View source for Australian cricket team in England in 1961

{{Short description|International cricket tour}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
The '''1961 Australian cricket tour of England''' began with a three-day match versus [[Worcestershire County Cricket Club|Worcestershire]] at the [[New Road, Worcester|County Ground, New Road]], [[Worcester, England|Worcester]] on Saturday 29 April, play continuing on Monday 1 May and Tuesday 2 May. This match was rain-affected and ended in a draw. The tour ended at Trinity College Park, [[Dublin]] on 19 September when the Australians completed a 282 run victory in a two-day match versus [[Irish cricket team|Ireland]].

In the first innings of the tour match against Cambridge University in mid-May, the Australians scored 449-3d - still the lowest first-class innings to feature four individual centuries.<ref>{{cite web |title=Australia in England, 1961 Cambridge University v Australia |url=http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1960S/1961/AUS_IN_ENG/AUS_CAMB-UNIV_17-19MAY1961.html |website=static.espncricinfo.com |access-date=12 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Frindall |first1=Bill |title=The Wisden Book of Cricket Records |date=1998 |publisher=Headline Book Publishing |location=London |isbn=0747222037 |pages=30 |edition=4th}}</ref>

The Australian tour party consisted of these players: [[Richie Benaud|R Benaud]] (captain), [[Neil Harvey|R N Harvey]] (vice-captain), [[Wally Grout|A T W Grout]] (wicket-keeper), [[Barry Jarman|B N Jarman]] (wicket-keeper), [[Bill Lawry|W M Lawry]], [[Norm O'Neill|N C O'Neill]], [[Peter Burge (cricketer)|P J P Burge]], [[Colin McDonald (Australian cricketer)|C C McDonald]], [[Brian Booth|B C Booth]], [[Bob Simpson (cricketer)|R B Simpson]], [[Ken Mackay|K D Mackay]], [[Alan Keith Davidson|A K Davidson]], [[Frank Misson|F M Misson]], [[Graham McKenzie|G D McKenzie]], [[Ron Gaunt|R A Gaunt]], [[Ian Quick|I W Quick]], [[Lindsay Kline|L F Kline]].

==Series overview==
The main business of the tour was a five-Test series versus England. The matches were played at [[Edgbaston Cricket Ground|Edgbaston]], [[Lord's]], [[Headingley Stadium|Headingley]], [[Old Trafford (cricket)|Old Trafford]] and [[The Oval]]. Australia won the series 2–1 to retain [[The Ashes]].

==Test series summary==
<blockquote>
''No captain of my time has impressed me more than [[Richie Benaud]]. Richie had the gift of making you feel you were a better player than you really were. He made his players believe they could win, even when the cause looked utterly hopeless. Nothing illustrated more clearly Richie's adroit handling of men than his leadership of the 1961 Australian team which came to Britain. They should never have won the rubber with those players, but Richie instilled into them his belief in themselves - this attitude that "there is nothing we cannot achieve if we set our minds to it".''
:[[Ray Illingworth]]<ref>pp33-34, [[Richard Whitington]], ''Captains Outrageous?'', Stanley Paul, 1972</ref>
</blockquote>

===First Test===
{{Two-innings cricket match
| date = 8–13 June 1961<br />(5-day match)
| team1 = {{cr-rt|ENG}}
| team2 = {{cr|AUS}}

| score-team1-inns1 = 195 (84.3 overs)
| runs-team1-inns1 = [[Raman Subba Row|R. Subba Row]] 59
| wickets-team1-inns1 = [[Ken Mackay|K.D. Mackay]] 4/57 (29 overs)<br />[[Richie Benaud|R. Benaud]] 3/15 (14.3 overs)

| score-team2-inns1 = 516/9[[Declaration and forfeiture|d]] (152.5 overs)
| runs-team2-inns1 = [[Neil Harvey|R.N. Harvey]] 114<br />[[Norm O'Neill|N.C.L. O'Neill]] 82<br />[[Bob Simpson (cricketer)|R.B. Simpson]] 76
| wickets-team2-inns1 = [[Brian Statham|Statham, J.B.]] 3/147 (43 overs)

| score-team1-inns2 = 401/4 (154 overs)
| runs-team1-inns2 = [[Ted Dexter|E.R. Dexter]] 180<br />[[Raman Subba Row|R. Subba Row]] 112
| wickets-team1-inns2 = [[Frank Misson|F.M. Misson]] 2/82 (28 overs)

| score-team2-inns2 = 
| runs-team2-inns2 = 
| wickets-team2-inns2 =

| result = Match drawn
| report = [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/24/24824.html Scorecard]
| venue = [[Edgbaston Cricket Ground|Edgbaston]], [[Birmingham]]
| umpires = [[Syd Buller|Buller, J.S.]] and [[Frank Lee (cricketer)|Lee, F.S.]]
| toss = England won the toss and elected to bat.
| rain = 11 June was taken as a rest day.
| notes = [[Bill Lawry|W.M. Lawry]] (AUS) and [[John Murray (cricketer, born 1935)|Murray, J.T.]] (ENG) made their Test debuts.
}}

