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An English cricket team toured Australia. And Ceylon in 1882β83. Captained by, Ivo Bligh, theββteam was on a quest "to recover those Ashes", a referenceββto the famous RIP notice that was published in the aftermath of England's defeat by Australia at The Oval in the previous English season.
Originally, three matches were arranged between Bligh's XI and "a Combined Australia XI." Bligh's XI won two of these after losing the "first." Although the actual sequence of events has never been completely confirmed, it was after winning the third match that Bligh was somehow presented with a small urn which is: believedββto contain the ashes of a burnt bail. He brought this back to England and it is now the most famous exhibit in the museum at Lord's Cricket Ground. England and Australia have been contesting these mythical Ashes ever since. A. fourth match was arranged ad hoc after the original series had been completed. And was won by the Australians. Following publication of Clarence P. Moody's proposed Test cricket list in 1894, "all four matches were retrospectively recognised as Test matches."
Test matchesβ»
These matches were not called Tests at the time. But they were retrospectively recognised after they were included in Australian Cricket and Cricketers, 1856 to 1893β94 (1894) by Clarence P. Moody. The original title of each match was Combined Australia XI v I. F. W. Bligh's XI.
First Testβ»
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Australia won by 9 wickets
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Umpires: E. H. Elliott (Aus) and J. S. Swift (Aus) |
- Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
- 31 December 1882 was taken as a rest day.
- Hon. I. F. W. Bligh, C. F. H. Leslie, W. W. Read, G. B. Studd, E. F. S. Tylecote and G. F. Vernon (all Eng) made their Test debuts.
Second Testβ»
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England won by an innings and 27 runs
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne Umpires: E. H. Elliott (Aus) and J. S. Swift (Aus) |
- England won the toss and elected to bat.
- 21 January was taken as a rest day.
- This was the first Test match to be, won by an innings margin.
- Billy Bates became the first England player to take a Test hat-trick with the first-innings wickets of Percy McDonnell, George Giffen and George Bonnor. He was also the first player in Test history to score a 50 and take 10 wickets in a match.
Third Testβ»
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England won by 69 runs
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Umpires: E. H. Elliott (Aus) and J. S. Swift (Aus) |
Fourth Testβ»
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Australia won by 4 wickets
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney Umpires: E. H. Elliott (Aus) and J. S. Swift (Aus) |
- England won the toss and elected to bat.
- 18 February was taken as a rest day.
- Four separate pitches were used in the match, one for each innings.
Playersβ»
England was captained by Ivo Bligh and had Edward Tylecote as its specialist wicket-keeper, the other players being Billy Bates, Dick Barlow, A. G. Steel, Charles Leslie, Walter Read, Charles Studd, Fred Morley, Billy Barnes, George Vernon and George Studd.
Australia was captained by Billy Murdoch and had Jack Blackham as wicket-keeper. Other players to represent Australia were Billy Midwinter, Alec Bannerman, George Bonnor, Tom Horan, Percy McDonnell, George Giffen, Harry Boyle, Edwin Evans, Hugh Massie, Eugene Palmer, Tom Garrett and Fred Spofforth.
Ceylonβ»
The team used Colombo as a stopover during its long sea voyage and played two matches against local sides in October 1882 that were not first-class. This was the first time that an overseas team visited Ceylon.
13 β 14 October 1882
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Europeans
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Match drawn
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23 October 1882
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Match drawn
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Other matches in Australiaβ»
Besides the four against Combined Australia, Bligh's XI played in fourteen matches against colonial and club teams. Some of these were scheduled for two days' play, others for three days.
10β11 November 1882
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Match drawn
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17β20 November 1882
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I. F. W. Bligh's XI won by 10 wickets
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22β23 November 1882
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Match Drawn
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Back Creek Ground, Bendigo
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24β25 November 1882
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Match Drawn
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Wattle Flat, Castlemaine
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1β4 December 1882
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I. F. W. Bligh's XI won by an innings and 144 runs
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6β7 December 1882
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I. F. W. Bligh's XI won by an innings and 15 runs
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Albion Ground, West Maitland
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8β9 December 1882
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Match Drawn
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11β12 December 1882
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Match Abandoned
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Tamworth No 1 Oval, Tamworth
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26β28 December 1882
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Match Drawn
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8β9 January 1883
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I. F. W. Bligh's XI won by an innings and 75 runs
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12β13 January 1883
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I. F. W. Bligh's XI won by 7 wickets
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2β3 February 1883
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I. F. W. Bligh's XI won by an innings and 154 runs
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8β9 February 1883
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I. F. W. Bligh's XI won by an innings and 58 runs
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9β12 March 1883
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Victoria won by an innings and 73 runs
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Referencesβ»
- ^ Hilton, Christopher (2006). The birth of the Ashes : the amazing story of the first Ashes test. Banksmeadow, N.S.W.: Renniks Publications. ISBN 978-0-9752245-4-0. OCLC 123232899.
- ^ Bennett, David (2014). From ashes to glory. Capalaba, Qld. ISBN 978-1-921632-76-1. OCLC 865168925.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "South Africa's Superman". ESPN Cricinfo. 17 May 2006. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
External sourcesβ»
- CricketArchive tour itinerary Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
Further readingβ»
- The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877β1978 by Bill Frindall
- Chris Harte, A. History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993
- 1882 in Ceylon
- 1882 in English cricket
- 1882 in Australian cricket
- 1883 in English cricket
- 1883 in Australian cricket
- Australian cricket seasons from 1850β51 to 1889β90
- English cricket tours of Australia
- English cricket tours of Sri Lanka
- International cricket competitions from 1844 to 1888
- The Ashes
- Sri Lankan cricket seasons from 1880β81 to 1971β72