| Tour of Australia 1994-95 Captain : Mike Atherton  | |
| | | | |
| England’s 75th Test tour. (October
1990 – February 1995)
36th Test-playing
tour of Australia by England (previous tour 1990-91) | Chief selector Illingworth strongly influenced the team selection. The
inclusion of Gatting, as well as Gooch, raised the age profile of the side
significantly; while the preference for
McCague over Fraser, who was Atherton’s choice, ended with the injury-prone
Kent pacer playing in only the Brisbane Test before Fraser was called up to
replace him. McCague was one of six who had injuries serious enough to need
covering by replacement players in the four months of the tour. With players
going back and forth and plans in disarray, the team never looked competitive
against Australia
at its strongest in the first two Tests and by then it was too late to regain
the Ashes.
England started
slowly in the early matches but never picked up. Fraser wrote “We continued our
mainly disappointing journey with injuries cropping up here, there and
everywhere and people generally feeling sorry for themselves. There was no
confidence or commitment.”
The first Test at Brisbane began
with England
losing the initiative with a long hop and a misfield that set the tone; and in
no time were heavily beaten in the first two Test matches. A revival followed
at Sydney when Darren Gough struck a famous
fifty before bowling Australia
out with 6-59, only to be put out of the series with a broken foot, and Gus
Fraser was prevented by bad light from finishing Australia off. Then at Adelaide England
scored a surpirse win but it was all too late and normality was resumed at Perth
|
Other England tours
Previous
Test tour West Indies 1993-94 Next
Test t our South
Africa 1995-96
Next
tour of Australia 1998-99 | |
| Members
of the Test tour party (16 + 6) Opening batsmen: Graham Gooch, Mike Atherton,
Alec Stewart Middle-order batsmen John Crawley, Mike
Gatting, Graeme Hick, Graham Thorpe All-rounder: Craig
White Wicket-keeper: Steven Rhodes. Slow bowlers: Phil Tufnell, Shaun Udal Fast bowlers: Joey Benjamin, Phil
DeFreitas, Darren Gough, Matthew McCague, Devon Malcolm | M A
Atherton | La | 26 | RHB opener captain | | | J E
Benjamin | Sy | 33 | RFM | | | J P Crawley | La | 23 | RHB | | | P A J
DeFeitas | Dy | 28 | RFM | | | M W Gatting | Mx | 37 | RHB | | | G A Gooch
| Ex | 41 | RHB opener (RM) | | | D
Gough | Yo | 24 | RF | | | G A
Hick | Wo | 28 | RHB (OB) | | | M J
McCague | Kt | 25 | RFM | | | D E
Malcolm | Dy | 31 | RF | | | S J Rhodes | Wo | 30 | WK | | | A J
Stewart | Sy | 31 | RHB second WK vice- captain | | | G P
Thorpe | Sy | 25 | LHB | | | P C R
Tufnell | Mx | 28 | SLA | | | S D
Udal | Ha | 25 | OB | | | C
White | Yo | 24 | RHB RFM | | |
| County representation: Dy – Derbyshire (2) Ex -
Essex (1) Ha - Hampshire (1) Kt -
Kent (1) La - Lancashire
(2) Mx - Middlesex (2) Sy - Surrey
(3) Wo - Worcestershire (2) Yo - Yorkshire
(2) Average age of team at time of first Test match (25 November 1994): 29 yrs 3 months. | |
| Test
Appearances made before the tour | Gooch 113, Gatting 74, Stewart 43, Atherton 40, Fraser DeFreitas
39, Hick 29, Malcolm 28, Lewis , Tufnell 18, Ramprakash, Thorpe 10, Rhodes 6,
Gough 4, White 4, Crawley 3, McCague 2, Benjamin 1, Udal 0. | | |
| Tour
Officials | Mike
Smith | Tour Manager | Keith
Fletcher | Cricket manager | Dave
Roberts | Physiotherapist | A
E Davis | Scorer |
| | |
| Selectors | Ray Illingworth (chairman), Keith Fletcher (cricket manager), Brian Bolus, Fred Titmus, Tim Lamb (of TCCB) and Mike Atherton
(captain) met at the Copthorne Hotel, Manchester,
where they also picked an England
A side to go to India | | |
| Selection | Unavailable : Mark Lathwell. Only six of the previous winter’s touring side (to West Indies 1993-94) were retained. Tour party announced : on 2 September 1994. Pre-tour Training : None. The players were asked to rest before
flying to Australia
only one month after the 1994 season. Not selected:
Angus Fraser, Dominic Cork,
Peter Such were the reserves.. | Time between selection and departure from England days (2 September - 18 October) | |
