Test Cricket Tours Australia to England 1989

Test Cricket Tours - Australia to England 1989

Tour of England 1989 Captain: Allan Border

54th official Test tour

Thirty-first official Test-playing tour of England by Australia

(May - September1989)

The Australians regained The Ashes by winning the fourth Test match at Old Trafford. Allan Border, bringing to an end his over-friendly on-field outlook from 1985, became the first captain since Woodfull in 1934 to regain The Ashes in England. The Australian batsmen posted large totals in nearly every innings while Terry Alderman had a record-breaking series with the ball. Thought of as the weak link, the bowling attack rose to the demands of an Ashes series. Lawson whose jaw was broken by a bouncer from Ambrose in December, and Alderman, the first of the rebel South African tourists to be recalled to the national side, headed the attack, as they did on the 1981 tour, supported by Hohns and Hughes.

News of another 'rebel' tour of South Africa by sixteen English cricketers distracted from the team's achievement on the day of their Ashes victory..

This was the first Australian touring team since the 1948 side to win four Test matches in England. The Australians also won 8 out of the 14 Castlemaine XXXX Challengematches against the counties for which they earned £22,250.

Other Australian Tours

Previous tour

Pakistan 1988-89

Next tour

New Zealand 1989-90

Next Ashes tour

1993

Members of the Test tour party (17)

Comments from Martin Blake in the Melbourne Age 1 Sept 1989.

Opening batsmen Geoff Marsh, Mark Taylor, Mike Veletta

Middle-order batsmen David Boon, Steve Waugh, Allan Border, Dean Jones, Tom Moody

Wicket-keepers Ian Healy, Tim Zoehrer

Spin bowlers Trevor Hohns, Tim May,

Fast bowlers Terry Alderman, Geoff Lawson, Merv Hughes, Greg Campbell, Carl Rackemann.

T M Alderman	W	32	RFM	ODI
Border’s key bowler performed brilliantly from day one and was still mesmerising the batsmen at the end
D C Boon	T	28	RHB	ODI
Atoned for his difficulties against England in the past, although he failed to make a century. A fine contributor
A R Border	Q	33	LHB captain	ODI
Outstanding leadership and consistent batting made him the most important member of the tour party
G D Campbell	T	25	RFM	-
Dropped after a nervous Test debut but generally performed well. A great learning experience for him.
I A Healy	Q	25	WK	ODI
An up and down tour. Did not miss a catch in the Tests but glovework was sloppy at times and batting poor
T V Hohns	Q	35	LBG	-
The surprise packet. Batting, bowling and fielding were invaluable. A real professional
M G Hughes	V	27	RF	-
Proved a few people wrong bowling with consistent pace and aggression. Provided ideal foil for Alderman and Lawson
D M Jones	V	28	RHB	ODI
An outstanding success at No 5 where he should settle as a world-class player
G R Lawson	N	31	RF	ODI
Took at least two wickets in every England innings, a mark of his consistency. Also took quality wickets. A fine tour
G R Marsh	W	30	RHB opener vice-captain	ODI
Struggled at times but basically did the job, getting the team off to some good starts
T B A May	S	27	OB	ODI
Dreadfully unlucky: injuries robbed him of a chance. Hohns came in to fill his role
T M Moody	W	23	RHB RM	ODI
Did not get an opportunity. Batted well enough in early games but trailled off towards the end.
C G Rackemann	Q	29	RFM	ODI
Bowled reasonably well in tour games but never a place for him in Tests. Another who missed the boat due to injury
M A Taylor	N	24	LHB opener	-
A golden English summer and now must be ready for many more. Technically and mentally, a superb opener
M R J Veletta	W	25	RHB (occasional WK)	ODI
Battled to come to terms with the lack of opportunities. Broke a hand just when he had struck form
S R Waugh	N	24	RHB RM	ODI
Century in first Test was the innings of the series. A magnificent effort throughout though less success with the ball.
T J Zoehrer	W	27	second WK	-
Unfortunate to be hurt when Healy broke down early in the tour, thus missing his chance. Did nothing wrong in the tour games and should press for a Test berth this year.