===Second Test===
{{Two-innings cricket match
| date = 22–26 June 1961<br />(5-day match)
| team1 = {{cr-rt|ENG}}
| team2 = {{cr|AUS}}

| score-team1-inns1 = 206 (78.3 overs)
| runs-team1-inns1 = [[Raman Subba Row|R. Subba Row]] 48
| wickets-team1-inns1 = [[Alan Keith Davidson|A.K. Davidson]] 5/42 (24.3 overs)

| score-team2-inns1 = 340 (139.3 overs)
| runs-team2-inns1 = [[Bill Lawry|W.M. Lawry]] 130<br />[[Ken Mackay|K.D. Mackay]] 54
| wickets-team2-inns1 = [[Fred Trueman|Trueman, F.S.]] 4/118 (34 overs)<br />[[Ted Dexter|E.R. Dexter]] 3/56 (24 overs)

| score-team1-inns2 = 202 (97 overs)
| runs-team1-inns2 = [[Ken Barrington|Barrington, K.F.]] 66<br />[[Geoff Pullar|Pullar, G.]] 42
| wickets-team1-inns2 = [[Graham McKenzie|G.D. McKenzie]] 5/37 (29 overs)

| score-team2-inns2 = 71/5 (20.5 overs)
| runs-team2-inns2 = [[Peter Burge (cricketer)|P.J.P. Burge]] 37[[not out|*]]
| wickets-team2-inns2 = [[Brian Statham|Statham, J.B.]] 3/31 (10.5 overs)<br />[[Fred Trueman|Trueman, F.S.]] 2/40 (10 overs)

| result = Australia won by 5 wickets
| report = [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/24/24879.html Scorecard]
| venue = [[Lord's]], [[London]]
| umpires = [[Charlie Elliott|Elliott, C.S.]] and [[Eddie Phillipson|Phillipson, W.E.]]
| toss = England won the toss and elected to bat.
| rain = 25 June was taken as a rest day.
*''The match was scheduled for five days but completed in four.''
| notes = [[Graham McKenzie|G.D. McKenzie]] (AUS) made his Test debut.
}}

===Third Test===
{{Two-innings cricket match
| date = 6–8 July 1961<br />(5-day match)
| team1 = {{cr-rt|AUS}}
| team2 = {{cr|ENG}}

| score-team1-inns1 = 237 (110 overs)
| runs-team1-inns1 = [[Neil Harvey|R.N. Harvey]] 73<br />[[Colin McDonald (Australian cricketer)|C.C. McDonald]] 54
| wickets-team1-inns1 = [[Fred Trueman|Trueman, F.S.]] 5/58 (22 overs)

| score-team2-inns1 = 299 (149 overs)
| runs-team2-inns1 = [[Colin Cowdrey|M.C. Cowdrey]] 93<br />[[Geoff Pullar|Pullar, G.]] 53
| wickets-team2-inns1 = [[Alan Keith Davidson|A.K. Davidson]] 5/63 (47 overs)<br />[[Graham McKenzie|G.D. McKenzie]] 3/64 (27 overs)

| score-team1-inns2 = 120 (52.5 overs)
| runs-team1-inns2 = [[Neil Harvey|R.N. Harvey]] 53
| wickets-team1-inns2 = [[Fred Trueman|Trueman, F.S.]] 6/30 (15.5 overs)

| score-team2-inns2 = 62/2 (23 overs)
| runs-team2-inns2 = [[Geoff Pullar|Pullar, G.]] 26[[not out|*]]<br />[[Colin Cowdrey|M.C. Cowdrey]] 22
| wickets-team2-inns2 = [[Alan Keith Davidson|A.K. Davidson]] 1/17 (11 overs)

| result = England won by 8 wickets
| report = [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/24/24936.html Scorecard]
| venue = [[Headingley Cricket Ground|Headingley]], [[Leeds]]
| umpires = [[Syd Buller|JS Buller]] and [[John Langridge|Langridge, J.G.]]
| toss = Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
| rain = The match was scheduled for five days but completed in three.
| notes = 
}}

