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

4, 5, 7, 8, 9 December 1936
(Timeless Test)
Scorecard

England	v	Australia
358 (113.6 overs) M Leyland 126 (290) WJ O'Reilly 5/102 (40.6 overs)		234 (85.6 overs) JHW Fingleton 100 (310) WE Voce 6/41 (20.6 overs)
256 (116.6 overs) GOB Allen 68 (205) FA Ward 6/102 (46 overs)		58 (12.3 overs) AG Chipperfield 26* (18) GOB Allen 5/36 (6 overs)

England won by 322 runs
Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane
Umpires: GE Borwick and JD Scott

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

18, 19, 21, 22 December 1936
(Timeless Test)
Scorecard

England	v	Australia
426/6d (141.2 overs) WR Hammond 231* (579) EL McCormick 2/79 (20 overs)		80 (23.7 overs) WJ O'Reilly 37* (44) WE Voce 4/10 (8 overs)
		324 (f/o) (96.7 overs) SJ McCabe 93 (186) WR Hammond 3/29 (15.7 overs)

England won by an innings and 22 runs
Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Umpires: GE Borwick and JD Scott

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

Third Test

1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 January 1937
(Timeless Test)
Scorecard

Australia	v	England
200/9d (65.3 overs) SJ McCabe 63 (146) WR Hammond 2/16 (5.3 overs)		76/9d (28.2 overs) WR Hammond 32 (88) MW Seivers 3/28 (12 overs)
564 (149.7 overs) DG Bradman 270 (375) H Verity 3/79 (37.7 overs)		323 (78.6 overs) M Leyland 111* (212) LO Fleetwood-Smith 5/124 (25.6 overs)

Australia won by 365 runs
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Umpires: GE Borwick and JD Scott

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

29, 30 January, 1, 2, 3, 4 February 1937
(Timeless Test)
Scorecard

Australia	v	England
288 (77.6 overs) SJ McCabe 88 (145) K Farnes 3/71 (20.6 overs)		330 (113.4 overs) CJ Barnett 129 (332) LO Fleetwood-Smith 4/51 (30 overs)
433 (123.2 overs) DG Bradman 212 (395) WR Hammond 5/57 (15.2 overs)		243 (74 overs) RE Wyatt 50 (108) LO Fleetwood-Smith 6/110 (30 overs)

Australia won by 148 runs
Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Umpires: GE Borwick and JD Scott

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

26, 27 February, 1, 2, 3 March 1937
(Timeless Test)
Scorecard

Australia	v	England
604 (140.5 overs) DG Bradman 169 (191) K Farnes 6/96 (28.5 overs)		239 (71.5 overs) J Hardstaff 83 (234) WJ O'Reilly 5/51 (23 overs)
		165 (f/o) (49.2 overs) WR Hammond 56 (106) LO Fleetwood-Smith 3/36 (13.2 overs)

Australia won by an innings and 200 runs
Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
Umpires: GE Borwick and JD Scott

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

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

The Ashes

List of Ashes series

1850

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1900

	1902		1905		1909		1912		World War I			1921		1926		1930		1934		1938		World War II			1948
1901–02		1903–04		1907–08		1911–12					1920–21		1924–25		1928–29		1932–33		1936–37					1946–47

1950

	1953		1956		1961		1964		1968		1972		1975		1977		1981		1985		1989		1993		1997
1950–51		1954–55		1958–59		1962–63		1965–66		1970–71		1974–75				1978–79		1982–83		1986–87		1990–91		1994–95		1998–99

2000

	2001		2005		2009		2013		2015		2019		2023
		2002–03		2006–07		2010–11		2013–14		2017–18		2021–22

Non-Ashes Australia v England Test series
1876–77 1878–79 1880 1881–82 1882 1945 1976–77 1979–80 1980 1987–88 2027

Matches in white background were played in England, yellow – in Australia.

