Australian cricket team in England in 1981

The tour by the Australian cricket team in England in 1981 included the 51st Ashes series of Test matches between Australia and England. Despite having been 1–0 down after two Tests, England won the next three Tests to finish 3–1 victors (with two draws), thus retaining the Ashes. The series is popularly known as Botham's Ashes, owing to the remarkable performances of Ian Botham with both bat and ball.

Australian squad

Australia's captain Greg Chappell made himself unavailable for selection. The Australian squad selected for the tour was as follows:

Batsmen - Kim Hughes (captain), Allan Border, Graeme Wood, John Dyson, Graham Yallop, Martin Kent, Dirk Wellham, Trevor Chappell
Fast bowlers - Dennis Lillee, Terry Alderman, Rodney Hogg, Geoff Lawson
Spinners - Ray Bright, Graeme Beard
Wicketkeeper - Rod Marsh, Steve Rixon

Selection controversies

Doug Walters was overlooked despite a strong summer at home.^[1] This resulted in protests from fans and Walters eventual retirement from first class cricket.^[2]^[3]

Bruce Yardley had been Australia's most successful spinner that summer with 47 wickets, followed by Jim Higgs with 38. The selectors preferred Ray Bright (22 wickets at 40) and Graeme Beard (29 wickets at 25).^[4]

Replacements

Mike Whitney was called up as a replacement during the tour.

Test series summary

First Test

18–21 June 1981
Scorecard

England	v	Australia
185 (56.4 overs) MW Gatting 52 (117) TM Alderman 4/68 (24 overs)		179 (86.5 overs) AR Border 63 (204) GR Dilley 3/38 (20 overs)
125 (38.4 overs) IT Botham 33 (38) DK Lillee 5/46 (16.4 overs)		132/6 (54.1 overs) J Dyson 38 (89) GR Dilley 4/24 (11.1 overs)

Australia won by 4 wickets
Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Umpires: WE Alley and DJ Constant
Player of the match: DK Lillee (Aus)

Australia won the toss and elected to field.
TM Alderman and TM Chappell (Aus) made their Test debuts.
It was Australia's first win at Trent Bridge since 1948.

Second Test

2–7 July 1981
Scorecard

England	v	Australia
311 (124.1 overs) P Willey 82 (181) GF Lawson 7/81 (43.1 overs)		345 (118.4 overs) AR Border 64 (164) RGD Willis 3/50 (27.4 overs)
265/8d (98.4 overs) DI Gower 89 (207) RJ Bright 3/67 (36 overs)		90/4 (48.5 overs) GM Wood 62* (131) GR Dilley 2/18 (7.5 overs)

Match drawn
Lord's, London
Umpires: DO Oslear and KE Palmer
Player of the match: GF Lawson (Aus)

Australia won the toss and elected to field.
5 July was taken as a rest day.
RA Woolmer (Eng) retired hurt on 13* from 83/2 to 284/5 in England's first innings.

Third Test

16–21 July 1981
Scorecard

Australia	v	England
401/9d (155.2 overs) J Dyson 102 (234) IT Botham 6/95 (39.2 overs)		174 (50.5 overs) IT Botham 50 (54) DK Lillee 4/49 (18.5 overs)
111 (36.1 overs) J Dyson 34 (83) RGD Willis 8/43 (15.1 overs)		356 (f/o) (87.3 overs) IT Botham 149* (148) TM Alderman 6/135 (35.3 overs)

England won by 18 runs
Headingley, Leeds
Umpires: DO Oslear and KE Palmer
Player of the match: IT Botham (Eng)

Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
19 July was taken as a rest day
This was only the second time in Test history that a side won after following on.

Fourth Test

30 July – 2 August 1981
Scorecard

England	v	Australia
189 (69.1 overs) JM Brearley 48 (109) TM Alderman 5/42 (23.1 overs)		258 (86.5 overs) KJ Hughes 47 (101) JE Embury 4/43 (26.5 overs)
219 (92 overs) MW Gatting 39 (71) RJ Bright 5/68 (34 overs)		121 (67 overs) AR Border 40 (175) IT Botham 5/11 (14 overs)

England won by 29 runs
Edgbaston, Birmingham
Umpires: HD Bird and DO Oslear
Player of the match: IT Botham (Eng)

England won the toss and elected to bat.
MF Kent (Aus) made his Test debut.
IT Botham (Eng) took 5 wickets for 1 run in 28 balls during Australia's 2nd innings.

