Port Phillip v Van Diemen's Land, 1851

Port Phillip v Van Diemen's Land
Date 11 February 1851 – 12 February 1851
Location Launceston Racecourse
Result Van Diemen's Land won by 3 wickets
Teams
Port Phillip, Victoria Van Diemen's Land
Captains
William Philpott (losing) John Marshall (winning)
Most runs
Thomas Hamilton (45) Gervase Du Croz (33)
Most wickets
Thomas Antill (13) William Henty (9)

On 11 and 12 February 1851, teams from Port Phillip, Victoria and Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) played a timeless cricket match at the Launceston Racecourse,[1][2] known now as the NTCA Ground.[3] This was the first first-class cricket match in Australia and the first intercolonial cricket match in Australia.[4][5]

All overs bowled in the first first-class cricket match had only four deliveries each.[6] The first ball bowled during the match was an underarm delivery.[7] There were a significant number of additional distinctions earned and records set during the match. Van Diemen's Land won the match by three wickets.[8][9]

Background

NTCA Ground, previously known as the Launceston Racecourse

In March 1850, Launceston Cricket Club received an invitation challenge from Melbourne Cricket Club to organise a cricket match between Van Diemen's Land and Port Phillip's cricket teams. In reply, Launceston Cricket Club proposed that the match take place in Launceston in the month of April 1850. This communication from Launceston Cricket Club was delayed, resulting in the match being postponed.[10] A few months later, Melbourne Cricket Club again proposed the match. This subsequently led to the match getting scheduled for the month of February 1851 in Launceston, Tasmania.[3] The Melbourne Cricket Club chose the colours red, white and blue for the Victorian team's match jerseys. The Victorian team, wearing the multi-coloured jerseys, reached Launceston on the SS Shamrock and was met with much fanfare on its arrival.[3] They were accompanied by their friends.[6]

Match proceedings

The match started on 11 February 1851 at Launceston Cricket Club Ground, previously known as the Launceston Racecourse, currently known as the North Tasmania Cricket Association Ground.[11] By the very nature of the match, this became the first first-class cricket match in Australia. It also became the first intercolonial match in Australia. The match was scheduled as a timeless cricket match and ended in two days after both the teams had played two innings each.[1]

Charles Lyon and C. J. Weedon were the two umpires for the match.[12] The two captains leading the respective teams were William Philpott, who captained the Victorian team, and John Marshall, who captained the Tasmanian team.[12] Marshall won the toss and sent in Victoria to bat.[6] All cricketers playing in the match had their first-class debuts in the match.[10] There was no twelfth man for either team.[7] There were no boundaries at the Launceston Cricket Club Ground.[3] The match was watched by around 2500 spectators in all – with 1000 spectators on the first day and 1500 spectators on the second day.[7] All overs bowled in the match had only four deliveries each, which was the norm in those days.[6] As this was the first first-class cricket match in Australia, there were a significant number of distinctions earned and records set during the match.[7]

First innings

In the history of Australian first-class cricket, the very first ball bowled was an underarm delivery. The first bowler in Australian first-class cricket was William Henty of Tasmania, an underarm bowler, who bowled the first over to Victoria's Duncan Cooper, who thus became the first opening batsman in Australian first-class cricket. At his personal score of 4 runs, Cooper also became the first batsman in Australian first-class cricket history to be dismissed and to be clean bowled. Tasmania's Robert McDowall dismissed Cooper and consequently became the first wicket-taking bowler and the first to effect a dismissal in this manner in Australian first-class cricket. Tasmania's captain Marshal also kept wickets for his team, and thus became the first wicket-keeper in Australia's first-class cricket history.[10]

Victoria's Charles Lister, who made 10 runs, became the first cricketer in Australian first-class cricket to be run out. Thomas Antill became the first cricketer in Australian first-class cricket history to have been dismissed after having scored a duck. Antill also became the first batsman in this genre of cricket to be dismissed by stumping. Tasmania's Henty became the first bowler to take a wicket in this manner; Tasmania's captain Marshall became the first wicket-keeper in Australian first-class cricket to effect a dismissal in this manner.[10]

Victorian captain Philpott became the first batsman in Australian first-class cricket history to reach double-figures, and jointly scored the highest runs with James Brodie, both making 17 runs each. Philpott also became the first batsman in Australian first-class cricket to be dismissed by being caught, with Tasmania's George Maddox becoming the first cricketer to have taken a catch during a dismissal. Tasmania's McDowall earned the distinction of becoming the first bowler to effect a dismissal in this manner. McDowall also became the first bowler in this genre of cricket to reach a five-wicket haul. Victoria's Melmoth Hall became the first batsman in Australian first-class cricket history to remain not out in an innings.[7]