State representation

Sheffield Shield teams

N New South Wales (3)

Q Queensland (4)

S South Australia (1)

T Tasmania (2)

V Victoria (2)

W Western Australia (5)

Average age of team at time of first Test match

(8 June 1989) :

28 yrs 4 months

ODI Played in Texaco Trophy one-day series

Test Appearances made before the tour

Border 102, Lawson 38, Boon 36, Marsh 27, Waugh 26, Alderman 24, Jones 21, Hughes 11, Zoehrer 10, Healy 8, May 7, Veletta 7, Rackemann 5, Hohns 2, Mark Taylor 2, Campbell 0, Moody 0.

Tour Officials

Lawrie Sawle	Tour Manager
Bob Simpson	Cricket manager / coach
Mike Walsh	Scorer
Errol Alcott	Physiotherapist
Tony Smith	Baggage
Austin Grundy	Driver
Geoff Wilkins	Liaison Officer

Errol Alcott had to return to Australia for business reasons and Pat Farhart replaced him.

New scorer Mike Walsh of Essendon Cricket Club, Victoria, went on to become Australia’s first computer analyst in 1998-99 season and assistant manager on tour.

Selectors

Lawrie Sawle (Western Australia - chairman), John Benaud (New South Wales), Jim Higgs (Victoria), Bob Simpson (coach), with Allan Border (captain) invited by Sawle to be present.

Selection

Lawrie Sawle was appointed manager in September 1988. The selection committee met on 14 and 15 March in Melbourne.

Unavailable: Bruce Reid - back injury.

Tour Party Announced : 16 March ? 1989.

Not selected : Mike Whitney, Mark Waugh, Craig McDermott.

Time between selection and departure from Australia

44 days

(16 March - 29 April)

Travel

Sydney Q London

Departure : 29 April 1989.

In the interests of team spirit, it was decided that wives would not accompany the team until late in the tour. The team spent five hours waiting for a connecting flight from Sydney Airport and then made the 26 hour-long flight from Australia to London, upgraded for the first time from economy to business class. The flight landed at Heathrow Airport, London, on Sunday 30 April.

On arrival Merv Hughes and David Boon were almost ordered to turn straight round and fly home again after their antics on the flight to England. Boon broke Rod Marsh’s booze record of 45 on the flight to 1983 World Cup by consuming 52 stubbies of beer on the flight, rendering him barely able to get off the plane. Hughes gave an interview in which he revealed that Boon had already notched up the first half century of the tour. This did not amuse the Australian Cricket Board.

The team's London base was the Westbury Hotel.

Time spent in England

128 days

(30 April - 5? September)

On-tour selection

Allan Border (captain), Geoff Marsh (vice-captain), Bob Simpson (coach), Lawrie Sawle (manager and chairman).

Reinforcements

None

At one stage it was likely that Carl Rackemann, who needed surgery on a knee, and Mike Veletta (broken finger which put him out of the second part of the tour) would return to Australia for treatment and that Peter Taylor would join the tour party.

Tim Zoehrer was unfortunate to be injured when Healy broke down early in the tour thus missing his chance.

