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Test Cricket Tours - England to Australia 1974-75

 

Tour of  Australia & New Zealand 1974-75    Captain : Mike Denness     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

England’s 53rd Test tour.

 ( 1974 - March 1975)

 

 

 

28th Test-playing tour of Australia by England

 

Tenth Test-playing tour of NZ

    (previous tours 1970-71)

 

 

 

A gulf between the two sides was created by the two Australian fast bowlers, Lillee and Thomson. Their fearsome short-pitched bowling cut through England’s batting order at Brisbane and Perth, and enabled Australia to regain the Ashes by the time of the fourth Test match at Sydney. This was the match in which Denness stood down, the first MCC tour captain in Australia to miss a Test because he was out of form - previously, Chapman (1928-29 tour) and Hammond (1946-47) had done so but were unfit.

As in 1973-74, the selection panel had turned down Denness's wish  to include John Snow in the team. Geoff Boycott who had been left out of the Test matches during the summer at his own request, never accepted the invitation to tour. Both players, the stars of the 1970-71 side, were badly missed.

 Summary  to be completed

 

Other England tours

 

Previous Test tour

West Indies 1973-74

 

Next Test tour

India 1976-77

 

Next tour of Australia

1978-79

 

 

 

Members of the Test tour party (16  +  2)

 

 

Opening batsmen:  David Lloyd, Brian Luckhurst, John Edrich.

Middle-order batsmen Dennis Amiss, Keith Fletcher, Mike Denness

Wicket-keeper: Alan Knott, Bob Taylor

All-rounders:  Tony Greig

Slow bowlers: Derek Underwood, Fred Titmus

Fast bowlers: Peter Lever, Geoff Arnold, Chris Old, Bob Willis, Mike Hendrick

 

 

 

D L  Amiss

Wk

30

RHB

 

 

G G  Arnold

Sy

29

RFM

 

 

G  Boycott     w/d

Yo

32

RHB opener

 

 

M H  Denness

Kt

32

RHB      captain

 

 

J H  Edrich

Sy

37

LHB opener      vice-captain

 

 

K W R  Fletcher

Ex

29

RHB

 

 

A W  Greig

Sx

27

RHB      RFM

 

 

M  Hendrick

Dy

24

RFM

 

 

A P E  Knott

Kt

27

WK

 

 

P  Lever

La

34

RFM

 

 

D  Lloyd

La

27

LHB  opener

Not to NZ

 

B W  Luckhurst  added

Kt

35

RHB opener

 

 

C M  Old

Yo

24

RFM

 

 

R W  Taylor

Dy

32

reserve WK

 

 

F J  Titmus

Mx

42

OB

 

 

D L  Underwood

Kt

28

SLA

 

 

R G D  Willis

Sy

24

RF

Not to NZ

 

 

 

 

 

  

County representation:

 

Dy – Derbyshire (2)

Ex  -  Essex (1)

Kt  -  Kent (4)

La - Lancashire (2)

Mx - Middlesex (1)

Sy - Surrey (3)

Sx - Sussex (1)

Wk - Warwickshire (1)

Yo - Yorkshire (1)

 

 

  

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(29 November 1974) :

   31 yrs 4 months

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Test Appearances made before the tour

 

Cowdrey 109,  Edrich 65,  Knott 61,  Titmus 49,  Underwood 47,  Fletcher 39,  Amiss 32,  Greig 30,  Arnold 27,  Denness 20,  Luckhurst 19,  Old 18,  Lever 12,  Willis 11,  Hendrick 5,  Lloyd 5,  Wood 5,  Taylor 1.

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Officials

 

Alec Bedser

Tour Manager

Alan Smith

Assistant Manager

Bernard Thomas

Physiotherapist

 

 

 

 

 

Selectors

 

Alec Bedser (chairman),  Jack Bond,  C.G.A.(Cecil) Paris,  Mike Denness (captain),  Brian Taylor,  Ossie Wheatley and  Gubby Allen who took a place on the selection committee because  Doug Insole was on holiday.

 

 

 

 

 

Selection

 

The captain and manager were named on 23 August 1974.

Unavailable :  

Tour party announced :  28 August 1974

Fred Titmus was chosen for the first time since injury to his toes in the West Indies in 1968. The selectors said they debated taking a batsman who could keep wicket instead of Taylor, and of omitting one of the fast bowlers

Not selected:  Phil Edmonds.

