| Tour of England 1893 Captain: Jack Blackham | |
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| Eighth Australians Seventh Test-playing tour of England by Australia (April - September ) | Mr Victor Cohen, the New South Wales Cricket Association's Treasurer, let it be known that a representative Australian team could visit England in 1892, but the counties were reluctant to extend an invitation. The idea was abandoned when Nottinghamshire proposed that 1894 would be soon enough. Lord Hawke ( Yorkshire) and AJ Webbe (Middlesex) among others supported this proposal and it was unanimously carried. However, it was later decided to accept the tour being brought forward by one year, and to accommodate the South Africans in 1894. At first it was hoped that Billy Murdoch would lead the side again but the selectors ruled him out (as well as Jack Ferris) on the grounds that his home was now in England. So Blackham on his eighth tour of England became captain - a role to which he was to prove unsuited, failing to get the best out of his team. When the newly-formed Australasian Cricket Council were unhappy with some of the players selected, they found that the rules restricted their power to approval of the team as a whole. "The team was not a happy family" remarked Trott. Press report had Cohen saying some were drunk time after time and some of the team were absolutely unmanageable. | All Australian tours Previous tour England 1890 Next tour England 1896 | |
| Members of the Test tour party (14) | A C Bannerman | NSW | 34 | RHB opener vice-captain | | J M Blackham | Vic | 40 | WK captain | | W Bruce | Vic | 29 | LHB opener | | A Coningham | Q | 27 | LHB LFM | | G Giffen | S A | 34 | RHB RM | | W F Giffen | S A | 29 | RHB | | H Graham | Vic | 22 | RHB | | S E Gregory | NSW | 23 | RHB | | A H Jarvis | S A | 32 | reserve WK | | J J Lyons | S A | 30 | RHB | | R W McLeod | Vic | 25 | RM | | G H S Trott | Vic | 26 | RHB LB | | H Trumble | Vic | 26 | RM/OB | | C T B Turner | NSW | 30 | RFM | | |
| Average age of team at time of first Test match (17 July 1893) : 29 yrs 6 months Representation NSW New South Wales (3) Q Queensland (1) SA South Australia (4) Vic Victoria (6) Key to type: RHB Right-handed bat RM Right arm medium-paced bowler RFM Right-arm fast medium OB Off break WK Wicket-keeper | |
| Test Appearances made before the tour | Blackham 31, Bannerman 25, G Giffen 20, Turner 11, Trott 8, Bruce 7, Jarvis 7, Lyons 7, W F Giffen 3, Gregory 3, McLeod 3, Trumble 2, Coningham 0, Graham 0. | | |
| Team Officials | Victor Cohen | Tour manager | Dr Roland Pope | Assistant to manager | - Batchelor | Scorer | |
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| Selectors | The manager, Mr Cohen, was responsible for the team and said in an interview "…. in March, 1892 I invited the co-operation of Messrs. Bannerman, Turner, Bruce, Blackham and Lyons to assist me in choosing the remainder of the team." | | |
| Selection | Cohen was appointed manager by the Australasian Cricket Council on 17 September 1892. Unavailable George Giffen would not tour unless his brother were included. W L Murdoch and J J Ferris, living in England, were not considered. Tour Party Announced 12 January 1893. Not selected Arthur Coningham was a late addition to the tour party when the Australasian Cricket Council insisted on a 14th player. The captaincy was settled at a meeting on arrival in England on 27 April. | | |
| Travel | Bruce and Trumble left on 2 March on the 'Ophir' but most of the team sailed from Sydney on the 'Orizaba' on 11 March 1893, via Melbourne and Adelaide. The ship reached Gibraltar on 22 April and Tilbury on the evening of 26 April. The team headquarters was the Tavistock Hotel in Covent Garden, London. | | |
| On-tour selection panel | Bannerman, Giffen and Turner were named as the panel but Coningham said "Bannerman was virtually allowed to pick the teams day after day". | | |
