Story The Re-History of International Cricket

[ddrap14]

yeah I might have fully lost the plot on this one. Inspired by Aislabie's alternative Test timeline, I might be trying to rewrite (literally) the history of Tests at least (ODIs will be considered too). Let's see how well this goes...

World Champion of Cricket: DNE
Bannerman Shield Holder: (won 5/7/1880 vs )

more stats and stuff TBA as this goes

 

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Australia vs England
15 March 1877
MCG

Lineups:
- Charles Bannerman, Nat Thomson, Tom Horan, Dave Gregory (C), BB Cooper, Billy Midwinter, Ned Gregory, Jack Blackham (WK), Tom Garrett, Tom Kendall, John Hodges
- Harry Jupp, John Selby (WK), Harry Charlwood, George Ulyett, Andrew Greenwood, Tom Armitage, Alfred Shaw, Tom Emmett, Allen Hill, James Lillywhite Jr (C), James Southerton
(all debut)

England won the toss, and Lillywhite elected to put the Australians in to bat. Australia's openers then thwarted the England opening bowlers, adding 50 in the first session before Bannerman missed a swipe at Southerton and was bowled for 26. Horan failed, Gregory made 15, and Thomson, after a good showing, was caught at cover off Emmett for 42. Bransby Cooper played well for his 32 but lost a string of partners to a great spell from George Ulyett, with Midwinter out for two, Gregory for eight, and Jack Blackham making the first duck in Test history. But Tom Garrett and Tom Kendall showed some fight, dragging the Aussie total to 178 all out.

England's first Test ball was defended by Harry Jupp from the bowling of Kendall. England's second Test ball was missed, and bowled Jupp. Selby made 37, but lost Harry Charlwood along the way too for 14. George Ulyett, though, again made the difference, making 52 for Test Cricket's best 50. Greenwood, Armitage and Shaw all delivered decent supporting knocks in the teens, but when Ulyett fell to a runout, it looked like the first innings would be roundly similar. Enter Tom Emmett and Allen Hill, who added 70. Emmett fell for 35, and then Lillywhite and Southerton held on enough to get Hill to 41*. England got a lead of 61, being 239 all out. Kendall's 3/48 and Midwinter's 3/73 were the bowling highlights, but Garrett was expensive.

Australia's second innings saw Nat Thomson work his way to an accomplished 47. He did not receive support, though. Charles Bannerman was dismissed by Shaw for 7, Tom Horan fell to Ulyett for 5, and Dave Gregory was bowled by Emmett for a 12-ball duck. Emmett then took apart the middle order, with Cooper being caught behind for eleven, Midwinter LBW for two, and Thomson finally dismissed, caught by captain Lillywhite. Ned Gregory and Blackham, though, turned the tables. Blackham dug in for his 29, and then Tom Garrett followed with 35. Gregory, meanwhile, scored 54 to take the new highest score in Tests after passing Ulyett. Tom Kendall biffed 15* before Hodges was again out cheap to end the Australian innings. Emmett's 5/30 was the standout performance for the Poms, but Hill's poor Test continued with the ball.

England needed 153 to win, and Jupp and Selby almost took half of that off before Jupp missed one from Hodges and was out for 26. Charlwood got going and the two were cruising until the dismissal of Selby for 63 with just 22 needed. Ulyett and Charlwood added 15, but Greenwood and Armitage then failed, with Armitage getting Test cricket's first golden duck. Charlwood got to 51 and dragged England across the line with Shaw, though.

AUS 178 (Thomson 42, Ulyett 6/27) and 213 (N Gregory 54, Thomson 47, Emmett 5/30) lose to ENG 239 (Ulyett 52, Hill 41*, Kendall 3/48) and 5/153 (Selby 63, Charlwood 51*, Hodges 4/24)
MOTM: George Ulyett

 

[pillowprocter]

is this just like, off the top of your head? or RNGed?

 

[ddrap14]

is this just like, off the top of your head? or RNGed?

