Related Research Articles
Gregory Stephen Chappell is a former cricketer who represented Australia at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). The second of three brothers to play Test cricket,Chappell was the pre-eminent Australian batsman of his time who allied elegant stroke making to fierce concentration. An exceptional all round player who bowled medium pace and,at his retirement,held the world record for the most catches in Test cricket,Chappell's career straddled two eras as the game moved toward a greater level of professionalism after the WSC schism.
The tour by the Australian cricket team in England in 1981 included the 51st Ashes series of Test matches between Australia and England. Despite having been 1–0 down after two Tests,England won the next three to finish 3–1 victors,thus retaining the Ashes.
Ian Ritchie Redpath is an Australian former international cricketer who played in 66 Test matches and five One Day Internationals between 1964 and 1976. Greg Chappell said he was one of only two players he knew who would kill to get into the Australian Test team,the other being Rod Marsh.
Centenary Test refers to two matches of Test cricket played between the English cricket team and the Australian cricket team,the first in 1977 and the second in 1980. These matches were played to mark the 100th anniversaries of the first Test cricket matches played in Australia (1877) and in England (1880) respectively. Neither match was played for The Ashes.
Maxwell George O'Connell was an Australian Test cricket match umpire.
M.J.K. Smith captained the English cricket team in Australia in 1965–66,playing as England in the 1965-66 Ashes series against the Australians and as the MCC in their other matches on the tour. The 5-Tests series ended in 1–1 draw. Although they failed to reclaim the Ashes this was not unexpected as the Australian press labelled them the weakest MCC team to arrive in Australia and the bookmakers were giving odds of 7/2 on their winning the series. These views rapidly changed as they set about winning their state matches with exciting,aggressive cricket and by the First Test the odds against them had been reduced to evens. Lindsay Hassett said "other teams from England may have been better technically but none had tried so hard to make the game as interesting as possible". Financially the tour's receipts were much lower than in 1962–63 due to the number of rain-affected games in a wet Australian summer and the general doldrums of the sixties.
Ray Illingworth captained the English cricket team in Australia in 1970–71,playing as England in the 1970–71 Ashes series against the Australians and as the MCC in their other matches on the tour. They had a successful tour;however,it was an acrimonious one,as Illingworth's team often argued with their own management and the Australian umpires. When they arrived,the Australian selector Neil Harvey called them "rubbish",and others labelled them "Dad's Army" because of the seniority of the players,whose average age was over 30,but these experienced veterans beat the younger Australian team. They are the only touring team to play a full Test series in Australia without defeat.
The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1972 season to play a five-match Test series against England for the Ashes. The series was drawn 2–2 and England retained the Ashes. This was the last drawn series until 2019. The two sides also played a three-match ODI series,which England won 2–1.
Mike Denness captained the English cricket team in Australia in 1974–75,playing as England in the 1974-75 Ashes series against the Australians and as the MCC in their other matches on the tour. They lost the Test series and the Ashes 4–1 thanks to the battering they received from the fast bowling of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson,but won the One Day International and with Lillee and Thomson injured they came back to win the Sixth Test by an innings.
Following the 1975 Cricket World Cup,the Australian cricket team remained in England in the 1975 season to play a four-match Test series against England.
The 1954–55 Ashes series consisted of five cricket Test matches,each of six days with five hours play each day and eight ball overs. It formed part of the MCC tour of Australia in 1954–55 and the matches outside the Tests were played in the name of the Marylebone Cricket Club. The England team was captained by Len Hutton,the first professional cricketer to lead an MCC tour of Australia. The Australian team under Ian Johnson was confident of victory,but despite losing the First Test by an innings England won the series 3–1 and retained the Ashes. They were the only touring team to win a series in Australia between 1932–33 and 1970–71 and only the second of three touring teams to win a series in Australia from behind. The tour is best remembered for the bowling of Frank "Typhoon" Tyson,who was at the time regarded as the fastest,most frightening bowler ever seen in Australia. The series saw a phenomenal concentration of bowling prowess on both sides –four of the bowlers had career Test averages under 21,another five under 25 and the remaining four under 30. Unsurprisingly therefore,the ball dominated the bat for most of the series and each side only topped 300 in an innings twice. Unlike the following series in 1958–59 there were rarely any umpiring disputes and Keith Miller wrote "Mel McInnes,Colin Hoy and Ron Wright were our leading umpires in the 1954–55 M.C.C. tour of Australia,and I have no hesitation in saying that McInnes gave the finest exhibition of umpiring in a Test series that I have experienced".
The 1970–71 Ashes series was the 45th edition of the long-standing cricket rivalry between England and Australia. Starting on 27 November 1970,the two sides ended up playing seven Tests;six were originally scheduled,but one extra Test was added to compensate for the abandoned Third Test.
