England in Australia 1876-1877
England in Australia 1876-1877
The first series of Test Cricket proved to be shockingly a banger on all fronts considering old games where very one sided to the English (mostly).
Australia won this game due to the heroics of one man. One singular man out of the 22 that graced the field in the first ever test match could be considered a game winner. His name is Charles Bannerman. The MCG was a bowling friendly wicket during this test but never the less Bannerman scored the first ever run and the first ever ton. A mammoth 165 which almost outscored England in both innings (If it wasn’t for some classy batting from Harry Jupp) saw the Australians march home to an empathic victory by 45 runs. The win was also in due thanks to bowling heroics of Tom Kendall who stopped an English middle order fight back late in the game to get 7 wickets and the victory. However, Bannerman retiring hurt would lead to a short career for Charles only playing a few more games for the Aussies.
Hero of the first test Bannerman:
Alex’s Rating – 9/10
This test is often forgotten due to Bannerman’s 165 in the first test however this one was still a cracker. An English team which was at that time on paper better then the Australians needed to bounce back. Enter Allen Hill. He took 5 wickets with the ball and scored a combined 65 with the bat including hitting the winners to see England over the line. An injured bannerman was only able to amount 40 runs for the test outscored by England’s entire middle order. Spofforth “The Demon Bowler” and the critically underrated Tom Kendall tried to fight back with the bowling for the Australians but they just couldn’t.
The English:
Alex’s Rating – 8/10
For me Bannerman was definitely player of the series for his 165, the test series all in all was a cracking contest (from reports) and I think both teams proved to be square in the end. Alex’s Rating: 8/10
The series ended up 1-1 all which was a win for both sides Gregory’s Australians proved they could play and Lillywhite’s England proved they were still on top. Join me Next time as I give a much longer report on the sole test match of 1879. Until next time goodbye.
