| Tour of England and South Africa 1902 Captain : Joe Darling | |
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| Tenth Australian tour Tenth Test-playing tour of England by Australia. First Test-playing tour of South Africa (March - November 1902) | England's 1902 side is often said to be its strongest and the Australians' 1902 touring party might well be regarded as the strongest to represent Australia, too, given that Armstrong's 1921 side and Bradman's in 1948 played English teams weakened by years of war. With the 1902 teams evenly matched, the summer produced an exciting Test series, with extremely close finishes. 1902's weather had plenty of cold and rain which spoiled the first two Test matches. The Australians were caught on a sticky wicket and bowled out by Rhodes for 36 at Edgbaston before rain stopped any further play. Bad weather granted Lord's less than two hours of play. Australia won the next two Tests with centuries coming from Hill and Trumper. The fourth Test saw Australia capture England's last wicket with only 4 needed to win. In the final Test at The Oval England needed 263 to win and slumped to 48-5. Jessop than came to the wicket. His 75-minute century had given England her chance. With one wicket standing 15 runs were still needed but Hirst and Rhodes reached the target. The tour of South Africa that followed the England trip, postponed from 1899, was intended to clear the air after Australians had fought in battles of the Boer War but the cricketers were apprehensive about their safety. | All Australian tours Previous tour England 1899 Next tour England 1905 | |
| Members of the Test tour party (15) Openers: Batsmen: Wicket-keeper: Slow bowlers: Fast bowlers: | W W Armstrong | Vic | 23 | RHB RFM | | H Carter | NSW | 24 | WK | | J Darling | S A | 31 | LHB captain | | R A Duff | NSW | 23 | RHB | | S E Gregory | NSW | 32 | RHB | | C Hill | S A | 25 | LHB | | A J Y Hopkins | NSW | 28 | RFM | | W P Howell | NSW | 32 | RFM | | E Jones | S A | 32 | RF | | J J Kelly | NSW | 35 | WK | | M A Noble | NSW | 29 | RHB RM | | J V Saunders | Vic | 26 | LM | | H Trumble | Vic | 35 | RM / OB | | V T Trumper | NSW | 24 | RHB | |
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Average age of team at time of first Test match (29 May 1902) : 28 yrs 9 months. Representation: NSW New South Wales (8) SA South Australia (3) Vic Victoria (3) 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 | Gregory 29, Trumble 24, Darling 21, Kelly 18, Hill 16, Jones 16, Noble 14, Howell 12, Trumper 10, Armstrong 4, Duff 4, Hopkins 2, Saunders 1, Carter 0 | | |
| Team Officials | Major B J Wardill | Manager | R J Pope | Doctor | W H Creese | Baggage / scorer | F Hearne | Umpire in South Africa |
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| Selectors | Hugh Trumble (Victoria), Monty Noble ( New South Wales), Clem Hill ( South Australia). | | |
| Selection | Unavailable: none known The last four to be chosen were Howell, Hopkins, Jones and Saunders. Tour Party Completed and Announced : 4 March 1902. Not selected : | | |
| Travel | The team left Adelaide on the 'Omrah' on 20 March 1902. MacLaren's team accompanied them onboard. Trumble came to England separately on the ' Oceania' The ship reached Plymouth on 25 April where Major Wardill, the manager, Gregory, Howell, Kelly and Saunders disembarked to catch the train to London. The rest of the team sailed on to Tilbury. | | |
| On-tour selection | Darling, Trumper, Gregory | | |
| Reinforcements | Hugh Trumble missed early matches with a feverish cold and flu. Roland Pope, 38, was asked to play in one first-class match. | | |
