Australian cricket team in England in 1993
The Australia national cricket team toured England in 1993 aiming to retain The Ashes for a second consecutive occasion, having successfully defended them on home turf in the 1990/91 season.
Six Test matches were scheduled, of which Australia won four and England one, with one match drawn. Australia won the Texaco Trophy series that preceded the Tests 3–0.
The gulf in quality between the sides was vast, and was emphasised by the fact that nine of Australia's team played all six tests, while England used 24 players in the series, including seven debutants. One of the surprises among the inconsistent selection was the regular selection of Alec Stewart as wicketkeeper and middle-order batsman, rather than a specialist wicketkeeper that would allow Stewart to open the batting.
Coming off a series defeat in India, England were low in confidence, and even their star performer in India and Sri Lanka, Graeme Hick, was still considered to be fighting for his place, judging by comments to the media by coach Keith Fletcher. Graham Gooch resigned the captaincy after the Fourth Test, once the series was decided, and Mike Atherton led the side in the final two tests, winning the Sixth, at The Oval.
Squads
Test series
First Test (3–7 June)
Four players debuted in the First Test: Andy Caddick and Peter Such for England and Brendon Julian and Michael Slater for the tourists. The new Australian opening partnership of Slater and Mark Taylor dominated the first part of the first day, putting on 128 for the first wicket, but it was Such who shared the spoils with his fellow debutant, taking six wickets in the innings, including that of Taylor who had made a superb 124, his third century against England.The England reply is remembered primarily for Shane Warne's first delivery of the series, a drifting delivery to Mike Gatting that pitched outside leg stump, then turned sharply, beating Gatting's bat and clipping the top of off stump. Aside from that particular moment, the only real highlight was Gooch's 65, before he too fell victim to Warne.
Australia looked in trouble in their second innings at 46/2, with Such again proving the worth of his selection, but David Boon and Mark Waugh added a century to steady the visitors' nerves, before Steve Waugh and Ian Healy took the attack to the bowling and helped Border set a huge target by declaring on 432/5.
England's theoretical run chase got off to a good start - Gooch put on 73 with Mike Atherton and a further 60 with Gatting and 52 with Graeme Hick. Gooch was then dismissed in unusual fashion for handling the ball, after which the collapse set in. Only Chris Lewis made any other significant contribution to the innings, as Warne and Merv Hughes rattled through the hosts' tail.
Second Test (17–21 June)
For England Neil Foster returned to the side in place of the injured DeFreitas, while the Australians played Tim May as a second spinner at the expense of Julian. Australia won the toss and made the most of excellent batting conditions. Taylor and Slater demolished the England bowling as they added 260 for the first wicket, and batted almost the entire day. Both fell in the hour prior to the close after compiling superb centuries. Taylor's second of the series was made off 243 balls and comprised ten fours and a six, while Slater's 152 rattled along a bit faster, and included 18 boundaries. Boon and Mark Waugh took up the gauntlet on the second day and added another 175 to rub it in, with Waugh falling to Phil Tufnell just one shy of his century. Boon went on to enjoy another century partnership with Allan Border, before the captain finally declared the innings on the third morning, Boon ending up not out on 164.England's reply was built around a solid 80 from Atherton, but his was the only significant resistance as Hughes, Warne and May ripped through the other batsmen with relative ease, Australia not even hampered by Craig McDermott's not being available to bowl. Robin Smith and Hick got starts but couldn't capitalise, and England were bowled out early on the fourth morning. Following on, England put up a stronger fight: Atherton and Gooch added 71 for the first wicket and Atherton and Gatting another century, before the former was cruelly run out on 99 as he slipped turning back to regain his ground after turning down a third run.
Gatting, Hick and Stewart all contributed half-centuries to the cause, but with a first innings deficit of over 400 they had needed to turn them into big centuries if England were to save the game, and the Australian bowlers kept plugging away, with May and Warne picking up four wickets apiece in a combined marathon of just one ball short of a hundred overs. Border picked up the other wicket with his occasional spin, and really stifled the batsmen - his 16 overs cost just 16 runs.
The last four wickets fell quickly on the final day, when it appeared as though England might hold out for a draw against all odds. From 361/6, Stewart's dismissal heralded the final collapse, and Foster, Such and Tufnell surrendered meekly, leaving England all out on 365.
