It had been five years since
the last Australian tour of England
in 1956, and this equalled the previous longest gap, War years excepted.
These 22nd Australians were the last touring side to travel to England by
sea there and back.
The tour represented a
centenary of sorts, the first England-Australia tour having been in 1861-62,
when no Tests were played; no ceremony was made to mark this anniversary.
Of those on their first tour, Booth, Misson and Quick had been to
New Zealand
in 1959-60, so only Lawry and McKenzie were really new to touring. Those two went on
to become Australia’s
leading players of the next decade.
Because the tour followed the exhilarating
1960-61 series between the West Indies and Australia, hopes were raised for
an exciting season - and promptly dashed. Test cricket went back to its
normal, cautious way in the first match at Edgbaston. Fortunately, there then
followed three absorbing matches, Australia winning on a sub-standard pitch
at Lord’s and England on another at Headingley, before a classic Test match
at Old Trafford where on a memorable afternoon Benaud spun England to defeat
and retained the Ashes for Australia.
Sydney
Webb (described
by Gideon Haigh as “an infamous martinet” who stopped Benaud talking to the
press) and
Ray Steele were appointed on 15 September 1960.
Selectors
Sir Donald Bradman (South Australia), Dudley Seddon (New South Wales),Jack Ryder (Victoria).
Selection
The touring party was
chosen immediately after the Australia-West Indies series had ended.
Unavailable: Ian Meckiff
(foot injury)
Tour Party Announced:16 February 1961.
Not selected : Les Favell,Des Hoare,Johnny Martin.
Time between selection and departure from Australia
41 days
(16 February - 29 March)
Travel
MelbourneTTilbury
‘Himalaya’
The team assembled in Melbourne on 14 March. They played two
games in Tasmania and one in Perth before departure from the port of Fremantle
on 29 March 1961.
The team sailed on the ‘Himalaya’. Hundreds of fans
waiting on the dockside at Bombay
on 7 April gave a wild welcome as the players were driven to the Cricket Club
of India for a reception lunch.
The liner arrived at Tilbury at 4 in the morning on Friday
21 April 1961.
The team left England
on the ‘Strathmore’ on 26 September
1961.
The liner sailed from Tilbury, via Gibraltar, Port
Said, Colombo,
and arrived at Fremantle on 24 October;Jarman and O’Neill’s wives had flown from the eastern states to meet
them and show them their children born while they were away.Eight members of the team landed at Sydney on Thursday 3
November
Time away from Australia
209
days
(29 March to 3 November)
Finances
The Australian Cricket Board meeting of February 1962 reported
that the tour profit of almost £38000 was about £12000 less than in 1956, and
only half of the profit made in 1953. Income from the gates was £99000 while
the expenditure was £61000.
Written
accounts of the tour
“The
Australian Challenge”by
John Arlott(1961)
“Aussies
& Ashes” by Bill Bowes (1961)
“The
Fight for the Ashes”by Ron Roberts(1961)
“The
Challenging Tests”by Ray Lindwall
(1961)
“The
Australians in England” by
Charles Fortune(1961)
Postscript
On arriving home in Sydney, Benaud announced that he would retire
at the end of the 1963-64 season and that he would not tour again as a player
(but he returned to England as a reporter for every Test series up to 2013).