Almanac Teams: Debuts at Lord’s and The Oval (Part 1 – Australia)
After the teams I did for each Test ground I will do Australian teams touring
This team is Australians that debuted in England at Lord’s and The Oval.
The corresponding English debuts will be next.
The team is a blend of best players in the XI with some that also had a great debut.
I will give a little description on why I chose that player.
I looked forward to all correspondence.
- There are 22 Australians to debut at Lord’s and 17 at The Oval.
- 26 Englishmen debuted at Lord’s against Australia and 33 at The Oval.
- Two Australians and two Englishmen scored a debut hundred at Lord’s and The Oval
- Four Australians and four Englishmen took five wickets in an innings on debut
Clem Hill – (C)
Craig Serjeant
Kim Hughes – (VC)
Dirk Wellham
Syd Gregory
Jim Kelly
Hugh Trumble
Graham McKenzie
Ashley Mallett
Bob Massie
Twelfth Man – Mick Malone
Australia
Sid Barnes – The Oval 1938
41 and 33 and 1/84
13 Tests, 1,072 Runs, Average 63.05, Highest Score 234, 4 Wickets at 54.50, Best Bowling 2/25
Barnes was a member of the 1948 Invincibles, a character who once as twelfth man for NSW came out at the drinks break in a suit and tie and carried items such as cigars, iced towels, a mirror, radio, comb and clothes brush.
Clem Hill – Lord’s 1896
1 and 5
49 Tests, 3,412 Runs, Average 39.21, Highest Score 191
Hill captained Australia ten times between 1910-1912 for five wins. He retired from the game in 1912 as captain after having a brawl with board member Peter McAlister which then led to the boycott of the big six (Ransford, Armstrong, Trumper, Cotter, Noble and Hill) for the 1912 tour. Hill became a racing steward and handicapper of the Caulfield Cup.
Craig Serjeant – Lord’s 1977
81 and 3
12 Tests, 522 Runs, Average 23.72, Highest Score 124
Serjeant was one of four cricketers on the 1977 tour that did not join World Series Cricket. For the first Test series while World Series was on Serjeant was vice captain to Bob Simpson.
Kim Hughes – The Oval 1977
1
70 Tests, 4,415 Runs, Average 37.41, Highest Score 213
Hughes captained the side 28 times from 1978-1985 for four wins. Hughes’s captaincy started while World Series Cricket was on and after that he captained whenever Greg Chappell made himself unavailable to tour and then once Chappell retired it was seven times in a row against the West Indies. He captained Australia’s rebel tour to South Africa in 1985.
Dirk Wellham [Source: Author]
Dirk Wellham – The Oval 1981
24 and 103
6 Tests, 257 Runs, Average 23.36, Highest Score 103
Wellham was the first Australian to captain three states in NSW, Tasmania and Queensland.
Syd Gregory – Lord’s 1890
0 and 9
58 Tests, 2,282 Runs, Average 24.53, Highest Score 201
At the time of his retirement Gregory had played a world record 58 Test matches. Syd’s father Ned played in Australia’s first ever Test. Gregory’s 201 was the first time a double century had been scored in Australia and he also captained the side six times in 1912 for two wins.
James Kelly – Lord’s 1896
0 and 24* and 1 Catch
36 Tests, 664 Runs, Average 17.02, Highest Score 46*, 43 Catches and 20 Stumpings
Kelly had to retire on medical advice after struck above the heart while keeping.
Hugh Trumble – Lord’s 1890
1* and 5 and 1/17 and 1/21
32 Tests, 851 Runs, Average 19.79, Highest Score 70, 141 Wickets at 21.78, Best Bowling 8/65
Trumble’s 141 Test wickets were a then record. He is one of four Test bowler to twice take a hat trick. Trumble captained Australia twice in 1901-1902 for two wins.
Graham McKenzie – Lord’s 1961
34 and 1/81 and 5/37
60 Tests, 945 Runs, Average 12.27, Highest Score 76, 246 Wickets at 29.78, Best Bowling 8/71
McKenzie retired from Test cricket two short of Richie Benaud’s wickets record for Australian cricket but continued to play County Cricket until 1975 and then joined World Series in 1977 at the age of 36. McKenzie was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.
