55 fine was paid before it could be released.

 

 

Time spent in England

  126 days

(1 May  -  3 September)

 

 

 

 

On-tour selection panel

 

Allan Border (captain),  Andrew Hilditch (vice-captain),  Geoff Lawson,  Geoff Dymock (coach).

 

 

 

 

Reinforcements

 

None.

 

 

 

 

 

Fixtures/Results

 

† Arundel

Duchess of Norfolk's XI  (one-day)

Drawn

Taunton

Somerset

Won 233 r

Worcester

Worcestershire

Drawn

†Trent Bridge

Nottinghamshire (55 overs)

Abandoned

†Kennington Oval

Surrey  (55 overs)

Lost 6 w

Hove

Sussex

Drawn

Lord's

M C C

Drawn

Derby

Derbyshire

Drawn

† Derby

Derbyshire (55 overs)

Won 6 w

§ Old Trafford

England (1st ODI)

Won 3 w

§ Edgbaston

England (2nd ODI)

Won 4 w

§ Lord's

England (3rd ODI)

Lost 8 w

Headingley

Yorkshire

Drawn

Leicester

Leicestershire

Drawn

HEADINGLEY

ENGLAND First Test

LOST 5 w

† Cambridge

Oxford & Cambridge Universities (55 overs)

Won 79 r

Southampton

Hampshire

Drawn

LORD'S

ENGLAND Second Test

WON 4 w

 

3,4,5 July

Won

Chelmsford

Essex

Drawn

TRENT BRIDGE

ENGLAND  Third Test

DRAWN

† Jesmond

Minor Counties

Won 125 r

Neath

Glamorgan

Drawn

Bristol

Gloucestershire

Won 170 r

Northampton

Northamptonshire

Drawn

OLD TRAFFORD

ENGLAND   Fourth Test

DRAWN

† Downpatrick

Ireland(55 overs)

Drawn

Lord's

Middlesex

Drawn

EDGBASTON

ENGLAND   Fifth Test

LOST inns 118 r

Canterbury

Kent

Won 7 w

KENNINGTON OVAL

ENGLAND   Sixth Test

LOST  inns 94 r

 

 

 

*  When rain prevented any play on days 2 and 3  it was agreed to play a 55-over game instead.

The England team declined to play an extra one-day international when the Oval Test match ended early

 

 

 

not first-class

§  one-day internationals (Texaco Trphy)

 

 

 

Time spent in England before First Test: 

  43 days

(1 May - 13 June)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Test appearances on tour

 

6 -   Border,  Hilditch,  Lawson,  McDermott,  Ritchie,  W Phillips,  Wessels,

5 -   O'Donnell,  Wood

4  -  Boon,  Holland

2  -  Thomson

1 -   Bennett,  Gilbert,  Matthews,  Wellham.

0 -   R Phillips

 

 

 

 

 

Highlights

 

   Bowlers Criag McDermott (6-90) and Bob Holland (5-68) put in match-winning performances at Lord's.

   Allan Border's 196 in the same match was the highest by an Australian captain at Lord's.

   In side matches Border equalled Macartney's 1921 record of scoring four centuries in consecutive innings.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Summary

 

 

 P

 W

L

D

Aban

Test Matches

  6

 1

3

  2

-

Other first-class matches

14

 3

0

11

-

ϯ Minor matches

  3

 2

1

  0

-

§ One-day internationals

  6

 3

1

  2

-

All Matches

29

 9

5

15

-

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return to Australia

 

London    Q   Sydney

 

3 September 1985.

The team arrived home at Sydney Airport on Friday 6 September. Border said the press reception was not as bad as he feared.

David Boon and Murray Bennett and their wives went to Greece for a holiday before returning to Australia. (Boon in the Firing Line (1993) by Mark Thomas p28)

 

 

Time away from Australia   

 129 days  

(30 April to 6 September)

 

 

 

 

Finances

 

 

 

 

 

Written accounts of the tour

 

 

"An Australian Summer: The Recovery of The Ashes 1985"   by Patrick Eager and Alan Ross (Kingswood)

"The Battle for The Ashes : Gower's Finest Hour"    Michael Carey  (Daily Telegraph)

"Ashes 85"   by Matthew Engel (Pelham Books)

"The Ashes Regained"   120 minute BBC video V5029 (BBC Enterprises)

 

 

 

 

 

Postscript

 

 

 

 



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