As of RN, kinda a combo - still trying to figure out the most efficient system

 

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Australia vs England
31 March 1877
MCG

Lineups:
- Charles Bannerman, Nat Thomson, Jack Blackham (WK), Tom Garrett, Billy Midwinter, Ned Gregory, Fred Spofforth, Billy Murdoch, Dave Gregory (C), Tom Kendall, John Hodges
- Harry Jupp, John Selby (WK), Harry Charlwood, Alfred Shaw, George Ulyett, Andrew Greenwood, Tom Emmett, Allen Hill, Tom Armitage, James Lillywhite Jr (C), James Southerton
(Debuts: Billy Murdoch, Fred Spofforth)

England were unchanged, while Australia brought in Billy Murdoch for the struggling Tom Horan - and with his issue resolved by this, also get to bring in star bowler Fred Spofforth for Bransby Cooper. England again won the toss but decided to bat this time.

Spofforth's impact was necessary, as the other Australian bowlers struggled big time - Kendall ate overs but struggled to take wickets, while Midwinter, Hodges, and the part timers leaked runs. Australia did dispose of Selby cheaply, run out for seven, but the literal rest of the England top seven stuck around long enough to cause problems without going on to big scores. Jupp (21), Shaw (13), Charlwood (25), Ulyett (24), Greenwood (21) and Emmett (14) set up an innings where if one of them had gone on, the team would have found success. But after the fall of Emmett, the innings collapsed in a heap, as they lost their last five wickets for just 12 runs - Greenwood dismissed trying to score as Hill, Armitage and Lillywhite completely failed at the other end. England were left with just 135 on the board. Spofforth was left with 6/31 from his fiery spell, with Kendall picking up 3/55 and the limited overs bowled by Midwinter and Hodges, plus the one by Thomson, being met with the treatment, with the tenth - Ulyett - falling via run out.

The Aussies immediately responded by taking out half of that total with their opening partnership. Thomson continued his sturdy start to Test life with another thirty, but he was joined there by Charles Bannerman, who had struggled in the first Test. But Bannerman fell at 72 for a score of 31, and when four wickets followed as Ulyett and Hill went to work - Blackham for five, Garrett for a three ball duck, and then Thomson for 38 - soon Australia were sitting precipitously at 4/80. However, that bought a hungry Billy Midwinter to the wicket, who responded with his finest innings yet - a well-crafted 76 set the tone for those batting around him, as Ned Gregory worked his way to 27, then Spofforth got to 20 in a surprisingly good debut innings. Spofforth's dismissal brought Billy Murdoch, batting inexplicably low at 8, to the crease. First supporting Midwinter, then with support from a strong tail - Dave Gregory (12), Kendall (18) and Hodges (7) - he was able to eke out a fifty of his own, ending the innings unbeaten on 55. The dismissal of Hodges came just in time to prevent the Aussies from scoring 300, and it gave Ulyett his fifth, a deserved haul for his toil - but excluding Hill, the others, especially Lillywhite, were poor.

With the Englishmen staring down the barrel of an innings defeat, they had to respond. Jupp and Selby added 40 for the first wicket before Jupp was clean bowled by, you guessed it, Spofforth. But Kendall, perhaps tired from bowling the most overs of the first innings, was wayward. While Selby (24) and Charlwood (23) couldn't go on with their starts, Ulyett absolutely could. He had to overcome losing Charlwood and Shaw (1) in quick succession, but he dominated the bowlers that weren't the Demon and survived him in order to go big. Ulyett's 87 was supported by a gutsy 16 from Andrew Greenwood and then a gem of their own from Tom Emmett, who made 29. After Hill was out for five, Tom Armitage stood up, adding 22, and even usual mugs Lillywhite (15) and Southerton (10 not out) held on enough for Ulyett to be second to last out. The Australians actually bowled well, aside from the disaster Kendall (0/75) had - they just struggled to contain Ulyett. Spofforth had three wickets, but surprisingly to some, so did change bowlers Midwinter and Hodges. (The remainder, Emmett, fell to Tom Garrett).

Australia were set 92 for victory, which could be trouble if the pitch begun to break down. England's scant chance of hope was soon dashed by a good innings from Charles Bannerman, who raced away off loose opening bowling from Shaw and Lillywhite. Even when Ulyett came on and induced a mishit from Nat Thomson, Bannerman wasn't too troubled, and he made his way to 42 before being out, with victory in Australia's grasp. A mini-collapse then followed, however, at the hands of Ulyett and Allen Hill - in the next 15 overs, four more wickets fell. Garrett (six) at least improved on his first innings, Blackham (20) could only edge a lifter from Hill through to his counterpart, Midwinter (0) did not repeat his first inning heroics, and Gregory (7) got his stumps scrambled. The issue was that the Gregory wicket fell with the scores tied, so while the collapse indicated the Australians still weren't impervious, Murdoch scored from his second ball to get the Aussies home.