Ashley Mallett – The Oval 1968
43* and 0 and 3/87 and 2/77
38 Tests, 430 Runs, Average 11.62, Highest Score 43*, 132 Wickets at 29.84, Best Bowling 8/59
Until Nathan Lyon came along Mallett was Australia’s most successful off spinner. Mallett’s other talent was as a writer, he penned books on Victor Trumper, Neil Harvey, Ian Chappell, Doug Walters and Jeff Thomson amongst others.
Bob Massie [Source: Author]
Jack Edwards – Lord’s 1888
21* and 0
3 Tests, 48 Runs, Average 9.60, Highest Score 26
Out of Edwards six Test innings, he made three ducks.
Harry Trott – Lord’s 1888
0 and 3
24 Tests, 921 Runs, Average 21.92, Highest Score 143, 29 Wickets at 35.13, Best Bowling 4/71
Trott captained the side eight times from 1896-1898 for five wins. His younger brother Albert played five Tests for Australia and England and his great grandson is St Kilda and Hawthorn footballer Stuart. In the Albert Park precinct there is the Harry Trott Oval.
Sammy Woods – Lord’s 1888
18 and 3 and 1/6
3 Tests for Australia, 3 Tests for England
6 Tests, 154 Runs, Average 15.40, Highest Score 53, 10 Wickets at 25, Best Bowling 3/28
Woods’ three Tests for Australia were in 1888, while his three Tests for England were in 1896. He captained Somerset from 1894-1906.
Jack Barrett – Lord’s 1890
9 and 67*
2 Tests, 80 Runs, Average 26.66, Highest Score 67*
Kenneth Burn – Lord’s 1890
0 and 19
2 Tests, 41 Runs, Average 10.25, Highest Score 19
Burn had been selected as a wicketkeeper for the 1890 tour and it was only when on the ship that he found out he was not playing as keeper. Burn batted at 10 and 11 in his first Test and in his second Test batted at six and also opened.
Percie Charlton – Lord’s 1890
6 and 2
2 Tests, 29 Runs, Average 7.25, Highest Score 11, 3 Wickets at 8, Best Bowling 3/18
Charlton was the uncle of Olympic Silver medal swimmer Andrew ‘Boy’ Charlton
Harry Graham – Lord’s 1893
107
6 Tests, 301 Runs, Average 30.10, Highest Score 107
Graham played football for Melbourne and was second in the league goalkicking in 1892 for 42.
Charles Eady – Lord’s 1896
10* and 2 and 3/58 and 1/11
2 Tests, 20 Runs, Average 6.66, Highest Score 10*, 7 Wickets at 16, Best Bowling 3/30
Eady once made 566 in a total of 1,911 in a club match in Tasmania in 1902. Eady also took 10/42 in a club match in 1906.
David Smith – Lord’s 1912
24*
2 Tests, 30 Runs, Average 15, Highest Score 24*
Smith played 142 games for Essendon between 1903-1911
Pat Crawford – Lord’s 1956
0* and 0 and 0/4
4 Tests, 53 Runs, Average 17.66, Highest Score 34, 7 Wickets at 15.28, Best Bowling 3/28
Ken Mackay – Lord’s 1956
38 and 31 and 1/15
37 Tests, 1,507 Runs, Average 33.48, Highest Score 89, 50 Wickets at 34.42, Best Bowling 6/42
Until Shane Warne passed him, Mackay had the most Test runs by an Australian without scoring a hundred.
Ross Edwards – Lord’s 1972
28
20 Tests, 1,171 Runs, Average 40.37, Highest Score 170*
Edwards with 58 topped scored for Australia in the 1975 World Cup loss
Len Pascoe – Lord’s 1977
3* and 2/53 and 3/96
14 Tests, 106 Runs, Average 10.60, Highest Score 30*, 64 Wickets at 26.06, Best Bowling 5/59
Pascoe’s career best 5/59 was in the 1980 Centenary Test in England
Richie Robinson – Lord’s 1977
11 and 4
3 Tests, 100 Runs, Average 16.66, Highest Score 34
Robinson was selected for 1977 as the backup keeper but opened the batting in the first two Tests.
Peter Nevill – Lord’s 2015
45 and 7 Catches
17 Tests, 468 Runs, Average 22.28, Highest Score 66, 61 Catches and 2 Stumping’s
Nevill is NSW’s most capped Sheffield Shield captain.
George Alexander – The Oval 1880
6 and 33 and 2/69
2 Tests, 52 Runs, Average 13, Highest Score 33, 2 Wickets at 46.50, Best Bowling 2/69
Alexander was also the manager of the 1880 tour to England.