Third Test (1–6 July)
England rang the changes for the Third Test, with Graham Thorpe, Mark Lathwell, Martin McCague, and Mark Ilott coming in for their Test debuts, while Nasser Hussain also returned to the side, in place of Tufnell, Gatting, Lewis, Hick and Foster.The home side won the toss and batted first, but failed to make the most of the opportunity to use what appeared to be a pretty flat pitch. Lathwell and Atherton struggled early on, and it was only when Robin Smith came to the crease that England started to look as though they might post a competitive score. His fluent 86, and a half-century from Hussain kept hopes alive, though at 276/6 at the end of the first day, coach Keith Fletcher was unhappy with the way the batsmen had got themselves out, criticising three "soft" dismissals in the top six. Hughes and Warne bowled well again, and wrapped up the innings early on day two.
Stumbling a little at 74/2, Australia's reply was boosted by a partnership of 123 between Boon and Mark Waugh, and the rate of scoring on the second afternoon was excellent, with 250 runs being added after lunch. England took five wickets in the day, McCague bowling with pace and menace, but Border and Warne added important runs on the third morning to give the visitors a first innings lead of 52.
England lost Atherton early, caught behind off Hughes, but Lathwell and Smith added 89 to erase the deficit. A collapse looked likely when Warne switched from the Radcliffe Road End, where he had looked fairly tame, to the Pavilion End where he immediately found turn and bounce and had both established batsmen out in quick succession, Smith caught behind and Lathwell adjudged lbw. Stewart followed shortly after, leaving England 117/4 and in real danger of throwing the match away. Caddick came in as nightwatchman and shepherded Gooch to the close, which proved a vital stage of the innings. Gooch came out the next morning in bullish mood and took the attack to the tourists, bludgeoning 120 and adding 150 with Graham Thorpe, who went on to complete his maiden Test century on the fifth morning, adding a further 113 with Hussain before Gooch called for the declaration.
With 76 overs remaining in the match, and a target of 371 more-or-less out of the question, England were able to attack, and when Caddick ripped out Boon, Mark Waugh and Border to add to Such's dismissals of the openers, it looked as though an upset was on the cards, with Australia reeling on 115/6 at tea, but Steve Waugh and Brendan Julian provided stout resistance in the final session, and steered Australia to the safety of a draw.
- Thorpe was the first England batsman since Frank Hayes in 1973 to score a century on his debut. The draw broke England's dismal run of seven consecutive defeats in Test cricket.
Fourth Test (22–26 July)
Australia won the toss and continued their habit of racking up the first innings runs. Slater and Taylor added 86, and Boon and Mark Waugh, and then Boon and Border each compiled century stands. With the fall of Boon, the onslaught really started though: Border and Steve Waugh latched onto anything loose from the tired England bowlers, especially square of the wicket on both sides, and scored 45 boundaries between them in an unbroken stand of 332, which only ended when the captain reached his double century and declared, leaving Waugh unbeaten on 157. Ilott and Bicknell, the only bowlers to take wickets, bowled fifty overs each, and England sorely missed a spinner to bowl some of those overs and provide some variation. Even Graham Thorpe's unthreatening dibbly-dobblies were called upon to rest the main seamers.
England's reply got off to a disastrous start, with Lathwell caught behind off Hughes in the first over, and Smith and Stewart following soon after, leaving the hosts reeling on 50/3. Atherton and Gooch worked hard to restore some pride to the scoreboard with a century partnership, before Atherton's dismissal by Reiffel saw the collapse begin. From 158/3, none of the middle and lower order managed to stick around, and Hughes and Reiffel cleaned up.
The second innings began a little better: following-on for the second time in the series, the top order worked harder, and built some reasonable partnerships. Atherton made 63 before succumbing to the wiles of May and dragging himself too far from safety, offering a stumping chance of the type that Healy rarely missed. Stewart top-scored with 78, and all the specialist batsmen made starts. None, however, could convert that into the really big score that England needed from them to have a chance of saving the match. Hussain was left stranded with the tail, but neither he nor the bowlers could make any impression, and they got seriously bogged down. Hussain's 18 not out took nearly two hours to compile, and the 16 that he and Caddick added together for the seventh wicket almost an hour.
In the end Hughes and May polished off the tail to add to Reiffel's earlier good work, and Warne was luckless in forty tidy overs that cost just 63 runs.