| Travel London Q Perth | England flew out of Heathrow
Airport on Tuesday 18 October, and
arrived in Australia on Wednesday
19 October after a 19-hour flight to Perth.
Mike Atherton was asked at the airport press conference
about his comments about Australia's
over-aggressive attitude on the field.
"I don't see there's any need far sledging in international
cricket, but equally we're not going to be walked all over. At times England
may have been seen as a bit of a soft touch — but we'll wait and see, won't
we." | Time spent in Australia days (19
October - | |
| On-tour
selection panel | MA Atherton, AJ
Stewart, MW Gatting, GA Gooch, MJK Smith, KWR Fletcher. | | |
| Reinforcements | Angus
Fraser was in Sydney
playing grade cricket with Western Suburbs and was summoned to stand by at Brisbane when Devon
Malcolm had chicken pox. Fraser then joined the tour party when Matthew McCague went home with a stress fracture of the
right shin. Jack Russell was brought in as cover for
Alex Stewart (broken finger). He did not play any matches. Mark Ilott (Ex) for Joey Benjamin (suspected chicken pox). Ilott was then released to
join the England
‘A’ tour, having appeared in no matches. Neil Fairbrother who was playing in Transvaal to take the place of Craig White who returned home (rib muscle injury). Chris
Lewis, from club cricket in Melbourne,
for Darren Gough who returned home
on 6 January with a fractured foot. Mark Ramprakash from the ‘A’ tour of India
for Graeme Hick (slipped disc). He
arrived too late to play in the 4th Test. Shaun Udal was sent home with a side muscle injury and
not replaced. | | |
| Fixtures/Results Australia A also competed for the Benson & Hedges World
Series Cup but these matches (o and u) were not one-day internationals. | a | ϯ Lilac Hill | ACB Chairman’s XI (50 overs) | Won 7 w | b | † Perth | Western
Australia(50
overs) | Lost 51 r | c | Perth | Western Australia | Drawn | d | Adelaide | South Australia | Won 4 w | e | † Canberra | Prime Minister’s XI (50
overs) | Lost 2 w | f | Newcastle | New South Wales | Lost 4 w | g | Hobart | Australian XI | Drawn | h | BRISBANE | AUSTRALIA First Test | LOST 184 r | i | † Bowral | Bradman XI (50
overs) | Won 4 w | j | † Canberra | Australian Capital Territory(50
overs) | Won 100 r | k | § Sydney | Australia (1st of B & H series) | Lost 28 r | l | † North Sydney | Australian Academy(3-day) | Abandoned | m | † North Sydney | Australian Academy(50
overs) | Lost 5 w | n | † North Sydney | Australian Academy(50
overs) | Lost 6 w | o | † Melbourne | Australia ‘A’ (2nd of B & H series) | Won 31 r | p | § Sydney | Zimbabwe (3rd of B & H series) | Lost 13 r | q | Toowomba | Queensland | Won 37 r | r | MELBOURNE | AUSTRALIA Second Test | LOST 295 r | s | SYDNEY | AUSTRALIA Third Test | DRAWN | t | § Brisbane | Zimbabwe (4th of B & H series) | Won 26 r | u | § Melbourne | Australia (5th of B & H series) | Won 37 r | v | ϯ Sydney | Australia
‘A’ (6th of B & H
series) | Lost 29 r | w | Bendigo | Victoria | Drawn | x | ADELAIDE | AUSTRALIA Fourth Test | WON 106 r | y | PERTH | AUSTRALIA Fifth Test | LOST 329 r |
| † not first-class § one-day
internationals (Benson & Hedges World Series Cup) Time spent in Australia before First Test: 37
days (19 October - 25 November) | |
| Test
appearances on tour | 5 -
Atherton, Gatting, Gooch,
Rhodes, Thorpe 4 -
DeFreitas, Malcolm, Tufnell 3 - Crawley,
Fraser, Gough, Hick. 2 - Lewis, Stewart,
1 - McCague, Ramprakash. 0 -
Benjamin, Fairbrother, Ilott,
Russell, Udal, White. | | |
| Match
appearances T Test match o one-day international x other match W won L lost D drawn N no