Fifth Test

13–17 August 1981
Scorecard

England	v	Australia
231 (86.1 overs) CJ Tavaré 69 (193) DK Lillee 4/55 (24.1 overs)		130 (30.2 overs) MF Kent 52 (45) RGD Willis 4/63 (14 overs)
404 (151.4 overs) IT Botham 118 (102) TM Alderman 5/109 (52 overs)		402 (135.5 overs) AR Border 123* (356) RGD Willis 3/96 (30.5 overs)

England won by 103 runs
Old Trafford, Manchester
Umpires: DJ Constant and KE Palmer
Player of the match: IT Botham (Eng)

England won the toss and elected to bat.
MR Whitney (Aus) and PJW Allott (England) made their Test debuts.

Sixth Test

27 August – 1 September 1981
Scorecard

Australia	v	England
352 (132 overs) AR Border 106* (230) IT Botham 6/125 (47 overs)		314 (110.4 overs) G Boycott 137 (321) DK Lillee 7/89 (31.4 overs)
344/9d (104.2 overs) DM Wellham 103 (221) M Hendrick 4/82 (29.2 overs)		261/7 (95 overs) APE Knott 70* (138) DK Lillee 4/70 (30 overs)

Match drawn
The Oval, London
Umpires: HD Bird and BJ Meyer
Player of the match: DK Lillee (Aus)

England won the toss and elected to field.
30 August was taken as a rest day.
DM Wellham (Aus) and PWG Parker (Eng) made their Test debuts.

Test series

Although the two teams were generally disappointing by the world standards being set by West Indies at that time, the 1981 Ashes is nevertheless widely regarded as one of the most entertaining Test series ever due to the see-sawing nature of both the individual games and the series as a whole.

England won the series 3–1 despite being 1–0 down after the first two Tests. Before the third Test at Headingley, the inspirational Mike Brearley was reinstated as England captain, replacing Ian Botham, whose 12-Test tenure as captain had been winless and whose previously excellent form with both bat and ball had fallen away (he had made a pair in the second Test at Lord's).

A galvanised Botham took 6 for 95 in Australia's first innings and scored 50 in England's, but Australia nonetheless compiled 401 for 9 declared (John Dyson scoring 102) and bowled England out for 174, thus forcing England to follow on 227 runs in arrears. Despite a stubborn 46 from Geoff Boycott, in the second innings Botham came to the crease with England on 105 for 5, still requiring 122 runs to avoid an innings defeat. He played an outstanding innings of 149 not out, sharing partnerships of 117 with Graham Dilley for the eighth wicket, 67 with Chris Old for the ninth and 37 with Bob Willis for the tenth, to set Australia a target of 130. Australia then reached 56 for 1, seemingly well set, before Brearley switched Willis' bowling end to allow him to bowl down the slope. Willis bowled a superb spell of 8 for 43 to dismiss Australia for 111; England became only the second team in Test Match history to win a match after being made to follow on.^[5]

The fourth Test at Edgbaston was a similarly inspired comeback victory for England. England conceded a 69-run first innings deficit, and set Australia a target of only 151 in the fourth innings. Australia reached 105 for 4 before Botham took five for 11, including a spell of five wickets for a solitary run, to end Australia's second innings at 121 and give England victory by 29 runs.

England also went on to win the fifth Test at Old Trafford to retain the Ashes, including another century for Botham (who reached his hundred in 86 balls). Botham scored 118 from 102 balls, dominating a chalk-and-cheese partnership of 149 with Chris Tavaré, who blocked his way to 78 from 289 balls. Botham's innings included 6 sixes, which was an Ashes record until Kevin Pietersen's innings of 158 at The Oval in the 2005 Ashes series. Second-innings centuries from Allan Border and Graham Yallop could not avert defeat.

