English cricket team in Australia in 1903–04 International cricket tour
The English cricket team's tour to Australia in 1903–04 was the first time the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) took over responsibility for sponsoring and arranging an overseas tour representing England. England had not won the Ashes since the 1896 series in England . The MCC appointed Plum Warner to put together and captain a team, which was very much seen as the underdogs against Australia . Warner and his team, however, pulled off the upset the English were looking for and won the five-Test series 3–2. In the first Test at Sydney, R.E. "Tip" Foster scored 287 to set the world record for the highest individual Test innings; the innings remains the highest by a Test debutant.
Test series
First Test
Second Test
England won the toss and elected to bat.
3 January was taken as a rest day
AE Knight and A Fielder (both ENG) made their Test debuts.
Third Test
Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
17 January was taken as a rest day
Fourth Test
England won the toss and elected to bat.
28 February was taken as a rest day.
There was no play on the third day PA McAlister and A Cotter (both AUS) made their Test debuts.
Fifth Test
Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
6 March was taken as a rest day
DRA Gehrs (AUS) made his Test debut.
Tour matches
South Australia v M.C.C.
MCC won the toss and elected to bat.
8 November was taken as a rest day
Total attendance was about 19,000.
Victoria v M.C.C.
Victoria won the toss and elected to field.
15 November was taken as a rest day
The match was scheduled for four days but was completed in three.
Total attendance was about 23,500.
New South Wales v M.C.C.
MCC won the toss and elected to field.
22 November was taken as a rest day
The match was scheduled for four days but was completed in three.
Total attendance was 40,589.
Queensland v M.C.C.
Queensland won the toss and elected to bat.
29 November was taken as a rest day.
Total attendance was about 19,000.
Northern District XVIII v M.C.C.
Northern Districts XVIII &
v
Newcastle XV v M.C.C.
MCC 306 (76 overs)
& 381/8 (82 overs)
v
Melbourne Colts XVIII v M.C.C.
19, 21, 22 December 1903 (3-day match)
scorecard
MCC 416 (121 overs)
v
Melbourne Juniors XVIII 124 (67.5 overs)
& 193 (
f/o ) (77.5 overs)
Bendigo and District XVIII v M.C.C.
Bendigo XVIII &
v
Ballarat XVIII v M.C.C.
MCC XVII 326 (104 overs)
& 226 (55 overs)
v
Ballarat XVIII
Tasmania v M.C.C.
MCC won the toss and elected to bat.
Tasmania v M.C.C.
Tasmania won the toss and elected to bat.
Total attendance was about 5,000.
Victoria v M.C.C.
Victoria won the toss and elected to field.
7 February was taken as a rest day
There was no play on the second day. Total attendance was about 6,100.
New South Wales v M.C.C.
MCC won the toss and elected to bat.
14 February was taken as a rest day.
The match was scheduled for four days but completed in three.
Total attendance was 28,296.
Western District XV v M.C.C.
Bathurst XV 248 (74.4 overs)
& 151/3
d v
MCC XVII176
& 115/5
South Australia v M.C.C.
South Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
13 March was taken as a rest day.
Total attendance was about 7,500.
References
External sources
Further reading
H S Altham , A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914) , George Allen & Unwin, 1962Bill Frindall , The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877–1978 , Wisden, 1979David Frith , The Golden Age of Cricket 1890–1914 , Lutterworth, 1978Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket , Andre Deutsch, 1993
Plum Warner , How We Recovered The Ashes , Longman, 1905Roy Webber , The Playfair Book of Cricket Records , Playfair Books, 1951Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1905
1850 1900 1950 2000
Non-Ashes Australia v England Test series
Matches in white background were played in England, yellow – in Australia.
International cricket tours of Australia
Test and LOI tours
Afghanistan Bangladesh England India New Zealand Pakistan South Africa Sri Lanka West Indies Zimbabwe
Other tours
Afghanistan Australian Forces English England Lions Fijian Ireland Multi-national Nepal New Zealand PNG Scotland Sri Lanka UAE World Series Cricket Pakistan A
§: Toured New Zealand as well as Australia