Victoria was bowled out in the first innings after playing 26 overs, reaching a score of 82 runs.[13]

For Tasmania, Gervase Du Croz opened the batting innings with captain Marshall. Croz made 27 runs, the highest in Tasmania's first innings, and became the first batsman in Australian cricket history to score four runs in a single ball. Croz scored four runs twice in his innings, running between wickets to take the runs as the Launceston Cricket Club Ground had no boundaries. Walter Westbrook became the first batsman in Australian first-class cricket history to score five runs in a single ball. Captain Marshall made the second-highest score in the Tasmanian first innings, scoring 13 runs. For Victoria, Antill was the highest wicket-taker with a seven-wicket haul. Antill became the first bowler in Australian first-class cricket history to take three wickets in the same over, accounting for the first three wickets of Tasmania in a space of four balls, missing the hat-trick by one ball. Tasmania were all-out after 32 overs, scoring 104 runs and gaining a lead of 22 runs over Victoria's first innings score.[10]

Second innings

Thomas Ferrier Hamilton, the highest scorer in the first first-class cricket match in Australia

Victoria's second innings featured Thomas Hamilton opening the batting and scoring 35 runs. On account of having scored 10 runs in the first innings, Hamilton became the highest scorer in the match amongst both the teams, with an aggregate score of 45 runs. None of the other batsmen reached double-figures for Victoria in the second innings, with the team getting dismissed after 17 overs at a score of 57 runs.[7] Henty took five wickets for Tasmania in the second innings. This made him the highest wicket-taker in the match for Tasmania, with an aggregate of nine wickets for both innings. Tasmania had to score 36 runs for an outright win.[8]

Vincent Giblin opened the batting for Tasmania in the second innings with Croz. Giblin got out scoring one run. Croz's score of six runs, before getting bowled out by Antill, ensured that he ended the match as the highest scorer for Tasmania with an aggregate score of 33 runs for both innings.[13]

Going into the second day of play, Tasmania had lost six wickets scoring 15 runs, with John Tabart and Charles Arthur at the crease, batting at a score of 2 and zero respectively.[13]

Result

John Marshall, winning captain of Van Diemen's Land team

Needing to score 36 runs in the second innings to win the match, Tasmania scored the required runs in 74 minutes, losing 7 wickets in 13 overs. At the end of the match on the second day, Victoria's Antill had taken six wickets in all, becoming the first bowler in Australian first-class cricket history to take a five-wicket haul twice in the same match. Antill also became the highest wicket-taking bowler for the match amongst both the teams, with an aggregate haul of 13 wickets, both innings combined. Tasmania's Marshall became the first ever winning captain and Victoria's Philpott became the first ever losing captain in first-class cricket in Australia.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Smith, R. (2015:13). Launceston’s NTCA ground. 150 years of Cricket Tasmania. The Mercury (Hobart). Retrieved on 6 January 2016.
  2. ↑ Briefs. (2000). Launceston's firsts. Launceston City Council. Retrieved on 6 January 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Rose, T. (2000). The Initial First-Class Match in Australia. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved on 2 January 2016.
  4. ↑ Alexander, A. (2005). Companion to Tasmanian History. University of Tasmania. Retrieved on 6 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Finlay, R. (undated). Tasmanian Cricket History; Part 1 – Early Days: The 1800’s. Cricket Tasmania. Retrieved on 2 March 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Features. (2016). 1850-51: First First-Class match in Australia. Abhishek Mukherjee. Cricket Country. Retrieved on 2 March 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Finlay, R. (1986). Tasmania and intercolonial cricket to 1891. Papers and Proceedings: Volume 33 Issue 2. Tasmanian Historical Research Association. Retrieved on 3 March 2016.
  8. 1 2 Scorecard. (undated). Tasmania vs. Victoria at Launceston, 11-12 Feb 1851. crickinfo Australia. Retrieved on 6 January 2016.
  9. ↑ News. (2015). TMAG gets into the swing of the World Cup with a cricket memorabilia exhibition. ABC News. Retrieved on 6 January 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 News. (1851). Grand Cricket Match. Tasmania v. Victoria. Launceston Examiner. Retrieved on 2 March 2016.
  11. ↑ Grounds. (2003). North Tasmania Cricket Association Ground, Launceston. CricketArchive. Retrieved on 21 January 2016.
  12. 1 2 Scorecard. (undated). Australian Domestic Season, Tasmania v Victoria at Launceston, Feb 11-12, 1851. ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved on 3 March 2016.
  13. 1 2 3 Scorecard. (2003). Tasmania v Victoria. First-Class matches in Australia 1850/51. CricketArchive. Retrieved on 7 January 2016.

External links

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