International cricket tours of Australia

Test and LOI tours
Afghanistan	2021–22
Bangladesh	2003 2008
England	1876–77 1878–79 1881–82 1882–83 1884–85 1886–87 1887–88 1891–92 1894–95 1897–98 1901–02 1903–04 1907–08 1911–12 1920–21 1924–25 1928–29 1932–33 1936–37 1946–47 1950–51 1954–55 1958–59 1962–63 1965–66 1970–71 1974–75 1977 1978–79 1979–80 1982–83 1986–87 1987–88 1990–91 1994–95 1998–99 2002–03 2006–07 2010–11 2013–14 2017–18 2021–22 2022–23
India	1947–48 1967–68 1977–78 1980–81 1985–86 1991–92 1999–2000 2003–04 2007–08 2011–12 2014–15 2015–16 2018–19 2020–21 2024–25
New Zealand	1973–74 1980–81 1982–83 1985–86 1987–88 1989–90 1993–94 1997–98 2001–02 2004–05 2008–09 2011–12 2015–16 2016–17 2019–20 2022–23
Pakistan	1964–65 1972–73 1976–77 1978–79 1981–82 1983–84 1989–90 1992–93 1995–96 1996–97 1999–2000 2002 2004–05 2009–10 2016–17 2019–20 2023–24
South Africa	1910–11 1931–32 1952–53 1963–64 1971–72 (cancelled) 1993–94 1997–98 2000 2001–02 2005–06 2008–09 2012–13 2014–15 2016–17 2018–19 2022–23
Sri Lanka	1987–88 1989–90 1995–96 2004 2007–08 2010–11 2012–13 2016–17 2018–19 2019–20 2021–22
West Indies	1930–31 1951–52 1960–61 1968–69 1975–76 1979–80 1981–82 1984–85 1988–89 1992–93 1995–96 1996–97 2000–01 2005–06 2009–10 2012–13 2015–16 2020–21 2022–23 2023–24
Zimbabwe	1994–95 2003–04 2022

Tournaments hosted
World Cup	1992 2015
T20 World Cup	2022
Tri-series	1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2011–12 2014–15 2017–18
Other multi-team tournaments	1985 1987

Other tours
Afghanistan	2014–15
Australian Forces	1919–20 1945–46
English	1861–62 1863–64 1873–74 1902–03 1922–23 1929–30 1935–36 1979–80
England Lions	2012–13 2021
Fijian	1907–08
Ireland	2014–15
Multi-national	1971–72 2005–06
Nepal	2023–24
New Zealand	1898–99 1913–14 1925–26 1927–28 1937–38 1953–54 1961–62 1967–68 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1974–75
PNG	2014–15
Scotland	2014–15
Sri Lanka	1982–83
UAE	2014–15
World Series Cricket (West Indies & World XI)	1977-78 1978-79

International cricket tours of Sri Lanka

Test and LOI tours
Afghanistan	2022-23 2023–24
Australia	1982–83 1992 1999 2003–04 2011 2016 2022
Bangladesh	2002 2005 2007 2012–13 2016–17 2019 2020–21
England	1981–82 1992–93 2000–01 2003–04 2007–08 2011–12 2014–15 2018–19 2020–21
India	1985 1993 1997 2001 2006 2008 2008–09 2010 2012 2015 2017 2021 2024
Ireland	2022–23
New Zealand	1983–84 1984–85 1986–87 1992–93 1998 2003 2009 2012–13 2013–14 2019
Pakistan	1985–86 1994 1996–97 2000 2005–06 2009 2012 2014 2015 2022 2023
South Africa	1993 2000 2004 2006 2013 2014 2018 2021–22
West Indies	1993–94 2001–02 2005 2010–11 2015-16 2019–20 2021–22
Zimbabwe	1983–84 1996–97 1997–98 2001–02 2017 2020–21 2021–22 2023–24

Tournaments hosted
Multiple teams	1986 1986 1994 1996 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2001–02 2001–02 2002 2004 2009 2010 2010 2010 2011 2012 2018

Other tours
Afghan	2009–10 2024
Australian	1884 1890 1893 1896 1912 1926 1930 1934 1935–36 1938 1945 1948 1953 1961 1964 1969 1981
Bangladeshi	1985–86
Canadian	2000–01 2009–10 2011–12
English	1882–83 1889–90 1891–92 1892–93 1894–95 1911–12 1920–21 1922–23 1924–25 1926–27 1928–29 1929–30 1932–33 1933–34 1935–36 1936–37 1936–37 1950–51 1951–52 1954–55 1958–59 1961–62 1962–63 1965–66 1968–69 1969–70 1972–73 1976–77 1977–78 1984–85 2000–01
Indian	1925–26 1944–45 1956–57 1973–74 1975–76
Kenyan	2001–02 2013–14
Malaysian	1893–94 1971–72
Multi-national	1930–31 1949–50 1950–51 1967–68
New Zealand	1927 1937–38
Pakistani	1948–49 1972–73 1975–76 1978–79
Scottish	2011–12 2013–14
West Indian	1948–49 1966–67 1974–75 1978–79
Irish	2020–21
South Africa A	2023