1961 English cricket season - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Honours

County Championship - Hampshire
Minor Counties Championship - Somerset II
Second XI Championship - Kent II
Wisden - Bill Alley
Bill Alley
William Edward Alley was a cricketer who played 400 first-class matches for New South Wales, Somerset and a Commonwealth XI....

, Richie Benaud
Richie Benaud
Richard "Richie" Benaud OBE is a former Australian cricketer who, since his retirement from international cricket in 1964, has become a highly regarded commentator on the game....

, Alan Davidson
Alan Davidson (cricketer)
Alan Keith Davidson, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer of the 1950s and 1960s. He was an all rounder: a hard-hitting lower-order left-handed batsman, and an outstanding left-arm fast-medium opening bowler...

, Bill Lawry
Bill Lawry
William Morris "Bill" Lawry, AM is a former cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. He captained Australia in 25 Tests, winning nine, losing eight and drawing eight, and led Australia in the inaugural One Day International match, played in 1971...

, Norm O'Neill
Norm O'Neill
Norman Clifford O'Neill OAM was an cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-handed batsman known for his back foot strokeplay, O'Neill made his state debut aged 18, before progressing to Test selection aged 21 in late 1958...

Test series

Richard "Richie" Benaud OBE is a former Australian cricketer who, since his retirement from international cricket in 1964, has become a highly regarded commentator on the game....

's Australian team defeated England 2-1 with two matches drawn. On paper, both sides were strong. England had Peter May, Colin Cowdrey

Colin Cowdrey

Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, CBE , better known as Colin Cowdrey, was the Captain of Oxford University, Kent County Cricket Club and the England cricket team in a career that lasted from 1950 to 1976...

, Ken Barrington

Ken Barrington

Kenneth Frank Barrington , better known as Ken Barrington, played for the English cricket team and Surrey County Cricket Club in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a right-handed batsman and occasional leg-spin bowler, well known for his jovial good humour and long, defensive innings "batting with bulldog...

, Ted Dexter

Ted Dexter

Edward Ralph Dexter CBE is a former English cricketer...

, Fred Trueman

Fred Trueman

Frederick Sewards Trueman OBE was an English cricketer, generally acknowledged as one of the greatest fast bowlers in history. A bowler of genuinely fast pace who was widely known as Fiery Fred, Trueman played first-class cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1949 until he retired in 1968...

, Brian Statham

Brian Statham

John Brian "George" Statham, CBE was one of the leading English fast bowlers in 20th-century English cricket. Initially a bowler of a brisk fast-medium pace, Statham was able to remodel his action to generate enough speed to become genuinely fast...

and Tony Lock

Tony Lock

Graham Anthony Richard Lock was an English cricketer, who played primarily as a left-arm spinner. He played in forty nine Tests for England taking 174 wickets at 25.58 each.-Life and career:...

, though Cowdrey and Lock had poor series. Their most consistent batsman was Raman Subba Row

Raman Subba Row

Raman Subba Row is an English former cricketer who played for England, Cambridge University, Surrey and Northamptonshire.-Life and career:...

. Australia had Bill Lawry

Bill Lawry

William Morris "Bill" Lawry, AM is a former cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. He captained Australia in 25 Tests, winning nine, losing eight and drawing eight, and led Australia in the inaugural One Day International match, played in 1971...

and Graham McKenzie

Graham McKenzie

Graham Douglas "Garth" McKenzie is a former Australian and Western Australian cricketer. He was a fast bowler. First selected to play for Australia at age of 19, he toured England in 1961 under Richie Benaud...

in their first series, Neil Harvey

Neil Harvey

Robert Neil Harvey MBE is a former Australian cricketer who represented the Australian cricket team between 1948 and 1963, playing in 79 Test matches. He was the vice-captain of the team from 1957 until his retirement...

, Peter Burge, Bobby Simpson

Bobby Simpson

Roberta "Bobby" Marshall is a fictional character from the Australian Channel Seven soap opera Home and Away, played by Nicolle Dickson. She was introduced in the pilot episode by executive producer Alan Bateman. Nearly four hundred actresses auditioned to play Bobby, with Dickson taking the role...

(who had a poor series), Norm O'Neill

Norm O'Neill

Norman Clifford O'Neill OAM was an cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-handed batsman known for his back foot strokeplay, O'Neill made his state debut aged 18, before progressing to Test selection aged 21 in late 1958...

, Wally Grout

Wally Grout

Arthur Theodore Wallace Grout was a Test cricketer who kept wicket for Australia and Queensland.Grout played in 51 Test matches between 1957 and 1966...

and Alan Davidson

Alan Davidson (cricketer)

Alan Keith Davidson, AM, MBE is a former Australian cricketer of the 1950s and 1960s. He was an all rounder: a hard-hitting lower-order left-handed batsman, and an outstanding left-arm fast-medium opening bowler...

, as well as their captain.

After the first match was drawn, Australia had their traditional victory at Lord's, by 5 wickets on a lively pitch. Davidson did the damage in the first England innings and McKenzie in the second. Lawry's 130 in Australia's first innings, when nobody else on either side made more than 66 in either innings, was crucial.

England won by 8 wickets at Headingley

Headingley Stadium

Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....

, Australia collapsing in their second innings from 99-2 to 120 all out, thanks to Trueman's devastating spell of off-cutters. He finished with figures of 6-30, having taken 5-58 in the first innings.

The Fourth Test at Old Trafford

Old Trafford (cricket)

Old Trafford is a cricket ground situated on Talbot Road in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester. It has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since its foundation in 1864, having been the ground of Manchester Cricket Club from 1857...

proved decisive. It was won by Australia by 54 runs. The last day was very exciting, seeing many turns of fortune. England had managed a first innings lead of 177. Australia's second innings had reached 331-6 at the close of the fourth day, a lead of 154. On the final morning, David Allen

David Allen (cricketer)

David Arthur Allen is a former English cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire between 1953 and 1972. He also played 39 Test matches for England.-Life and career:...

took 3 wickets quickly, reducing Australia to 334-9, and the game seemed won. But Davidson then took the attack to the bowlers, hitting Allen for 20 in an over, and with help from McKenzie added 98 for the last wicket. England needed 256 to win at 67 runs an hour. Dexter, well supported by Subba Row, scored 76 in 84 minutes and took England to 150-1, and strong favourites to win. But Benaud went round the wicket and aimed at the bowlers' footmarks, and caused a collapse. He finished with 6-70, and Australia won with 20 minutes to spare, thereby retaining The Ashes.

The final Test was drawn, after Australia had taken a big first innings lead.

Further details can be found in the Australian cricket team in England in 1961

Australian cricket team in England in 1961

The 1961 Australian cricket tour of England began with a three day match versus Worcestershire CCC at the County Ground, New Road, Worcester on Sat 29 April, play continuing on Mon 1 May and Tues 2 May. This match was rain-affected and ended in a draw...

article.

Leading batsmen

Bill Lawry

topped the averages with 2019 runs @ 61.18. Bill Alley

Bill Alley

William Edward Alley was a cricketer who played 400 first-class matches for New South Wales, Somerset and a Commonwealth XI....

, at the age of 42, scored most runs: 3019 @ 56.96. This is the most recent occasion on which a batsman has reached the 3000 mark and, with the subsequent reduction in the first-class

First-class cricket

First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

programme, it is unlikely that the feat will ever be done again.

External sources

CricketArchive – season summary

Honours

Test series

Leading batsmen

External sources

Further reading