===Fourth Test===
{{Two-innings cricket match
| date = 27 July–1 August 1961<br />(5-day match)
| team1 = {{cr-rt|AUS}}
| team2 = {{cr|ENG}}

| score-team1-inns1 = 190 (63.4 overs)
| runs-team1-inns1 = [[Bill Lawry|W.M. Lawry]] 74<br />[[Brian Booth|B.C. Booth]] 46
| wickets-team1-inns1 = [[Brian Statham|Statham, J.B.]] 5/53 (21 overs)<br />[[Ted Dexter|E.R. Dexter]] 3/16 (6.4 overs)

| score-team2-inns1 = 367 (163.4 overs)
| runs-team2-inns1 = [[Peter May (cricketer)|P.B.H. May]] 95<br />[[Ken Barrington|Barrington, K.F.]] 78<br />[[Geoff Pullar|Pullar, G.]] 63
| wickets-team2-inns1 = [[Bob Simpson (cricketer)|R.B. Simpson]] 4/23 (11.4 overs)<br />[[Alan Keith Davidson|A.K. Davidson]] 3/70 (39 overs)

| score-team1-inns2 = 432 (171.4 overs)
| runs-team1-inns2 = [[Bill Lawry|W.M. Lawry]] 102<br />[[Alan Keith Davidson|A.K. Davidson]] 77[[not out|*]]<br />[[Norm O'Neill|N.C.L. O'Neill]] 67
| wickets-team1-inns2 = [[David Allen (cricketer)|Allen, D.A.]] 4/58 (38 overs)<br />[[Ted Dexter|E.R. Dexter]] 3/61 (20 overs)

| score-team2-inns2 = 201 (71.4 overs)
| runs-team2-inns2 = [[Ted Dexter|E.R. Dexter]] 76<br />[[Raman Subba Row|R. Subba Row]] 49
| wickets-team2-inns2 = [[Richie Benaud|R. Benaud]] 6/70 (32 overs)

| result = Australia won by 54 runs
| report = [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/25/25022.html Scorecard]
| venue = [[Old Trafford Cricket Ground|Old Trafford]], [[Manchester]]
| umpires = [[John Langridge|Langridge, J.G.]] and [[Eddie Phillipson|Phillipson, W.E.]]
| toss = Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
| rain = 30 July was taken as a rest day.
| notes = [[Brian Booth|B.C. Booth]] (AUS) and [[Jack Flavell|Flavell, J.A.]] (ENG) made their Test debuts.
}}

===Fifth Test===
{{Two-innings cricket match
| date = 17–22 August 1961<br />(5-day match)
| team1 = {{cr-rt|ENG}}
| team2 = {{cr|AUS}}

| score-team1-inns1 = 256 (118.1 overs)
| runs-team1-inns1 = [[Peter May (cricketer)|P.B.H. May]] 71<br />[[Ken Barrington|Barrington, K.F.]] 53
| wickets-team1-inns1 = [[Alan Keith Davidson|A.K. Davidson]] 4/83 (34.1 overs)<br />[[Ron Gaunt|R.A. Gaunt]] 3/53 (24 overs)

| score-team2-inns1 = 494 (165.5 overs)
| runs-team2-inns1 = [[Peter Burge (cricketer)|P.J.P. Burge]] 181<br />[[Norm O'Neill|N.C.L. O'Neill]] 117<br />[[Brian Booth|B.C. Booth]] 71
| wickets-team2-inns1 = [[David Allen (cricketer)|Allen, D.A.]] 4/133 (30 overs)<br />[[Brian Statham|Statham, J.B.]] 3/75 (38.5 overs)

| score-team1-inns2 = 370/8 (177 overs)
| runs-team1-inns2 = [[Raman Subba Row|R. Subba Row]] 137<br />[[Ken Barrington|Barrington, K.F.]] 83
| wickets-team1-inns2 = [[Ken Mackay|K.D. Mackay]] 5/121 (68 overs)<br />[[Richie Benaud|R. Benaud]] 3/113 (51 overs)

| score-team2-inns2 = 
| runs-team2-inns2 = 
| wickets-team2-inns2 =

| result = Match drawn
| report = [https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/25/25098.html Scorecard]
| venue = [[The Oval]], [[London]]
| umpires = [[Charlie Elliott|Elliott, C.S.]] and [[Frank Lee (cricketer)|Lee, F.S.]]
| toss = England won the toss and elected to bat.
| rain = 20 August was taken as a rest day.
| notes = 
}}

Five years after their disastrous showing against [[Jim Laker]], the Australians returned to the top of the international tree by retaining the Ashes in England only months after their exciting victory over the West Indies in the memorable [[Tied test]] series of 1960–1961 played "Down Under".