135 (Charlwood 25, Spofforth 6/31) and 258 (Ulyett 87, Hodges 3/33) lost to 299 (Midwinter 76, Murdoch 55*, Ulyett 5/59) and 6/93 (Bannerman 42, Ulyett 3/15, Hill 3/22)
MOTM: Fred Spofforth
MOTS: Billy Midwinter

 

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Australia vs England
29 July 1878
The Oval

Lineups:
- Charles Bannerman, Billy Murdoch, Tom Horan, Dave Gregory, Alick Bannerman, Tom Garrett, George Bailey, Jack Blackham, Fred Spofforth, Frank Allan, Harry Boyle
- W.G. Grace, Monkey Hornby (C), Alexander Webbe, George Ulyett, Edward Lyttleton, Alfred Lyttleton (WK), Allan Steel, Tom Emmett, George Hearne, Alfred Shaw, Fred Morley
Debuts: A. Bannerman, Bailey, Allan, Boyle; all bar Shaw, Emmett and Ulyett

Despite a different captain, England are now 3/3 of Test cricket tosses. They put Australia in to bat.

Alfred Shaw once again wobbled a bit to start, letting Australia off to a flyer. But then, change bowler Allan Steel came in and dismissed Charles Bannerman for 22. Horan righted the ship alongside the steady Murdoch, who looked as imperious as he had in Melbourne. Horan was eventually dismissed for 31, and Dave Gregory followed three balls later to Morley, but Alick Bannerman's first Test innings helped reassert Australia. Once again, Australia lost a chunk of three wickets very quickly though - first Murdoch for a well-made 90, then Garrett for a two-ball duck, then Bannerman for 36. Bailey (25) and Blackham (14) added some value down the order, but Spofforth, Allan and Boyle only eked out 22 between them. Australia's 245 came despite a brilliant effort from Steel, who took 6/25. Morley's 3/43 were also useful, and WG Grace's 1/45 included the valuable 1 of Murdoch. Shaw was wayward though, and Hearne and Emmett contributed less than they would have liked. Ulyett didn't bowl at all, surprisingly.

WG Grace's vaunted match up with Spofforth did not produce the results, as Spofforth looked a bit off all innings. Fortunately for Australia, fellow opening bowler Frank Allan dismissed Grace for just 15. This brought debutant Alexander Webbe to the wicket, who had to treat Australia with respect, but succeeded. He lost Hornby for 21, Ulyett for 26, and the Lyttletons for three between them, but his patient approach got him to 50, and then after another wicket fell to Murdoch this time, his first in Test cricket being Steel, Tom Emmett joined him, and hung around. Emmett's 16 was immediately overshadowed by George Hearne's greater staying act, as Hearne hung around for the rest of the innings, including outlasting the dismissed Webbe, who fell for 87, keeping another century off the books. The tail subsided very quickly though - Shaw with a duck and Morley with three, meant that Hearne only got to 18 not out, and that meant that Australia's disciplined bowling - bar a wayward Spofforth (0/56) - had resulted in a 43-run lead. With three apiece, Murdoch and Boyle were the pick of the bowlers.

With that big lead... Australia stumbled. England's opening bowlers were again wayward, but an inspired decision to bring on Ulyett and WG Grace caused havoc. First Murdoch (11) was finally stopped, then Horan (0), Gregory (2) and Alick Bannerman (3) were dismissed cheaply. With Australia 4/35, England could dream of a chaseable total. Charles Bannerman and Tom Garrett had other ideas. The pair added a century stand before Garrett was snared for 58, and competent resistance that followed from Bailey (17) and Blackham (35*) allowed Charles Bannerman to become the first Test centurion. His 103 had Australia well in the ascendancy even as the tail failed to really do much else. Australia's 252 meant England would need nearly 300 to win. WG and Ulyett split nine of the wickets between them.

