English cricket team in Australia in 1936–37

International cricket tour

The England cricket team toured Australia in the 1936–37 season to play a five-match Test series against Australia for The Ashes. The tour was organised by the Marylebone Cricket Club and matches outside the Tests were played under the MCC name.

Australia won the series 3–2, having been 2–0 down, and therefore retained The Ashes. The 1936-37 Australia side are the only team to win a five-match series after losing the first two Tests, with Bradman being the only captain to win a five-match series after losing the first two Tests.^[1][2]

Test series summary

First Test

• England won the toss and elected to bat.
• 6 December was taken as a rest day.
• CL Badcock, RH Robinson, MW Sievers and FA Ward (all AUS) made their Test debuts.

Second Test

• England won the toss and elected to bat.
• 20 December was taken as a rest day.

Third Test

• Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
• 3 January was taken as a rest day.
• Bradman's second innings was rated by Wisden as the best Test match innings of all time.^[3]

Fourth Test

• Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
• 31 January was taken as a rest day.
• RG Gregory (AUS) made his Test debut.

Fifth Test

• Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
• 28 February was taken as a rest day.

Ceylon and New Zealand

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.^[4]

At the end of the tour the team visited New Zealand, playing three first-class matches, but no Tests.^[5]

References

1. Bull, Andy (9 May 2013). "20 great Ashes moments No4: Don Bradman records Wisden's best innings, 1937". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
2. "Test matches — Winning a series after coming from behind". Cricinfo. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
3. "Laxman, Kumble in Wisden's top ten list". Cricinfo. 26 July 2001. Retrieved 23 August 2008.
4. "Ceylon v MCC 1936". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
5. "M.C.C. in New Zealand, 1936-37". Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 July 2019.

Sources

• CricketArchive tour itinerary

Annual reviews

• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1937

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

External links

• England in Australia, 1936-37 at Cricinfo
• Marylebone Cricket Club in Australia and New Zealand 1936/37 at CricketArchive
• England to Australia 1936-37 at Test Match Tours