Withdrawn: Geoffrey Boycott.  It was announced on 24 September that he had withdrawn from the tour for personal reasons, and that Brian Luckhurst would go instead. Luckhurst, relaxing on holiday in Spain, had to hurry back to England when he heard the news that he would be touring in his place.

 

 

Time between selection and departure from England

   54 days

 (28 August - 21 October)

 

 

 

 

Travel

London  Q  Sydney

 

 

On 21 October the team flew from Heathrow Airport, via Frankfurt and Beirut to Sydney Airport, and thence to Adelaide where they arrived on 23 October. The flight took 36 hours.  They stayed in Adelaide until the first match. Denness was confined to bed with a sore throat, later diagnosed as a virus.

 

 

 

Time spent in Australia

    114 days

(23 October -  14 February)

 

Time spent in New Zealand

 

 

 

On-tour selection panel

 

Mike Denness (captain),  John Edrich (vice-captain),  Alec Bedser,  Alan Smith,  Alan Knott.

 

    24 days

(14 February - 10 March)

 

 

 

Reinforcements

 

M C Cowdrey

Kt

41

RHB

Not to NZ

 

B Wood

La

32

RHB  opener        RM

Only to NZ

 

41 year-old Colin Cowdrey was chosen by the tour committee on 4 December because batsmen Dennis Amiss (thumb) and John Edrich (hand) were unfit.

Barry Wood joined the New Zealand part of the tour when Lloyd (neck injury), Willis (knee) and Cowdrey returned home. Wood joined the tour from West Indies where he had been with an English counties side.

Owing to injury in New Zealand, manager Alan Smith played once, and a West Australian colt, Peter Brondson, turned out for MCC when Hendrick was in hospital with a throat infection. 

Denness missed early matches with a virus. Edrich cracked a rib

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fixtures/Results

 

a

† Port Lincoln

South Australia Country

Drawn

b

Adelaide

South Australia

Drawn

c

† Warrnambool

Victoria Country XI

Drawn

d

Melbourne

Victoria

Drawn

e

† Canberra

Capital Territory Country XI

Drawn

f

Sydney

New South Wales

Won 6 w

g

  Nambour

Queensland Country XI

 Abandoned

h

Brisbane

Queensland

Won 46 r

i

† Southport

South-East Queensland

Won 10 w

j

BRISBANE

AUSTRALIA  First Test

LOST 166 r

k

Perth

Western Australia

Lost 120 r

l

Geraldton

West Australia Country XI

Drawn

m

PERTH

AUSTRALIA  Second Test

LOST 9 w

n

Adelaide

South Australia

Drawn

o

MELBOURNE

AUSTRALIA  Third Test

DRAWN

p

† Melbourne

Australia (ODI)

Won 3 w

q

SYDNEY

AUSTRALIA  Fourth Test

LOST 171 r

r

Hobart

Tasmania

Drawn

s

Launceston

Tasmania

Won inns 72

t

Sydney

New South Wales

Won 187 r

u

ADELAIDE

AUSTRALIA  Fifth Test

LOST 163 r

v

† Newcastle

Northern New South Wales

Won 4 w

w

† Melbourne

New Zealand (ODI)

Lost 66 r

x

MELBOURNE

AUSTRALIA  Sixth Test

WON inns 4

 

 

 

 

y

Wellington

Wellington

Drawn

z

AUCKLAND

NEW ZEALAND  First Test

WON inns 83

a’

CHRISTCHURCH

NEW ZEALAND  Second Test

DRAWN

b’

† Wellington

New Zealand XI

Drawn

c’

† Wellington

New Zealand XI

Drawn

d’

† Hong Kong

Hong Kong President's XI

Won 84 r

e’

† Hong Kong

Hong Kong XI

Won inns 102

 

 

 

† not first-class

 

Time spent in Australia before First Test:   37 days

(23 October - 29 November)

 

 

 

 

Test appearances on tour

(v Australia & NZ 74-75)

 

 

8  -  Greig, Knott.

7 -   Amiss, Denness, Fletcher, Underwood.

6 -   Arnold, Edrich.

5 -   Willis.

4 -   Cowdrey, Lever, Lloyd, Titmus.

3 -   Hendrick, Old.

2 -   Luckhurst, Wood.

1 - 

0 -   Taylor.