Australia would have been chuffed with immediately getting WG out for three, but they then let their guard down again facing Webbe and Hornby, who combined to take the score close to 100. Hornby's accomplished 64 was the highlight of the England innings, but at the other end, Webbe fell for 41 to the part-time bowling of Tom Horan of all people, and the rot set in. By the time of Hornby's dismissal, Ulyett (16) and Edward (14) Lyttleton were out too, and soon Alfred (12) and Allan Steel (11) would join them. Emmett and Hearne tried to fight back, adding 35, but when Hearne fell, the tail caved, with Shaw out for six and Morley for two to end the game.

245 (Murdoch 90, Steel 6/25) and 252 (Bannerman 103, Garrett 58, Ulyett 5/41) beat 202 (Webbe 87, Murdoch 3/37) and 212 (Hornby 64, Horan 3/20, Allan 3/44)
MOTM: Billy Murdoch

 

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USA vs Australia
3 October 1878
Germantown Cricket Club

Lineups:
- Charles Bannerman, Alick Bannerman, Tom Horan, Dave Gregory (C), Billy Murdoch, George Bailey, Jack Blackham (WK), Tom Garrett, Fred Spofforth, Frank Allan, Harry Boyle
- John Hargrave, Francis Brewster, Charles Newhall, Robert Newhall, George Newhall (C), Richard Caldwell, Edward Hopkinson, Daniel Newhall, Thomas Hargrave (WK), Edward Comfort, Spencer Meade
Debuts: All

On Test debut, American captain George Newhall won the toss and elected to bowl. His decision looked prudent as the opening Bannerman brothers were out by the 15th ball of the game, and Australia continued to slump as America's star player Daniel Newhall troubled the batsmen. However, Australia's tail wagged strongly. Garrett and Boyle added 85 for the ninth wicket, taking Australia from 8/96 to make 182 all out. Newhall's five wickets were the pick of the bowlers.

America's innings was actually very similar. At 7/63, they were floundering, but Daniel Newhall paired with Hargrave to add 98 for the eighth wicket. Australia made some interesting bowling decisions in this innings, giving Dave Gregory the same amount of overs as Fred Spofforth and then also bowling Alick Bannerman for seven. Harry Boyle, who had five wickets, eventually dismissed Hargrave for 58, and the innings was wrapped up after a bit more hitting from Newhall got America to an eight-run lead.

Australia's batsmen performed a little bit better than they had in the first innings, with Alick Bannerman scoring 34 and Bailey setting his Test high score of 37. But again they relied on 42 from Harry Boyle to get them up to 188, ably supported by Spofforth and Allan. America found their cutting edge in this innings, as Charles Newhall and Meade took seven wickets between them, but Daniel Newhall was wicketless and expensive.

Needing 181 to win, America looked buried at 6/50, but that was when Daniel Newhall came to bat. He added 47 with Edward Hopkinson, but Boyle and Allan sent back Hopkinson and Hargrave to leave them 8/108. Cue Edward Comfort, who got himself in, and the pair took America to 179. With just one run needed to tie and two to win, Newhall edged Garrett to Jack Blackham behind the stumps. Spencer Meade survived the next few balls, then Australia confusingly turned to Dave Gregory. But it worked, as Gregory yorked Comfort to produce a famous one-run win.

182 (Boyle 44, D Newhall 5/53) and 188 (Boyle 42*, C Newhall 4/52) beat 190 (D Newhall 58*, T Hargrave 58, Boyle 4/38) and 179 (D Newhall 71, Garrett 3/39)
MOTM: Daniel Newhall

 

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Australia vs England
2 January 1879
MCG

Lineups:
- Charles Bannerman, Alick Bannerman, Tom Horan, Billy Murdoch, Tom Garrett, Fred Spofforth, Frank Allan, Jack Blackham (WK), Thomas Kelly, Dave Gregory (C), Harry Boyle
- George Ulyett, Bunny Lucas, Alexander Webbe, Monkey Hornby, Lord Harris (C), Vernon Royle, Francis MacKinnon, Tom Emmett, Charlie Absolom, Leland Hone, Sandford Schultz
Debuts - Thomas Kelly, Lucas, Harris, Royle, MacKinnon, Absolom, Hone, Schultz

Lord Harris, the second organiser of a team to tour Australia, won the toss and bowled first. His team found quick success through a surprising source - Bunny Lucas was responsible for the first three wickets to fall, although from there George Ulyett took over as he is prone to. However, Australia's middle order was hardy - 32 for Garrett, 30 for Allan and a hardy 31 from Spofforth let them make it to 181. Ulyett and Lucas had four wickets each.

