International Cricket begins

The first ever Test match was a Timeless match with a holiday on Sunday. It was also the first match of the 2-match series that being played between Australia and England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in 1877. An over consisted only 4 legal deliveries back in the day. Australia won the toss and elected to bat first and scored 245 all out. Charles Bannerman from Australia became the first ever batsman to score a Test hundred as he scored 165 while Allen Hill from England took the first ever wicket.  England scored 196 all out as Billy Midwinter from Australia took the first ever 5-wicket haul. Alfred Shaw bettered Midwinter as he took 5 wickets giving away just 38 runs in Australia's 2nd innings. England needed 154 runs to win but Tom Kendall had other plans as he took 7 wickets conceding 55 runs. Australia won by 45 runs. England won the next match by 4 wickets. The first ever Test series ended as 1-1.

England toured Australia once again for a two match series but this time with a much weaker side. Unsurprisingly, Australia won the first match by 10 wickets. This led to riots before the second match going to be played at Sydney and the tour got called off with the series reduced to a one-off match. Due to those riots, Australia received a frosty welcome on their 1880 England tour. Most of the sides refused to play Australia until Surrey County Cricket Club persuaded Lord Harris to put up a side and play the Australians at The Oval (A stadium in England). England put up a strong side which included WG Grace and his siblings. The match was proving to be a one-sided affair for the first couple of days as Grace scored 152 and the Australians in turn got bowled out for 149 trailing England by 170 runs and were enforced a follow-on. The Australian Captain Billy Murdoch put up a resistant performance as he scored 153 taking Australia to 327 all out. Chasing 57, England slumped to 31/5. WG Grace however ensured that England won by 5 wickets. The 1881 England tour of Australia consisted of 4 matches which Australia won 2-0.