Fixtures/Results

† West Bromwich	League Cricket Conference (55 overs)	Won 165 r
† Arundel	Duchess of Norfolk's XI (50 overs)	Won 120 r
† Hove	Sussex (55 overs)	Lost 4 w
† Lord's	M.C.C. (55 overs)	Won 101 r
Worcester	Worcestershire	Lost 3 w
Taunton	Somerset	Drawn
Lord's	Middlesex	Won 3 w
† Headingley	Yorkshire (55 overs)	Won 109 r
§ Old Trafford	England (1st ODI)	Lost 95 r
§ Trent Bridge	England (2nd ODI)	Tied
§ Lord's	England (3rd ODI)	Won 6 w
Edgbaston	Warwickshire	Drawn
Derby	Derbyshire	Won 11 r
HEADINGLEY	ENGLAND First Test	WON 210 r
Old Trafford	Lancashire	Won 9 w
Northampton	Northamptonshire	Won 272 r
† Northampton	Celebrity XI	Won
LORD'S	ENGLAND Second Test	WON 6 w
† The Parks, Oxford	Oxford & Cambridge Universities (55 overs)	No result
† The Parks, Oxford	Oxford & Cambridge Universities (35 overs)	Won 99 r
Neath	Glamorgan	Drawn
EDGBASTON	ENGLAND Third Test	DRAWN
† Glasgow	Scotland (55 overs)	Won 97 r
† Trowbridge	Minor Counties (55 overs)	Won 27 r
Southampton	Hampshire	Drawn
Bristol	Gloucestershire	Won inns 146 r
OLD TRAFFORD	ENGLAND Fourth Test	WON 9 w
Trent Bridge	Nottinghamshire	Won 196 r
Leicester	Leicestershire	Won 9 w
TRENT BRIDGE	ENGLAND Fifth Test	WON inns 180 r
Canterbury	Kent	Drawn
Chelmsford	Essex	Won 150 r
KENNINGTON OVAL	ENGLAND Sixth Test	DRAWN

† Den Haag	Netherlands(50 overs)	Won 57 r
† Den Haag	Netherlands(50 overs)	Won scoring rate
† Brondby	Denmark(40 overs)	Won 45 r
† Copenhagen	Denmark(40 overs)	Won 54 r

†not first-class

§ one-day internationals (Texaco Trphy)

Time spent in England before First Test:

39 days

(30 April - 8 June)

Test appearances on tour

6 - Alderman, Boon, Border, Healy, Hughes, Jones, Lawson, Marsh, M.Taylor, S R Waugh.

5 - Hohns.

1 - Campbell.

0 - May, Moody, Rackemann, Veletta, Zoehrer.

Highlights

• Mark Taylor scored 839 runs in the Test series, second only to Bradman's record of 974 in five Tests in 1930.

• Steve Waugh was dismissed for the first time in the series at Edgbaston after scoring 393 runs undismissed in four Test innings. Waugh, Taylor and Jones each scored two centuries during the Test series, and Marsh one.

• Marsh and Taylor enjoyed an opening partnership of 329 at Trent Bridge, the highest for the first wicket.

• Terry Alderman had 41 wickets in the Test series, of which 18 were awarded lbw.

Tour Summary

	P	W	L	D/NR	T	Aban
Test Matches	6	4	0	2	0	-
Other first-class matches	14	8	1	5	0	-
ϯ Minor matches	14	12	1	1	0	-
§ One-day internationals	3	1	1	0	1	-
All Matches	37	24	3	7	1	-

Return to Australia

LondonQ Sydney

The team played four games in Europe before returning home in September

Border landed at Brisbane Airport on 9 September to an enthusiastic welcome. On 27 September the team was given a victory dinner at the Southern Cross Hotel in Melbourne, attended by the Prime Minister Bob Hawke, and next day was feted with a ticker tape parade in Sydney. Allan Border was made an Officer of the Order of Australia by Prime Minister Bob Hawke at the victory dinner, the only time such an announcement was made outside the Queen's Birthday or Australia Day lists.

Time away from Australia

130 days

(29 April to 6 September)

Finances

…..

Written accounts of the tour

“Ashes from Ashes, 1989 Ashes tour” by Phil Derriman

“Battle for the Ashes 89” Norman Barrett (Daily Telegraph)

“Ashes Glory” Allan Border (1990)

“Border’s Heroes” edited by John Huxley (Lindsay-Townsend publishing, 1989)

“Border’s Heroes: return of the Ashes” Rod Nicholson (Magenta Press)

“The Ashes Surrendered” Mike Selvey (The Guardian)

Postscript