In response, England fell just one run short of the Aussies. Tom Horan dismissed both openers cheaply, but the recovery was first started by Alexander Webbe's 34, then the captain made a bruising 48. The tail hung around long enough to frustrate the Australians.

Australia similarly started poorly, as Ulyett dismissed both Bannermans after just 21 runs were on the board - although the second wicket partnership lasted almost 20 overs. From there, things were more positive, as every other batsman other than Jack Blackham (0) made it to two figures. Horan's 36 and Spofforth's 35 were the highlights, while George Ulyett took his second career five-wicket haul and Charlie Absolom took four. Australia scored 183 and set the British 185 to win the game.

George Ulyett started by hitting Frank Allan out of the attack. He was then caught at mid wicket trying to do the same to Spofforth. From then, England settled in, as Webbe, Hornby and Harris played nice knocks, and at 3/109 England would have fancied their chances. Tom Garrett then came into the attack and dismissed both Hornby and Vernon Royle. Another small partnership followed until Dave Garrett got rid of Mackinnon and Emmett, at which point Garrett returned and caused havoc. He finished with 5/8 from six overs, dismissing Harris for 35, Hone for 0 and then, to end the Test and secure an Aussie win by just two runs, had Absolom caught by Bannerman at slip for nine.

181 (Garrett 32, Lucas 4/32, Ulyett 4/53) and 183 (Horan 36, Ulyett 5/35, Absolom 4/50) beat 180 (Harris 48, Horan 3/33) and 182 (Hornby 44, Gregory 4/37, Garrett 5/8)
MOTM: Tom Garrett

 

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USA vs England
Hoboken
7 May 1879

Lineups:
- Ridgway Moore, Charles Haines, Charles Newhall, Robert Newhall, RJ Cross, Francis Brewster, Daniel Newhall, James Soutter, Edward Moeran, William Brewster, JE Sprague
- George Ulyett, Frank Penn, Alexander Webbe, Monkey Hornby, Lord Harris (C), Bunny Lucas, Francis MacKinnon, Tom Emmett, Charlie Absolom, Leland Hone, Sandford Schultz
Debuts - Frank Penn, Moore, Haines, Cross, Soutter, Moeran, W Brewster, Sprague

The English won the toss and batted first. On a pitch expected to offer assistance to the bowlers, they applied themselves admirably - while runs could be slow at times, every batsman other than #10 and keeper Leland Hone made 10 or more of them. The top scorer was Monkey Hornby with 31, but arguably the best innings was a hard-hit 20 from Charlie Absolom down the order, boosting them to 224 all out. In an unusual quirk, Alexander Webbe scored six boundaries and faced 55 other balls, all dots. Charles Newhall was the pick of the bowlers, while James Soutter conceded just 16 from his 14 overs.

America's top order found life against Tom Emmett and George Ulyett to be very hard. At 4/20, they needed twenties from Charles Haines, Francis Brewster and Soutter in order to get to any kind of total - and that total ended up being 124, exactly 100 in arrears. Emmett took four wickets but was also expensive; Absolom and Ulyett took five wickets between them for just 28 runs total.

By this point, the pitch had deteriorated, and England's second innings could well have been similar if it wasn't for Alexander Webbe. After a bright start from Ulyett, both openers fell six balls apart. Webbe prevented Soutter from causing another collapse, scoring 42 before he chipped back to Edward Moeran. The innings fell away a little from there, but 22 from Charlie Absolom boosted the total to 170. Amusingly, both Daniel Newhall and Sprague took 3/32 for USA.

A chase of 271 was always going to be too much for the USA's fragile batting and so it proved; while openers Moore and Haines did well to survive Ulyett and Emmett this time, Lucas and Absolom came on at change and ran straight through the Americans. 6/44 was dire, but Daniel Newhall and Soutter restored respectability, adding 60 with some bruising shots. But those same two bowlers cleaned up the tail - Absolom took five wickets and a run out, and Lucas dismissed the other four batsmen. America was all out for 132 and had lost by the greatest margin in Test history.