The 1970-71 Australians lost 2-0 to the touring England team in the 1970-71 Ashes series. Australia had not lost a home Test series since 1954-55,but had suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat in South Africa in 1969-70 which had affected their confidence. On paper they should have had a good team,and E.W. Swanton reckoned they were favourites to hold on to The Ashes,but Rod Marsh,Dennis Lillee and Greg Chappell had yet to mature and Bill Lawry,Garth McKenzie and John Gleeson were at the end of their careers. In more fortunate circumstances the senior players could have eased the newcomers into the team,but Ray Illingworth was a captain who exploited every weakness and they did not get the chance. Their cause was not helped by the selectors Sir Donald Bradman,Sam Loxton and Neil Harvey who chose nineteen different players in the series,nine of them debutants,and continuously chopped and changed the team which did not allow it to settle.
The England team disputed several umpiring decisions in the 1970–71 Ashes series,Ray Illingworth,Geoffrey Boycott and John Snow in particular. After the series Boycott and Snow were called to a disciplinary hearing at Lords over their behaviour,and Illingworth and Snow never toured again. Only three umpires were used;Lou Rowan,who was most involved in the controversy,and his colleagues Tom Brooks and Max O'Connell who both debuted as Test umpires in the series. At the time,umpires had no recourse to slow motion replays and had to make decisions based on what they saw in a split second,with the benefit of the doubt always going to the batsman. As a result it was not uncommon for umpires to make mistakes,which over the course of a long series tended to cancel each other out. The best an umpire could do was to make an honest judgement based on what he saw.
The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) toured Australia during the 1970–71 cricket season,playing seven Test matches and what would become officially recognized as the first-ever One Day International (ODI). This was the MCC's 15th visit to Australia since it took official control of English cricket tours overseas in 1903–1904. The MCC was captained by Ray Illingworth,while Australia was captained by Bill Lawry until he was sacked and replaced by Ian Chappell for the seventh Test.
The 1965–66 Ashes series consisted of five cricket Test matches,each of five days with six hours play and eight ball overs. It formed part of the MCC tour of Australia in 1965–66 and the matches outside the Tests were played in the name of the Marylebone Cricket Club. M.J.K. Smith led the England team with the intent on regaining the Ashes lost in the 1958–59 Ashes series,but the series was drawn 1-1 and they were retained by Australia. The Australian team was captained by Bobby Simpson in three Tests,and his vice-captain Brian Booth in two Tests.
The 1965-66 Australians drew 1-1 with the touring England team in the 1965-66 Ashes series. They were strong in batting,but weak in bowling and by the end of the series had seven batsmen,an all-rounder,a wicket-keeper and only two specialist bowlers in the team,with the batsman helping out with their part-time bowling skills.
The 1974–75 Ashes series consisted of six cricket Test matches,each match lasted five days with six hours of play each day and eight ball overs. It formed part of the MCC tour of Australia in 1974–75 and the matches outside the Tests were played in the name of the Marylebone Cricket Club. Ian Chappell's Australians won the series 4–1 and "brutally and unceremoniously wrenched the Ashes" from Mike Denness's England team. It was Australia's first series victory over England for ten years and the experience proved popular as 777,563 spectators came through the gates and paid nearly a million Australian dollars for the privilege. For the first time the first day of the Third Test at Melbourne was held on Boxing Day in an Ashes series,now a cricketing tradition.
The 1974–75 Australians beat the touring England team 4–1 in the 1974-75 Ashes series. Labelled the Ugly Australians for their hard-nosed cricket,sledging,and hostile fast bowling,they are regarded as one of the toughest teams in cricket history. Don Bradman ranked them just after his powerful teams of the late 1940s,and Tom Graveney third amongst post-war cricket teams after the 1948 Australians and 1984 West Indians. The spearhead of the team was the fast-bowling duo of Dennis Lillee,whose hatred of English batsmen was well known,and Jeff Thomson,who outraged old fashioned cricketers by saying he liked to see "blood on the wicket". Wisden reported that "never in the 98 years of Test cricket have batsmen been so grievously bruised and battered by ferocious,hostile,short-pitched balls". "Behind the batsmen,Rod Marsh and his captain Ian Chappell would vie with each other in profanity",but the predatory wicketkeeper and Australian slip cordon snapped up most chances that came their way. Their batting line up was also impressive with the opener Ian Redpath spending over 32 hours at the crease in the series,followed by Rick McCosker,Ian and Greg Chappell,Doug Walters and Ross Edwards. In the last Test of the series Lillee and Thomson were injured,the out of form England captain Mike Denness made 188 and England won by an innings.
The Marylebone Cricket Club tour of Australia in 1974-75 under the captaincy of Mike Denness was its sixteenth since it took official control of overseas tours in 1903-1904. The touring team played as England in the 1974–75 Ashes series against Australia,but as the MCC in all other games. In all there were 24 matches;6 Test matches,9 other First Class matches,a One Day International,which they won,another one-day game,which they lost,and 8 minor matches.