The sixth Test at the Oval was drawn, with Dennis Lillee taking 11 wickets in the match and Botham taking 10.

One Day International matches

Three ODIs were played on this tour prior to the Test series. Australia took the series 2–1, winning at Edgbaston and Headingley, after losing the first match at Lord's.

Visit to Sri Lanka

The Australian team visited Sri Lanka in May 1981 en route to England. They played three limited overs matches and one first-class match against the Sri Lanka national cricket team, which at that time was on the eve of achieving Test status.

The first-class match was played at Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo and ended in a draw after being badly affected by the weather.

References

↑ "Chappell, Walters out of team.". The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). ACT: National Library of Australia. 12 March 1981. p. 1. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
↑ "50 to march in protest at Walters omission.". The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). ACT: National Library of Australia. 12 March 1981. p. 30. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
↑ "Walters rings down the curtain on a truly first-class career.". The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995). ACT: National Library of Australia. 7 October 1981. p. 38. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
↑ http://static.espncricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1980S/1980-81/AUS_LOCAL/STATS/FC_1980-81_BOWL_BEST_AVS.html
↑ Cricinfo - The great escape

External sources

Test and LOI tours

Australia	1982–83 1992 1999 2003–04 2011 2016

Bangladesh	2002 2005–06 2007 2012–13

England	1981–82 1992–93 2000–01 2003–04 2007–08 2011–12 2014–15

India	1985 1993 1997 2001 2006 2008 2008–09 2010 2012 2015 2017

New Zealand	1983–84 1984–85 1986–87 1992–93 1998 2003 2009 2012–13 2013–14

Pakistan	1985–86 1994 1996–97 2000 2005–06 2009 2012 2014 2015 2017–18

South Africa	1993 2000 2004 2006 2013 2014

West Indies	1993–94 2001–02 2005 2010–11 2015-16

Zimbabwe	1983–84 1996–97 1997–98 2001–02 2017

Tournaments hosted

Multiple teams	1986 1994 1996 1996 1997 2000 2001–02 2002 2004 2010 2011 2012

Other tours

Afghan	2009–10

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

International cricket tours of England

Test and LOI tours

Australia	1880 1882 1884 1886 1888 1890 1893 1896 1899 1902 1905 1909 1912 1921 1926 1930 1934 1938 1948 1953 1956 1961 1964 1968 1972 1975 1977 1980 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2010 2012 2013 2015 2018 2019

Bangladesh	2005 2010

India	1932 1936 1946 1952 1959 1967 1971 1974 1979 1982 1986 1990 1996 2002 2004 2007 2011 2014 2018

Ireland	2017

New Zealand	1931 1937 1949 1958 1965 1969 1973 1978 1983 1986 1990 1994 1999 2004 2008 2013 2015

Pakistan	1954 1962 1967 1971 1974 1978 1982 1987 1992 1996 2001 2006 2010 2016 2018 2019 2020

South Africa	1901 1904 1907 1912 1924 1929 1935 1947 1951 1955 1960 1965 1994 1998 2003 2008 2012 2017 2021

Sri Lanka	1984 1988 1990 1991 1998 2002 2006 2011 2014 2016 2020

West Indies	1928 1933 1939 1950 1957 1963 1966 1969 1973 1976 1980 1984 1988 1991 1995 2000 2004 2007 2009 2011 2012 2017

Zimbabwe	2000 2003

Tournaments hosted

Multiple teams	1912 1975 1979 1983 1999 2004 2009 2013

Other tours

Australian	1868 1878 1919 1945 1988 2009 2018

Bangladeshi	1979 1982 1986 1998

Canadian	1880 1887 1922 1936 1954 1974 1979 1982 1986 2005 2012

Indian	1886 1888 1911

Kenyan	1982 1984 1986 2008

Multi-national	1932 1970 1972 1987

New Zealand	1927 1945

Philadelphian	1884 1889 1897 1903 1908

South African	1894

Sri Lankan	1975 1979 1981

West Indian	1900 1906 1923 1964

Zimbabwean	1982 1985 1986 1990 1993

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