224 (Hornby 31, C Newhall 3/18) and 170 (Webbe 42, Sprague 3/32, D Newhall 3/32) defeated 124 (Soutter 26, Emmett 4/53, Absolom 3/14) and 132 (D Newhall 40, Absolom 5/37, Lucas 4/28)
MOTM: Charlie Absolom

 

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England vs USA
The Oval
17 July 1879

Lineups:
- WG Grace, William Oscroft, Monkey Hornby, Alexander Webbe, George Ulyett, Alfred Lyttleton, Allan Steel, Billy Bates, Tom Emmett, Fred Morley, Alfred Shaw
- Ridgway Moore, Charles Haines, Francis Brewster, Richard Caldwell, Richard Clay, RJ Cross, Daniel Newhall, Charles Newhall, James Soutter, William Brewster, JE Sprague
Debuts - William Oscroft, Billy Bates, Richard Clay

W.G. Grace won the toss and elected to bowl. This looked wise as his bowlers got to work and dealt with the American batsmen. America clattered to 5/23, 7/55 and 8/75 in response to a team bowling effort led by Alfred Shaw and Tom Emmett. But even with the great hope of Daniel Newhall out, the tail wagged - Soutter and William Brewster added 68, which didn't make the total adequate, but did make it respectable - 148 in the end.

In response, WG was surprisingly out early, but William Oscroft made his chance good, scoring a long and grinding 68. Grinding was the word for this innings, as the British took almost 100 overs to make 222. George Ulyett also made yet another test 50, this time 55*, while William Brewster was the American bowler who did the damage with Newhall again struggling for form, taking 5/24.

The Americans again had their top order dismantled by the Englishmen. But again the tail wagged from an improbable position; from 8/77 (having been 6/41), Daniel Newhall ground out 52 runs off 167 balls, while William Brewster again went on the attack, and his 57 included twelve crisply hit boundaries. Ulyett finally broke the partnership, only for No.11 Sprague to add 20 more. In the end, having been staring down the first innings defeat in Tests, the USA had set England 122 for the win. None of this was on George Ulyett, whose 4/19 was vital in getting America into that situation to begin with.

England approached the chase methodically. Oscroft couldn't replicate his 68 and WG failed again, but Monkey Hornby played well and with support from Ulyett, England got to 3/70. Then both, plus Lyttleton and Steel, were dismissed for nine runs as Charles Newhall ran rampant. At 7/79, America smelled an upset. Bates and Emmett didn't, and by punishing the bad ball, they added 34. Nine runs out, Bates fell, but Shaw helped Emmett seal a relieving win.

148 (W Brewster 34, Shaw 3/25) and 195 (W Brewster 57, Ulyett 4/19) lost to 222 (Oscroft 68, Ulyett 55*, W Brewster 5/24) and 8/122 (Hornby 40, C Newhall 4/36) by 2 wickets
MOTM: William Brewster

 

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USA vs England
Germantown
10 Oct 1879

Lineups:
- George Ulyett, William Oscroft, Arthur Shrewsbury, John Selby, Richard Daft, Billy Barnes, Billy Bates, Tom Emmett, Fred Morley, Alfred Shaw, George Pinder
- Ridgway Moore, Bethune Calvert, Charles Haines, Francis Brewster, Richard Clay, Charles Newhall, Daniel Newhall, James Soutter, William Brewster, Henry Brown, JE Sprague
Debuts - Shrewsbury, Daft, Barnes, Pinder, Calvert, Brown

Charles Newhall won the toss and elected to bat first. America were set back within 10 overs when Tom Emmett made a double strike, dismissing Calvert and Haines in consecutive balls. But from there, America built; Ridgway Moore scored the first 50 by an American top seven batsman, ably supported by the middle order all getting starts. A good effort from Emmett (4/35) and Morley (3/42) kept the Americans to 192.

192 looked more than enough when the English batting order shockingly collapsed. 8/66 was a position England were familiar with putting the Yanks in, not being in themselves. Fred Morley restored something with his 24, but that something was only that England made 99 all out and had under 100 runs in arrears. Francis Brewster's 3/3 took out the Billys an George Ulyett, while William Brewster and both Newhalls had two each.

America followed this up with 92 all out themselves. They ended up in holes of 6/36 and 7/49, but again the tail - Soutter and William Brewster - saved their blushes to a degree. The destroyers were Tom Emmett and Billy Barnes, with three wickets each - although Barnes was very expensive, leaking runs at one a ball. Shaw also had 2/6 from 7 overs. England were left needing 186.