The 1961 series was a personal triumph for skipper Richie Benaud, whose match-winning bowling and astute leadership in the fourth Test at Old Trafford proved to be the decisive factor in the series. With the series square, England needed 256 to win and were expected to get them, but Benaud, by bowling his leg breaks round the wicket into some rough created by footmarks, took 6–70 to secure an Australian victory by 54 runs. The key moment came when he bowled the England captain [[Peter May (cricketer)|Peter May]] behind his legs for a duck. The bemused May had to be told by Aussie keeper Wally Grout that he had been bowled.

Australia won the series by drawing the final Test at The Oval and it confirmed a supremacy over England that would endure throughout the decade.

England in 1961 was heavily reliant on the fast bowling of [[Fred Trueman]], then at his peak. It was his brilliant performance at Headingley, where he took 11 wickets in the match, that earned England its only win in the series.

Peter May had missed the start of the series and he relinquished the captaincy at the end of the summer, telling the selectors he did not wish to be considered for any more overseas tours. At the age of 32, he hoped to continue playing for Surrey but, as it turned out, he was lost to the game. He was one of the last amateur cricketers and he decided to make his living in the City of London.

== The Tests in detail ==
After the first match was drawn, Australia had their traditional victory at Lord's (England not having defeated them there since 1934), by 5 wickets on a lively pitch. Davidson did the damage in the first England innings and McKenzie in the second. Lawry's 130 in Australia's first innings, when nobody else on either side made more than 66 in either innings, was crucial.

England won by 8 wickets at Headingley, Australia collapsing in their second innings from 99–2 to 120 all out, thanks to Trueman's devastating spell of off-cutters. He finished with figures of 6-30, having taken 5–58 in the first innings.

The Fourth Test at Old Trafford proved decisive. It was won by Australia by 54 runs. The last day was very exciting, seeing many turns of fortune. England had managed a first innings lead of 177. Australia's second innings had reached 331–6 at the close of the fourth day, a lead of 154. On the final morning, [[David Allen (cricketer)|David Allen]] took 3 wickets quickly, reducing Australia to 334–9, and the game seemed won by England. But Davidson then took the attack to the bowlers, hitting Allen for 20 in an over, and with help from McKenzie added 98 for the last wicket. England needed 256 to win at 67 runs an hour. [[Ted Dexter]], well supported by [[Raman Subba Row]], scored 76 in 84 minutes and took England to 150–1, and strong favourites to win. But Benaud went round the wicket and aimed at the bowlers' footmarks, and caused a collapse. He finished with 6-70, and Australia won with 20 minutes to spare, thereby retaining The Ashes.

The final Test was drawn, after Australia had taken a big first innings lead.

==Ceylon==
The Australians had a stopover in [[Colombo]] ''en route'' to England and played a one-day single-innings match there against the Ceylon national team, which at that time did not have Test status.<ref name="CACE">{{cite web |url-access=subscription  |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Events/8/Australia_in_Ceylon_1960-61.html |publisher=CricketArchive |title=Ceylon v Australia 1961 |access-date=30 June 2014}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Annual reviews==
* [[Playfair Cricket Annual]] 1962
* [[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack]] 1962

==Further reading==
* [[Bill Frindall]], ''The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877-1978'', Wisden, 1979
* Chris Harte, ''A History of Australian Cricket'', Andre Deutsch, 1993, {{ISBN|0233051309}}
* Ray Robinson, ''On Top Down Under'', Cassell, 1975
* Fraser Simm, ''Echoes of a Summer Game'', Stow, Selkirkshire, 2004

==External links==
* [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/Tours_1961.html CricketArchive &ndash; tour summaries]

{{Ashes Test series}}
{{International cricket tours of England}}
{{International cricket tours of Sri Lanka}}

[[Category:1961 in Australian cricket]]
[[Category:1961 in English cricket]]
[[Category:1961 in Ceylon]]
[[Category:Australian cricket tours of England|1961]]
[[Category:Australian cricket tours of Sri Lanka|1961]]
[[Category:International cricket competitions from 1960–61 to 1970]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan cricket seasons from 1880–81 to 1971–72]]
[[Category:The Ashes|1961]]