Tour of  Australia & New Zealand 1954-55     Captain : Len Hutton        

England’s 42nd Test tour.

(September 1954 -

                   April 1955)

23rd Test-playing  tour of Australia by England

Fifth Test-playing  tour of New Zealand by England

  (previous tours 1950-51)

Len Hutton, leading England for the last time, was the first professional player to captain an M.C.C. side in Australia. In the opening Test at Brisbane he won the toss and put Australia in to bat (the first England captain to do so since 1911-12.  Australia responded with a total of 601 runs, sending England crashing to an innings defeat. But after this Hutton’s strategies ensured England won the Test series.

The legendary speed of Frank Tyson, once he had decided to shorten his run-up, proved too fast for the Australian batsmen in each of the three consecutive Test matches which England won to retain the Ashes. For Australia, after their huge victory in the opening match, the Test series was a disaster.  

When M.C.C. went to New Zealand, the lowest total in the history of Test cricket was recorded when New Zealand was bowled out for 26. England added two more Test victories to round off a very long but highly successful tour.

Other England tours

Previous Test tour

West Indies 1953-54

Next Test tour

South Africa 1956-57

Next tour of Australia

1958-59

Members of the Test tour party (18)

Opening batsmen:  Len Hutton, Bill Edrich, Reg Simpson

Middle-order batsmen Denis Compton, Peter May, Colin Cowdrey. Tom Graveney, Vic Wilson

Wicket-keeper: Godfrey Evans, Keith Andrew.

All-rounders:  Trevor Bailey

Slow bowlers: Johnny Wardle, Bob Appleyard, Jim McConnon

Fast bowlers: Alec Bedser, Frank Tyson, Brian Statham, Peter Loader

County representation:

Ex  -  Essex (1)

Gm - Glamorgan (1)

Gs - Gloucestershire (1)

Kt - Kent (2)

La - Lancashire (1)

Mx - Middlesex (2)

Nth - Northamptonshire (2)

Nt - Nottinghamshire (1)

Sy - Surrey (3)

Yo - Yorkshire (4)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(26 November 1954): 

32 yrs  4 months.

Test Appearances made before the tour

Hutton 72,  Compton 63,  Evans 57,  Bedser 49,  Edrich 35,  Bailey 27,  Simpson 24,  Graveney 22,  May 17,  Statham 17,  Wardle 13,  McConnon 2,  Appleyard 1,  Loader 1,  Tyson 1,  Andrew 0,  Cowdrey 0,  Wilson 0.

Tour Officials

The manager, C G Howard, was appointed on 21 July. For the first time, M.C.C. appointed a masseur for Australia and Harold Dalton accompanied the team.

Selectors

Harry Altham (chairman), Gubby  Allen,  Les Ames,  Billy Griffith (M C C secretary), Charles Palmer,  Walter Robins,  Norman Yardley,  Len Hutton (captain).

The selectors met at Lymm, Cheshire, on 23 July.

Selection

Len Hutton was appointed captain, after a satisfactory medical report, on 19 July 1954.

In May 1956 M.C.C. let it be known that, contrary to a report in Wisden’s Almanack, Hutton had not been appointed by a single vote but unanimously, or at least that his appointment was agreed without a vote being taken.

Unavailable : D S Sheppard (unless as captain)

Tour party announced : 27 July 1954.

Withdrawn:. None but when it was found that Denis Compton’s injured knee would prevent him from participating in the opening matches of the tour, the selectors added Vic Wilson to the squad.

Time between selection and departure from England

   days

 (27 July - 15 September)

Travel

Tilbury     T    Fremantle

            ‘Orsova’  

Sydney Q Christchurch

After assembling in London on 15 September, the team departed from Tilbury on the ss ‘Orsova’. 

Sailing via Naples, Port Said and Colombo, they arrived at Fremantle on 7 October and drove to Perth.

Compton, passed fit on 5 October, flew out of London for Australia on 20 October. He arrived in Sydney five days later, the delays due to an air crash at Karachi.

After the Australian section of the tour the team left Sydney on 3 March, flying to Christchurch.

Time spent in Australia and in New Zealand

    days in Australia

(7 October -  3 March)

    30 days in New Zealand

(3 March -  2 April)

On-tour selection panel

Len Hutton (captain),  Peter May (vice-captain),   Bill Edrich,  Geoffrey Howard,  George Duckworth.