England were never in the running to make 186. Ulyett and Shrewsbury were dismissed before a run was scored. Oscroft made a nice 23, but after his dismissal, England slumped to 7/56. In what was surely a lost cause, Tom Emmett got moving, scoring 31* in the end, but he didn't have the support, with a team effort from America knocking England over for 116 and delivering a famous win against Richard Daft's XI.

192 (Moore 50, Emmett 4/35, Morley 3/42) and 92 (W Brewster 20, Emmett 3/10) beat 99 (Morley 24, F Brewster 3/3) and 116 (Emmett 31*, Soutter 2/12)
MOTM: William Brewster

 

[VC the slogger]

yeah I might have fully lost the plot on this one. Inspired by Aislabie's alternative Test timeline, I might be trying to rewrite (literally) the history of Tests at least (ODIs will be considered too). Let's see how well this goes...

World Champion of Cricket: DNE
Bannerman Shield Holder:

more stats and stuff TBA as this goes

I am soo following this.. But I would only suggest one change for now, i.e give Canada Test status by 1880 or at least 1887 at the earliest, so that you can also cover the years some truly great home-grown players of the day such as Russell Ogden, Alexander Gillespie, the GOAT Jack Laing (their answer to Bart King basically), Dyce Saunders, CJ Logan (a demonic medium-paced spinner). By 1913 they already begun to show signs of decline and weren't playing top-class FC sides from England, Australia etc like the '80s and '90s.

 

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1880

Not this tour but...

 

[VC the slogger]

Not this tour but...

But imagine - A Test captain getting arrested on tour for being a deserter and replaced by a makeshift Canadian. Who doesn't love a bit of controversy?

 

[ddrap14]

England vs Australia
The Oval
5 Sep 1880

Lineups:
- Edward Grace, W.G. Grace, Alexander Webbe, Billy Barnes, Lord Harris, Frank Penn, Allan Steel, Alfred Lyttleton, Ted Peate, Alfred Shaw, Fred Morley
- Alec Bannerman, Billy Murdoch, Tom Groube, Percy McDonnell, Jim Slight, Jack Blackham, George Bonnor, Joey Palmer, Harry Boyle, George Alexander, William Moule
Debuts - E Grace, Peate; Groube, McDonnell, Slight, Bonnor, Palmer, Alexander, Moule

England were without Monkey Hornby, George Ulyett and Tom Emmett for this game due to some issues that occurred during the 1878/79 tour. Australia, meanwhile, were without Fred Spofforth due to injury. One could argue Australia were missing more critical pieces. Australia did take an early win, though, when they won the toss and elected to bat. This went... alright. 189 was not perfect, but it was a lot better than 7/115. The one top order batsman to succeed was Bannerman, who played an innings of 38. The tail wagged though; George Alexander slogged 21 before Boyle and Moule added 37 for the final wicket. WG Grace and Peate had three apiece, but only the Graces and Allan Steel could keep it tight.

England's first innings was stop and start, with three 30+ partnerships surrounded by packets of wickets. The Graces added 35 for the first wicket, and Barnes and Harris - okay, mainly Harris - added 39 for the fourth, but again it was the lower order delivering most - Alfred Lyttleton was perhaps freed by moving down and scored 42*, while Shaw hit 28. Moule and Palmer both had three. England's 199 took the lead by 10 runs.

Murdoch and Bannerman added 55 for the first wicket. Hopes of an Australia win faded almost immediately after, as both were out within three balls of the other, and only Percy McDonnell passed 20 after. Finishing with 156 left the game strongly in the balance for the Aussies. Billy Barnes' 4/25 was key, and he would have a role to play in the chase...

...quicker than England would have liked, as they were 2/5 with both Graces out quickly. But Webbe and Barnes steadied the ship and added 111. Even when, like the Aussie partnership, both fell within five runs of each other, England were already close enough that they could just coast home. Webbe's 63 was the highlight innings, while Moule and Boyle took three wickets each but did not get enough support.

189 (Bannerman 38, WG Grace 3/26, Peate 3/43) and 156 (Murdoch 27, Barnes 4/25) lost to 199 (Lyttleton 42*, Palmer 3/38, Moule 3/64) and 6/148 (Webbe 63, Barnes 42, Boyle 3/36)
MOTM: Billy Barnes