| Fixtures/Results | Crystal Palace | London County | Drawn | Trent Bridge | Nottinghamshire | Won inns 4 r | Kennington Oval | Surrey | Won inns 78 r | Leyton | Essex | Drawn | Leicester | Leicestershire | Won 7 w | Oxford | Oxford University | Won inns 54 r | Lord's | M C C | Drawn | EDGBASTON | ENGLAND First Test | DRAWN | Headingley | Yorkshire | Lost 5 w | Old Trafford | Lancashire | Drawn | Cambridge | Cambridge University | Won inns 183 r | LORD'S | ENGLAND Second Test | DRAWN | Eastbourne | An England XI | Won 131 r | Derby | Derbyshire | Won 8 w | Bradford | Yorkshire | Won 44 r | Bradford | An England XI | Won 7 w | � Edinburgh | Scotland | Won inns 105 r | SHEFFIELD | ENGLAND Third Test | WON 143 r | Edgbaston | Warwickshire | Drawn | Worcester | Worcestershire | Won 174 r | Bristol | Gloucestershire | Won inns 222 r | Taunton | Somerset | Drawn | Kennington Oval | Surrey | Drawn | OLD TRAFFORD | ENGLAND Fourth Test | WON 3 r | Leyton | Essex | Drawn | Hove | Sussex | Drawn | � Cardiff | Glamorgan & Wiltshire | Won 6 w | Southampton | Hampshire | Won inns 79 r | KENNINGTON OVAL | ENGLAND Fifth Test | LOST 1 w | Lord's | M C C | Won inns 34 r | Cheltenham | Gloucestershire | Won inns 10 r | Canterbury | Kent | Won 89 r | Lord's | Middlesex | Won 6 w | Aigburth, Liverpool | Lancashire | Won 18 r | Harrogate | Players of England | Won inns 47 r | Scarborough | C I Thornton's XI | Drawn | Hastings | The South of England | Drawn | Bournemouth | The South of England | Won 61 r | Kennington Oval | Players | Drawn | | JOHANNESBURG | SOUTH AFRICA First Test | DRAWN | jOhannesburg | XV of Transvaal | Drawn | JOHANNESBURG | SOUTH AFRICA Second Test | WON 159 r | Durban | XV of Natal | Drawn | Cape Town | Western Province | Won 282 r | CAPE TOWN | SOUTH AFRICA Third Test | WON 10 w | |
| � not first-class | |
| Test appearances on tour | v England 5 - Armstrong, Darling, Duff, Gregory, Hill, Hopkins, Kelly, Noble, Trumper 4 - Saunders 3 - Trumble 2 - Jones 1 - Howell 0 - Carter v South Africa 3 - Armstrong, Darling, Duff, Gregory, Hill, Hopkins, Kelly, Noble, Trumper 2 - Howell, Saunders 1 - Jones, Trumble. | | |
| Highlights | • Australia was dismissed for its lowest score in Tests (36) at Edgbaston. • Trumper scored 104 before lunch on the first day of the Old Trafford Test match. • Trumble with 10 for 128 brought about England's downfall at Old Trafford though Saunders took the final wicket with only 3 runs to spare. • Hugh Trumble took his best bowling figures of 12-89 in the following Test at The Oval. • In the final match of the English tour at The Oval Trumper took his tour aggregate to 2570 runs. | | |
| Tour Summary | | P | W | L | D | Aban | Test Matches | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | - | Other first-class matches | 32 | 19 | 1 | 12 | - | Minor matches | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | - | All Matches | 45 | 26 | 2 | 17 | - |
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| Return to Australia | The team left Waterloo Station, London, at 11:30 am on Saturday 20 September for Southampton. The sailed on the ' Dunvegan Castle' on 7 October. On reaching Table Bay the ship hit a pierhead but fortunately there was no serious damage. The train journey to Johannesburg took two further days of travel. Trumble returned to Australia after only two matches in South Africa. The Australians left Cape Town on 14 November on the 'Sophocles' for Melbourne. | | |
| Finances | | | |
| Written accounts of the tour | "Victor Trumper and the 1902 Australians" Lionel Brown. "The Eleventh Australian Tour 1902" facsimile reprint 1992 with new foreword by Sir Donald Bradman. | | |