The Australia national cricket team toured England in 1884. The team is officially termed the Fourth Australians, following three previous tours in the 1878, 1880, and 1882 seasons. The 1884 tour was a private venture by the thirteen players who each invested an agreed sum to provide funding, none of Australia's colonial cricket associations being involved. Billy Murdoch captained the team and George Alexander acted as player-manager. The Australians played a total of 32 matches in England, 31 of which have first-class status.

1884 was the first English season to feature more than a single Test match. A three-match series was scheduled which included the inaugural Tests at both Old Trafford and Lord's. The third Test was played at The Oval, which had staged the Tests in 1880 and 1882. England won the Test series 1–0 with an innings victory in the second Test at Lord's, while the first and third Tests were drawn. The 1884 series was the first Ashes series in England, following publication of the mock "ashes" obituary after the 1882 Test.

The tour was dogged by financial controversy with the Australians accused by the British press of being interested only in money. The allegations were refuted by the Australian press but it later became clear, when an England team arrived in Australia the following winter, that there had been a financial dispute between Alexander and the English team manager James Lillywhite, resulting in the two teams at first boycotting each other. The dispute was never evident while Murdoch's team was in England as they completed all their scheduled fixtures, winning eighteen matches and losing seven with seven drawn.

Australian squad Australia had a 13-man squad captained by Billy Murdoch while George Alexander was player-manager. Squad details below state the player's colonial team at the time, his age at the beginning of the tour, his batting hand and his type of bowling:

+ Batsmen Name Colony Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref G. Alexander Victoria Right-handed Right arm fast roundarm A. C. Bannerman New South Wales Right-handed Right arm medium pace roundarm G. J. Bonnor New South Wales Right-handed Right arm medium pace P. S. McDonnell Victoria Right-handed none H. J. H. Scott Victoria Right-handed Right arm fast-medium

+ Wicket-keepers Name Colony Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref J. M. Blackham Victoria Right-handed none W. L. Murdoch New South Wales Right-handed none

+ All-rounders Name Colony Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref G. Giffen South Australia Right-handed Right arm medium pace and off break W. E. Midwinter Victoria Right-handed Right arm medium pace roundarm

+ Bowlers Name Colony Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref H. F. Boyle Victoria Right-handed Right arm medium pace roundarm W. H. Cooper Victoria Right-handed Right arm leg break G. E. Palmer Victoria Right-handed Right arm medium pace and off break F. R. Spofforth New South Wales Right-handed Right arm fast-medium

The 1884 squad was very similar to the 1882 squad with Alexander, Cooper, Midwinter and Scott replacing Tom Garrett, Tom Horan, Sammy Jones and Hugh Massie. Cooper and Scott were making their first visit to England.

Australia used the same eleven players in all three Tests, Scott making his debut in the first Test, and in the majority of their first-class matches as Alexander was effectively a reserve who made only five appearances on the tour and Cooper, who also made just five appearances, suffered a long-term injury.Harte, p.134. Cooper had an accident on the outbound voyage and tore ligaments in the spinning finger of his right hand.Knox, p. 131.

England Test selections England selected a total of 16 players in the three Tests. Six players (Barlow, Grace, Peate, Shrewsbury, Steel, and Ulyett) played in all three matches. O'Brien (first Test) and Christopherson (second Test) made their Test debuts. Hornby captained England in the first Test, and Harris in the other two.

Details of the England players include their ages at the beginning of the 1884 season, their batting and bowling styles, and the county club they represented in 1884:

+ Batsmen Name County Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref R. G. Barlow Lancashire Right-handed Left arm medium pace Lord Harris Kent Right-handed Right arm fast roundarm A. N. Hornby Lancashire Right-handed Right arm medium pace A. P. Lucas Middlesex Right-handed Right arm slow roundarm T. C. O'Brien Middlesex Right-handed none W. W. Read Surrey Right-handed Right arm slow underarm W. H. Scotton Nottinghamshire Left-handed Left arm fast-medium A. Shrewsbury Nottinghamshire Right-handed none

+ All-rounders Name County Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref W. Barnes Nottinghamshire Right-handed Right arm fast-medium W. G. Grace Gloucestershire Right-handed Right arm medium pace roundarm A. G. Steel Lancashire Right-handed Right arm fast-medium G. Ulyett Yorkshire Right-handed Right arm fast roundarm

+ Wicketkeepers Name County Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref A. Lyttelton Middlesex Right-handed Right arm slow underarm R. Pilling Lancashire Right-handed none

+ Bowlers Name County Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref S. Christopherson Kent Right-handed Right arm fast E. Peate Yorkshire Left-handed Slow left arm orthodox

Tour preparations and voyages

The Fourth Australian team was selected after Christmas 1883, at which time Victoria were playing New South Wales at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in a match which ended on New Year's Eve with a three wicket win by Victoria.Harte, p.132. Another match was arranged to start on New Year's Day, also at the MCG, between the Fourth Australians and a Combined XI. All the tour selections except Spofforth were playing, though Scott played for the Combined XI. Murdoch scored a career-high 279 not out and McDonnell 111 in a total of 619, the result being a draw. A return match with the Combined XI was arranged in February at the Association Ground in Sydney. Scott played for the Fourth Australians, replacing Alexander, and Spofforth played for the Combined XI, the Fourth Australians winning by 9 wickets.