result A abandoned 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 | M A Atherton | x | x | x | | x | x | x | T | x | x | o | | | x | | o | x | T | T | o | o | x | x | T | T | J E Benjamin | x | | x | x | | | x | | x | x | o | | | | | | | | | o | | | x | | | J P Crawley
| | x | x | x | x | x | x | | x | x | | | | | | o | x | | T | o | o | x | x | T | T | P A J DeFeitas | x | x | x | | x | x | | T | x | x | o | | x | x | x | o | | T | | o | o | x | x | T | T | N H Fairbrother | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | o | o | | | | | A R C Fraser | | | | | | | | | | | | | x | x | x | o | x | | T | | o | x | | T | T | M W
Gatting | x | x | x | x | x | x | | T | x | | | | x | x | x | | x | T | T | | | x | | T | T | G A Gooch | x | | x | x | | | x | T | | x | o | | | x | x | o | x | T | T | o | o | x | x | T | T | D Gough | x | x | | x | x | | x | T | x | x | o | | | | | o | | T | T | o | o | | | | | G A Hick | x | x | x | x | x | x | | T | x | x | o | | x | x | x | o | x | T | T | o | o | x | x | | | M C Ilott | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | C C Lewis | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | x | | T | T | M J McCague | x | | x | x | x | | x | T | x | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | D E Malcolm | | x | x | | | x | | | | | | | x | x | | | x | T | T | | | | x | T | T | M Ramprakash | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | T | S J Rhodes
| x | x | x | x | x | x | x | T | | | o | | x | x | x | | x | T | T | o | o | x | x | T | T | R C Russell | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | A J Stewart | | | | | | | x | T | x | x | o | | x | x | x | o | x | T | | | | | x | | | G P Thorpe | x | x | x | x | | x | x | T | | x | o | | x | | x | o | | T | T | o | o | x | x | T | T | P C R Tufnell | | x | | x | x | x | x | T | | | | | x | | x | o | x | T | T | | | | x | T | | S D Udal | x | | | | x | x | | | x | x | o | | x | x | x | o | x | | | o | o | x | | | | C White | | x | | x | x | x | x | | x | x | o | | x | x | x | | | | | | | | | | | R E S U L T S | W | L | D | W | L | L | D | L | W | W | L | A | L | L | W | L | W | L | D | W | W | L | D | W | L |
| England’s six previous Test tour results | |
| Highlights | • T • • • | | |
| Tour
Summary | | F | W | L | D | Aban | Test Matches | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | Other first-class matches | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | †Minor matches | 10 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | § One-day internationals | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | All Matches | 25 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 1 |
| F Fixtures W Won
L Lost
D Drawn T Tied Canc Cancelled
Aban abandoned | |
| Return
to England Sydney Q London | McCague, Gough, Hick, White and
Udal returned home early. 9 February The team flew back to Heathrow Airport | Time away from England x
days (18
October - | |
| Finances | A cash bonus of £30 000 was put up by Tetley's for winning the
Ashes. | | |
| Accounts
of the Tour | “One Summer, Every Summer: An Ashes Journal” by Gideon Haigh (Text Publishing, 1995) | | |
| Postscript | Illingworth thought Fletcher had been at fault for many of the
things that went wrong | | |
| Other
tours in 1994-95 | Australia to Pakistan 1994-95 New
Zealand to South Africa 1994-95 Pakistan to South Africa and Zimbabwe 1994-95 South
Africa to New Zealand 1994-95 Sri
Lanka to New Zealand 1994-95 West Indies to India
1994-95 West Indies to New
Zealand 1994-95 | | |