An England team toured Australia between November 1920 and March 1921. The tour was organised by the Marylebone Cricket Club and matches outside the Tests were played under the MCC name. The tour itinerary consisted of thirteen first-class matches, including a series of five Test matches against Australia in which The Ashes were at stake.

Tour review The tour was the first to have Test status after the First World War. It followed tours by the Australian Imperial Forces cricket team which played a number of first-class matches in England, South Africa and Australia immediately after the war. The last Ashes series had been the 1912 Triangular Tournament held in England that year.

Although the tourists were relatively successful in their first-class matches against the Australian state teams, losing only one, the Test series "resulted, as everyone knows, in disaster"Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1922 and England became the first team ever to lose every match in a five-Test series.Burton S (2021) The 1920-21 Ashes: typhus quarantine and unseemly barracking, The Guardian, 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2021-03-02.

Wisden commented that the chief cause of England's failure was the bowling, because all of the bowlers used were expensive and recorded high averages. Much has been made of Australia's ability to recover from the effects of the war more quickly than England and Wisden commented that "English cricket had not had time to regain its pre-war standard".

Test series summary First Test

Second Test

Third Test

Fourth Test

Fifth Test

Summary of other first-class matches South Australia (Adelaide Oval) — MCC won by an innings and 55 runs Victoria (Melbourne Cricket Ground) — MCC won by an innings and 59 runs New South Wales (Sydney Cricket Ground) — New South Wales won by 6 wickets Queensland (Brisbane Exhibition Ground) — MCC won by an innings and 41 runs Australian XI (Brisbane Exhibition Ground) — match drawn Victoria (Melbourne Cricket Ground) — MCC won by 7 wickets New South Wales (Sydney Cricket Ground) — match drawn South Australia (Adelaide Oval) — MCC won by an innings and 63 runs

England touring party The England touring party consisted of 16 players led by Essex all-rounder Johnny Douglas.

When the party was originally selected, Reggie Spooner was invited to be the team captain but he was obliged to stand down for domestic reasons. Vallance Jupp had been selected too but was unable to travel. Jupp's withdrawal was shortly before departure and meant that his replacement Bill Hitch had to catch a later boat than the main party. There was another withdrawal when Jack Hearne was taken ill during the Second Test and could not play again that season.

There was a controversy over Rockley Wilson who sent match reports by cable to the Daily Express. As a result, MCC resolved at a meeting the following May to bar players from reporting on matches in which they were involved.

All-rounders Johnny Douglas, Essex (captain) Percy Fender, Surrey J W Hearne, Middlesex Wilfred Rhodes, Yorkshire Rockley Wilson, Yorkshire Frank Woolley, Kent

Batsmen Patsy Hendren, Middlesex Jack Hobbs, Surrey Harry Makepeace, Lancashire Jack Russell, Essex

Bowlers Bill Hitch, Surrey Harry Howell, Warwickshire Cec Parkin, Lancashire Abe Waddington, Yorkshire

Wicketkeepers Arthur Dolphin, Yorkshire Bert Strudwick, Surrey

Australian players in Test series Australia used 14 players in the Test series. Eight players took part in all five matches including the captain Warwick Armstrong.

All-rounders Warwick Armstrong, Victoria (captain) Charles Kelleway, New South Wales Jack Gregory, New South Wales

Batsmen Warren Bardsley, New South Wales Herbie Collins, New South Wales Charlie Macartney, New South Wales Roy Park, Victoria Nip Pellew, South Australia Jack Ryder, Victoria Johnny Taylor, New South Wales

Bowlers Ted McDonald, Victoria Arthur Mailey, New South Wales

Wicketkeepers Sammy Carter, New South Wales Bert Oldfield, New South Wales

Ceylon The English team had a stopover in Colombo en route to Australia and played a one-day single-innings match there against the Ceylon national team, which at that time did not have Test status.

References

Further reading Bill Frindall, The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877-1978, Wisden, 1979 Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993 Ray Robinson, On Top Down Under, Cassell, 1975 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1922

External links Wisden online: tour review CricketArchive tour itinerary Tour index at Cricinfo