Unlike other Australian touring teams, the 1884 team organised the project themselves, and so it was a private business venture which involved none of the Australian colonial cricket associations. The players invested agreed sums to fund their travel and cover any losses.

After one final match in Adelaide, which was the last time South Australia needed odds (i.e., extra men) to compete, the tourists left Melbourne on 11 March 1884 aboard the P&O steamer Sutlej, and arrived at Plymouth on 29 April. With a programme of 32 fixtures arranged, the first game in England began on 12 May at Sheffield Park, Uckfield, and the last game against the South of England was completed on 12 September. The team travelled home on the SS Mirzapore, and reached Melbourne again in early November.Harte, p.135. Murdoch enjoyed a shipboard romance on the return voyage with an heiress called Jemima Watson whom he married at Fitzroy, Victoria in December, only a few weeks after the Mirzapore berthed.

The outward bound voyage had a short stopover at Colombo, where the Australians played a drawn game on Galle Face Green against a Ceylon XVIII in a one-day match on 1 April. The return voyage also stopped off in Colombo, and the team played another odds match, again on Galle Face Green and drawn, on 23 October.

Tour itinerary The following is a list of the matches played by the Fourth Australians, all but one of which are first-class fixtures:

Date Match title Venue Result 12 May Lord Sheffield's XI v Australians Sheffield Park, Uckfield Australians won by an innings and 6 runs 15 May Oxford University v Australians Christ Church Ground, Oxford Oxford University won by 7 wickets 19 May Surrey v Australians The Oval, London Australians won by 8 wickets 22 May Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) v Australians Lord's Cricket Ground, London MCC won by an innings and 115 runs 26 May England XI v Australians Aston Lower Grounds, Birmingham Australians won by 4 wickets 29 May Gentlemen of England v Australians Lord's Cricket Ground, London Gentlemen won by 4 wickets 2 June Derbyshire v Australians County Ground, Derby Australians won by an innings and 40 runs 5 June Lancashire v Australians Old Trafford, Manchester Match drawn 9 June Yorkshire v Australians Park Avenue, Bradford Australians won by 3 wickets 12 June Nottinghamshire v Australians Trent Bridge, Nottingham Australians won by 3 wickets 16 June Cambridge University v Australians FP Fenner's Ground, Cambridge Australians won by an innings and 81 runs 19 June North v Australians Old Trafford, Manchester North won by an innings and 22 runs 23 June Liverpool and District v Australians Aigburth, Liverpool Australians won by 1 wicket 26 June Gentlemen of England v Australians The Oval, London Australians won by 46 runs 30 June Players v Australians Bramall Lane, Sheffield Australians won by 6 wickets 3 July England XI v Australians Fartown, Huddersfield Match drawn 10 July England v Australia (First Test) Old Trafford, Manchester Match drawn 14 July Leicestershire v Australians Grace Road, Leicester Australians won by 10 wickets 17 July Middlesex v Australians Lord's Cricket Ground, London Australians won by an innings and 29 runs 21 July England v Australia (Second Test) Lord's Cricket Ground, London England won by an innings and 5 runs 24 July Sussex v Australians County Ground, Hove Match drawn 31 July Players v Australians The Oval, London Australians won by 9 wickets 4 August Kent v Australians St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury Kent won by 96 runs 7 August Gloucestershire v Australians Clifton College Close Ground, Bristol Match drawn 11 August England v Australia (Third Test) The Oval, London Match drawn 18 August Gloucestershire v Australians College Ground, Cheltenham Australians won by an innings and 136 runs 21 August Nottinghamshire v Australians Trent Bridge, Nottingham Match drawn 25 August Cambridge University Past and Present v Australians County Ground, Hove Australians won by 142 runs 28 August South v Australians Bat and Ball Ground, Gravesend Australians won by an innings and 107 runs 1 September North v Australians Trent Bridge, Nottingham North won by 170 runs 4 September I Zingari v Australians North Marine Road Ground, Scarborough Australians won by 8 wickets 11 September South v Australians The Oval, London Australians won by an innings and 5 runs

Test series First Test

This was the inaugural Old Trafford Test and, as Chris Harte described it, "the first time that a match of such importance had been staged outside of London".Harte, p.133. Selection of an England home Test team in the 19th century was the privilege of the host club and Lancashire selected five local players in their squad of twelve, although Jack Crossland missed out and was made twelfth man. Barlow, Hornby, Pilling, and Steel all played as it was believed their presence would boost the gate receipts.Mortimer, Old Trafford, p.3.