 

 

 

 

 

Match appearances

 

 

 

 

 

T  Test match

o  one-day international 

x other match 

 

W won  L lost  D drawn  T  tied

N no result   A abandoned

C   cancelled  u unknown result

 

 

 

 

 

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

i

j

k

l

m

n

o

p

q

r

s

t

u

v

w

x

y

z

a’

b’

c’

d’

e’

D L  Amiss

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

G G  Arnold

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

M C Cowdrey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

M H  Denness

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J H  Edrich

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

K W Fletcher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A W  Greig

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

M  Hendrick

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A P E  Knott

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

P  Lever

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

D  Lloyd

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B Luckhurst 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

C M  Old

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

R W  Taylor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

F J  Titmus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

D Underwood

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

R G D  Willis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

B Wood

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 R E S U L T S

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

England’s six previous Test tour results

 

 

 

 

 

Highlights

 

  T

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tour Summary

 

 

 F

W

L

D

Aban

Test Matches

  8

  2

4

  2

-

Other first-class matches

10

  4

1

  5

-

Minor matches

13

  5

1

  6

1

All Matches

31

11

6

13

1

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Return to England

Auckland  Q  Hong Kong   Q   London

 

               

After the Australian tour three players returned to London.  Colin Cowdrey had not in any case been engaged for New Zealand.  David Lloyd arrived on 11 February, Bob Willis on 17 February.   The rest of the tour party reached Wellington on 14 February.

Leaving New Zealand from Auckland on 10 March, the MCC party arrived at Kai Tak Airport, Hong Kong, that night. They left again for London on 14 March.  Greig went to South Africa to join the D.H.Robins tour.

 

 

Time away from England

  x days  

(21 October - 15 March

 

 

 

 

Finances

 

 

 

 

 

 

Accounts of the tour

 

Assault on the Ashes"  Christopher Martin-Jenkins  (Macdonald & Janes, 1975)

"Test of Nerve"  Frank Tyson  (Manark Pty Ltd, Victoria, 1975)

"Swanton in Australia with M.C.C.", dealing with eight post-War M.C.C. tours of Australia, includes his remarks on the 1974-75 tour (Fontana, 1977)

 

 

 

 

 

Postscript

 

 

Tony Greig was exonerated after making criticisms of the team selection and explaining his comments to the M.C.C.

Despite the M.C.C. team's relatively advanced age, and its failure to cope with the Australian batting or bowling, there was no purge. After the tour the selectors discarded only Lever, Lloyd, Luckhurst, Cowdrey and Titmus. All the others represented England again. However, all the selectors except Alec Bedser were replaced.

 

 

 

 

Other Test tours in 1974-75

 

West Indians  to India and Pakistan 1974-75  -  captain Clive Lloyd

 

 

 

 

Acknowledgements

To general reading of The Times newspaper digital archive (Gale Group);  Jamaica Gleanor archive;  National Library of Australia Trove; Papers Past NZ.

From former British Newspaper Library, Colindale and online:  The Age, Melbourne Argus, Bangladesh Daily Star, Barbados Advocate, Canberra Times, Daily Telegraph, Dawn, Eastern Daily Press, The Hindu, The Independent (Dhaka), Indian Express, The Island (Lanka), Lahore Times, New Nation, New Zealand Auckland Herald, Sri Lanka Daily News, Stabroek News, Straits Times, Sydney Morning Herald, The Telegraph (Calcutta), Times of India , The Tribune Chandigarh, Trinidad Guardian, The West Australian.

cricketweb.net;  ESPN cricinfo;  cricket archive; www.cricketcountry; www.coverpoint

Magazines/periodicals including Australian Cricket, B & H West Indies Annual, The Cricketer International, Cricketer Quarterly, Indian Cricket, Indian Cricket Field Annual, Playfair Cricket Monthly, Shell Cricket Almanack of New Zealand, Wisden Cricket Monthly, Wisden Book of Test Cricket, Wisden’s Cricketers’ Almanack.

Men In White, A History of Australian Cricket (Harte), A History of Indian Cricket (Bose), A History of West Indies Cricket (Manley)

Biography and tour books (own collection and at the M.C.C. Library at Lord’s Ground)                                      ALL CONTENTS OF THE TEST-CRICKET-TOURS.CO.UK WEBSITE  ARE COPYRIGHT

 

 




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