George Bonnor – The Oval 1880
2 and 16
17 Tests, 512 Runs, Average 17.06, Highest Score 128, 2 Wickets at 42, Best Bowling 1/5
Bonnor was tall for that era at 6’6″ (198cm).
Tom Groube – The Oval 1880
11 and 0
1 Test, 11 Runs, Average 5.50
Percy McDonnell – The Oval 1880
27 and 43 and 0/11
19 Tests, 965 Runs, Average 28.93, Highest Score 147
McDonnell captained Australia six times between 1886-1888 for one win.
William Moule – The Oval 1880
6 and 34 and 3/23
1 Test, 40 Runs, Average 20, Highest Score 34, 3 Wickets at 7.66, Best Bowling 3/23
Joey Palmer – The Oval 1880
6 and 4 and 1/116 and 3/35
17 Tests, 296 Runs, Average 14.09, Highest Score 48, 78 Wickets at 21.51, Best Bowling 7/65
Palmer also played football for South Melbourne
Jim Slight– The Oval 1880
11 and 0
1 Test, 11 Runs, Average 5.50
Slight played in the VFA for South Melbourne and was the first ever umpire of an interstate Australian rules match.
John McIIwraith – The Oval 1886
2 and 7
1 Test, 9 Runs, Average 4.50
McIlwraith played football for Melbourne in the VFA.
Hans Ebeling – The Oval 1934
2 and 41 and 3/74 and 0/15
1 Test, 43 Runs, Average 21.50, 3 Wickets at 29.66, Best Bowling 3/74
Ebeling worked for the MCC and conceived and helped organise the 1977 Centenary Test.
Dave Gilbert – The Oval 1985
1 and 0* and 1/96
9 Tests, 57 Runs, Average 7.12, Highest Score 15, 18 Wickets at 52.68, Best Bowling 3/48
Gilbert is now a cricket referee on domestic first class level.
Shaun Young – The Oval 1997
0 and 4* and 0/8 and 0/5
1 Test, 4 Runs, Average 4, 0 Wickets
Young got his spot for the last Test due to injuries to Bichel, Julian, Gillespie and Reiffel. The third seamer in the Test team was between Young and Lee who were both playing county cricket.
James Faulkner – The Oval 2013
23 and 22 and 4/51 and 2/47
1 Test, 45 Runs, Average 22.50, 6 Wickets at 16.33, Best Bowling 4/51
James’s dad Peter toured South Africa in the 1985 Rebel tour and was also in 1984-1985 Australia one-day squad but did not play a game. He was player of the match in the 2015 World Cup Final where he took 3/36.
- Does not include Steve Smith & Tim Paine who debuted against Pakistan at Lord’s
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Ta Rodney for another good team.
Mick Malone did well in his Oval debut of 1977, actually his only test. In a rain affected test he picked up a 5 for 63 then another wicket in the second innings as the heavens opened. A nifty knock of 46 gave him a good test batting average. His contributions should have helped us win that closing test but the English summer has its way of doing things.
Ross Edwards, debuted with Bob Massie at Lords in 1972. Three years later his plucky 99 there helped rescue a struggling Australia.
The Tasmanian pair of Young, and Faulkner, had very short careers in the ‘baggy green’. The former would be a trivia night speciality.
Hans Ebeling, was in my test cricketers with German origins side .
Peter Nevill, I’d forgotten his test.
Keep up the good work. I look forward to the next team
Glen!
Thanks Rodney informative as always – always felt-Craig Serjeant could have done far more with support and self belief.Kim Hughes just so unlucky to have to cop playing that great,WI side so many times and having to
Captain thought it was both re lack of support from – Marsh and DK and not being ready
Happy that I remembered-Hans Ebeling significant contribution to the game -Ross Edwards v important player in his era
Thanks Rodney,
Shaun Young? wasn’t he picked because he was playing County cricket, rather like Mike Whitney.
Was a good Shield player but not up to Test standard. Went wicketless, 0 and 4no in that maiden Test.
Another in the one Test club.
Thanks Glen, Nevill came in as Haddin had a family illness and when he was available again they stayed with Nevill. Malone was unlucky not to play after the resumption of the World Series Cricket.
Thanks Rulebook never saw Serjeant but he was soon moved on during World Series Cricket.Hughes 100 against West Indies at MCG is still considered one of the greatest ever.
Thanks Dan, you are correct. I should have put that in. I did a team of the one test players