| Reinforcements | Manager V Cohen and J Phillips played in the team against Ceylon. Albert Trott played against Leicestershire. George Giffen suffered from a leg injury and Turner from the effects of flu, badly affecting the bowling strength. | | |
| Fixtures/Results | † Colombo | XVI of Ceylon | Drawn | | | | Uckfield | Lord Sheffield's XI | Lost 8 w | † Edgbaston | Warwickshire | Won 10 w | Bristol | Gloucestershire | Drawn | Lord's | M C C & Ground | Drawn | Sheffield | Yorkshire | Lost 64 r | Old Trafford | Lancashire | Won inns 14 r | Kennington Oval | Surrey | Lost 58 r | Oxford | Oxford University | Won 19 r | Bradford | Yorkshire | Drawn | Cambridge | Cambridge University | Won 117 r | Lord's | M C C & Ground | Lost 3 w | Kennington Oval | South of England | Lost 10 w | Lord's | Players of England | Won 6 w | Gravesend | Kent | Won inns 1 r | Trent Bridge | Arthur Shrewsbury's England XI | Lost inns 153 r | Old Trafford | North of England | Won 3 w | † Derby | Derbyshire | Won inns 71 r | † Leicester | Leicestershire | Won inns 51 r | Headingley | Yorkshire | Won 145 r | Hove | Sussex | Won 8 w | LORD'S | ENGLAND First Test | DRAWN | Taunton | Somerset | Won 6 w | Lord's | Middlesex | Won 390 r | Kennington Oval | Surrey | Won 6 w | Portsmouth | Oxford & Cambridge Past & Present | Drawn | † Leyton | Essex | Drawn | Canterbury | Kent | Lost 36 r | Aigburth, Liverpool | Liverpool & District | Won inns 34 r | KENNINGTON OVAL | ENGLAND Second Test | LOST inns 43 r | Cheltenham | Gloucestershire | Won 8 w | Edgbaston | Second-class Counties XI | Won 4 w | OLD TRAFFORD | ENGLAND Third Test | DRAWN | † Blackpool | XVI of Blackpool | Won 79 r | Trent Bridge | Nottinghamshire | Won inns 154 r | Scarborough | C I Thornton's XI | Drawn | Hastings | South of England | Lost 6 w | | | | Philadelphia | Gentlemen of Philadelphia | Lost inns 68 r | † New York | XVIII of New York & District | Drawn | Manheim, Philadelphia | Gentlemen of Philadelphia | Won 6 w | † Boston | XII of Massachussets | Won 8 w | Toronto | Canada | Won inns 70 r | † Detroit | XII of Detroit | Won inns 107 r | | | |
| † not first-class | |
| Test appearances on tour | 3 - Bannerman, Blackham, Bruce, G Giffen, Graham, Gregory, Lyons, McLeod, Trott, Trumble, Turner. 0 - Coningham, W F Giffen, Jarvis. | | |
| Highlights | • Harry Graham scored a century (107) on debut at Lord's, also his maiden century in first-class cricket. • George Giffen took 7 wickets for 128 in England's massive innings of 483 at The Oval. • In the first match against MCC Jack Lyons played a great innings of 149 and Bob McLeod took 5 for 29. • On his third and last tour of England Turner was often ill but nevertheless topped the bowling again. His number of wickets was 283 in 1888, 179 in 1890, and 148 in 1893, giving a total of 610; average 12.90. | | |
| Tour Summary | | P | W | L | D | Aban | Test Matches | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | Other first-class matches | 28 | 14 | 9 | 5 | - | Minor matches | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | In America | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | All Matches | 42 | 22 | 11 | 9 | - |
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| Return to Australia | On 19 September the team left Euston Station, London, for Liverpool and sailed for America the next day on the 'Germanic'. They were welcomed at New York on 28 September by Captain Greene of the Philadelphia Club, and six matches were played. Turner did not go to America being compelled to return direct to Australia. He was chosen to play for WG Grace's XI in an end of season benefit but in the end he did not play. He returned to Australia on the ' Orizaba' on 22 September. The team returned to Sydney on 10 December. | | |
| Finances | The players complained about the dividend paid, and that they were unable to see satisfactory accounts. | | |
| Written accounts of the tour | | | |