Tour of England & South Africa 1921        Captain: Warwick Armstrong

Fourteenth Australian Test tour

14th Test-playing tour of England by Australia

Second Test-playing tour of South Africa by Australia     

(April -  September 1921)

This was Australia's first tour for nine years and the last for five more years.

Armstrong, incensed at his exclusion from the Victoria-MCC match, and being sacked as Victoria’s captain for not attending a practice session, would not confirm that he would tour nor sign a contract until he knew he was to be captain.

Armstrong was “one of the best captains ever sent to England from Australia” according to Frank Foster, but a fearless and confrontational man, constantly arguing with his manager, Sydney Smith.  He was involved in some controversial incidents, particularly a dispute over England's right to declare her innings closed at Old Trafford, which led to his mistakenly bowling two consecutive overs, and reading a newspaper while fielding at long leg during the final Test at The Oval. In January 1922 Lord Hawke criticised him for an interview he gave in England.

1921 had the earliest starting date yet for any first-class tour match. The Australians met Leicestershire on 30 April.  The players tried to change the demanding tour itinerary but only two counties would oblige them.

The 1921 touring team lost only two matches - as had the 1902 side

Both Armstrong and Jack Gregory achieved the 'double' of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in an English season, the only time that two tourists have achieved the feat.

All Australian tours

Previous tour

England 1912

Next tour

England 1926

Members of the Test tour party (15)

Opening batsmen:  Warren Bardsley, Herbie Collins

Middle-order batsmen: Tommy Andrews, Warwick Armstrong, Johnny Taylor, Charlie Macartney, Jack Ryder, Ernie Mayne, Nip Pellew.

Wicket-keeper:  Hanson Carter, Bertie Oldfield

Slow bowlers: Arthur Mailey, (and Armstrong).

Fast bowlers:Jack Gregory, Ted McDonald, Stork Hendry.

Average age of  team at time of first Test match   

     (28 May 1921):

    32 yrs  5 months.

State representation

  Sheffield Shield teams

NSW  New South Wales (9)

SA  South Australia (1)

Vic  Victoria (5)

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

Team Officials

Sydney Smith was the Australian Board of Control secretary. He wrote a detailed account of the tour, recounting the team's progress through a journey of more than 32 000 miles.

Selectors

Ernest E Bean,  Herbie Collins  and  D R A ‘Algy’ Gehrs.

Selection

Unavailable  Roy L Park (Victoria).

The selectors named the first 8 players by 5 January (Armstrong, Bardsley, Collins, Gregory, Macartney, Mailey, Pellew and Taylor) Macartney being selected subject to a fitness test.  Oldfield's name was announced on 12 January; and the remainder on 12 February, with Armstrong confirmed as captain “by the narrowest possible margin” [Pollard].

Tour Party Announced   18 February

Not selected:  all-rounders Arthur Liddicut (Victoria), Arthur Richardson (South Australia)

Pellew accepted his place on condition that he could leave Australia a fortnight later than the rest of the team to allow him to complete his business arrangements.

Withdrawal   On 22 February Charlie Kelleway declined his invitation for business reasons, so Hendry was included.

Time between selection and departure from Australia    

  32 days

(18 February - 22 March)

Travel

Fremantle    T   Nice

               ‘Osterley’

Paris    t  Victoria, London

Manager Sidney Smith and the ten players from New South Wales sailed from Sydney on the RMS 'Osterley' to Melbourne where they were joined by Armstrong, Mayne, McDonald and Ryder.  They took the trans-continental train to Western Australia. South Australian Pellew met his colleagues at Riverton, SA, but did not travel with them.  He followed two weeks later, sailing on the 'Mantua'.

The Australians played two matches in Western Australia.

The party, minus Pellew, left Fremantle  on 22 March in the same ship, the 'Osterley', as the 1920-21 MCC touring party. The Ceylon match was cancelled.  Passing through the Suez Canal on 10 April, they disembarked at Nice and travelled overland by rail to Paris

The team arrived at Victoria Station, London, on Friday 22 April. The team's London headquarters was the Hotel Cecil in Victoria.

Time spent in England

   161 days

(22 April  - 30 September)

Time spent in South Africa

   48 days

(17 October - 4 December)

On-tour selection panel

Warwick Armstrong (captain),  Herbie Collins (vice-captain),  ‘Nip’ Pellew.

Reinforcements

None.  Herbie Collins damaged a thumb in the first Test and thus missed playing for the month of June.

There was some discontent from Mayne and Ryder about not being selected and Ernie Mayne asked to be omitted from the remaining tour matches on 5 September.   

Malaria and a leg injury prevented Armstrong from playing on the South African leg of the tour, and he had to spend some time in a Durban hospital;  Collins took over from him.

Fixtures/Results

� not first-class

Time spent in England before First Test: 

  36 days

(22 April - 28 May)

¬The match against Midland Counties was replaced with a match against Warwickshire

Test appearances on tour

Against England:
5 -  Andrews,  Armstrong,  Bardsley,  Gregory,  McDonald,  Macartney,  Pellew,  Taylor, 

4 -  Carter,  Hendry

3 -  Collins,  Mailey 

1  -  Oldfield

0 -   Mayne.

Against South Africa:

3  -  Andrews,  Bardsley,  Collins,  Gregory,  McDonald,  Mailey,  Ryder

2  -  Carter, Hendry, Macartney,  Mayne, Taylor

1  -  Oldfield,  Pellew

0  -  Armstrong.

Highlights

•   Jack Gregory took three English wickets in four balls at Trent Bridge.  The Australian opening bowling was intimidating and shared the wickets among Gregory (19) and McDonald (27)

•   Macartney scored the only century of the series (115 at Headingley)

•   Australia recorded a record run of eight consecutive victories which was not equalled until 1984 (by West Indies)

•   In the consecutive matches against Northamptonshire and Notts, the Australians scored 617 and 675 and dismissed the two counties for totals of 69, 68; 58 and 100, thus exceeding their opponents by 1000 runs.

•   Armstrong achieved the “double” of 1000 runs and 100 wickets in an English season for the third time

Tour Summary

Return to Australia

Southampton   T  Cape Town

               ‘Balmoral Castle’

Cape Town  T   Adelaide

               ‘’Ascanius’

The team left England on the 'Balmoral Castle'  from Southampton on 30 September 1921, and arrived in Cape Town on 17 October. Armstrong remained on board until Durban, as he was unwell with a recurrence of malaria, and could not play.  The team proceeded by rail to Johannesburg, a two-day journey.

They finally left Cape Town for Australia on the Blue Funnel Line steamer ss 'Ascanius' on 4 December and arrived back in Adelaide on 23 December, nine months after leaving home. With the exception of Pellew, the only South Australian player, the team left by train for Melbourne later in the afternoon, Macartney, Oldfield and the manager staying on to Sydney.

Time away from Australia

  276 days  

(22 March to  23 December)

Finances

Players would receive £400 plus a share of £1000 for the South African tour.

The tour surplus was £17 000 and the players received a bonus of £300.

Written accounts of the tour

"With the 15th Australian XI"  (1921)   by Sydney Smith - the tour manager’s account tracks the team's progress through a journey of more than 32 000 miles.

“Warwick Armstrong's Australians”  (1971)  by Ronald Mason   (Epworth Press)

Postscript