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
