Australian cricket team in England in 1882 Australian cricket team in England in 1882 The 1882 Australia v England series was at the time considered to be part of another first-class cricket tour of England, by a combined team from the Australian colonies, but the match arranged between the Australians and an England side was later accepted to be a Test match. Although it was not known at the time, the one-off match played at The Oval in south London would become the birth of The Ashes. The English side had lost the previous tour to Australia, but had remained undefeated at home by visiting Australian sides.
Australian cricket team in England in 1882 with the last ball of his over, clean bowled Ted Peate for 2 to have England all out for 77 off exactly 55 overs. England's innings had lasted a mere 122 minutes, destroyed by the pace of Spofforth, who bettered his first innings career best by two runs, collecting 7 for 44, to give him match figures of 14 for 90, both of which would remain his finest figures. Spofforth's performance included a burst of four wickets for only two runs to leave England just seven runs short of victory in one of the closest and most nail-biting finishes in