Reinforcements

None.  Bedser missed early matches, suffering from shingles. Compton arrived late after treatment on his knee and then broke his left hand.  Evans missed some matches with sunstroke.

Jim McConnon had a groin injury and then broke a finger on his right hand fielding at Hobart and returned home on 24 January. He was not replaced.

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

Time spent in Australia before First Test:

  50 days

(7 October - 26 November)

Test appearances on tour

7  -  Bailey,  Cowdrey,  Hutton,  May,  Statham,  Tyson.

6  -  Appleyard,  Evans,  Wardle

4  -  Compton,  Edrich,  Graveney

3  -  Simpson

2  - 

1  -  Andrew,  Bedser

0  -  Loader,  McConnon,  Wilson.

Match appearances

T  Test match

x other match 

∙  played for opposition

W won  L lost  D drawn  

N no result   A abandoned  

u unknown result

Bedser, Compton and McConnon did not tour New Zealand.

Highlights

•  Bailey and Edrich each scored 88 at Brisbane, England’s only defiance as they fell to an innings’ defeat.

•  Peter May scored his first Test century against Australia (104) at Melbourne and Cowdrey (102) the same achievement at Melbourne

•  Frank Tyson took ten wickets (4-45 and 6-85) at Sydney to gain a narrow victory in the second Test.

•  Tyson again devastated Australia with his fast bowling taking 7 for 27 at Melbourne.

•  Brian Statham gave Tyson splendid support, bowling fast into the wind at both Sydney and Melbourne.

•  England won their third consecutive victory at Adelaide where Bob Appleyard took six top order wickets

•  Tom Graveney made a century (111) at Sydney, the third yound English batsman to do so in this series

•  Johnny Wardle took 5-79 to condemn Australia to follow-on in the drawn final Test at Sydney

•  England dismissed New Zealand for 26 in the Auckland Test - the lowest total scored in Test cricket

•  Tyson and Statham were far too good for New Zealand and captured 23 wickets between them in the two Tests

Tour Summary

F  Fixtures   W  Won   L  Lost   D Drawn   T  Tied  Canc  Cancelled  Aban  abandoned

Return to England

Auckland   Q  London

Departure from New Zealand was on 2 April 1955.

McConnon had already returned home early, sailing from Fremantle on the Strathaird on 24 January, arriving in Tilbury on 20 February.

At the end of January it was decided that Bedser would return from Sydney on the ‘Orsova’ on 11 March, and that Compton would fly to South Africa to join his family before returning to Britain, rather than go to New Zealand.

Nine members of the M.C.C. team and Mr Howard left Auckland by air on 2 April, flying via Nandi, San Francisco, New York, and landed at London Airport on 5 April.

Others arrived on 20 April. Evans and Hutton arrived at Tilbury on the ‘Oronsay’ on 9 May.

Time away from England

  x days  

(15 September - 20 April)

Finances

The New Zealand matches contributed a further £16,000 to the profits.

Accounts of the Tour

“Australian Test Journal - Australia v England 1954-55”  by John Arlott  (Phoenix Sports Books, 1955)

“Cricket Typhoon”  by Keith Miller & R S Whitington (MacDonald, 1955)

“The Ashes Ablaze”  by Sidney Barnes (William Kimber 1955)

“The Urn Returns”  by Arthur Gilligan (Andre Deutsch, 1955)

“Ashes Triumphant”  by Bruce Harris (Hutchinsons, 1955)

“The Long Hop”  by Margaret Hughes (Stanley Paul, 1955)

“Ian Peebles On The Ashes”  by Ian Peebles (Hodder & Stoughton, 1955)

“Picture Post Book of the Tests 1954-55”  (Picture Post, 1955)

“Australia ‘55”  by Alan Ross (Joseph, 1955;   Constable 1985)

“The Test Matches of 1954-55: Victory in Australia”  by E W Swanton (The Daily Telegraph, 1955)

“The Ashes Retained”  by E M Wellings (Evans Bros, 1955)

Postscript

Other tours in 1954-55

India to Pakistan 1954-55

Australia to West Indies 1954-55