The tour was a great disappointment for Australian cricket. The team won only nine of its 39 matches and were soundly beaten in the Test series, but the real difficulty was the indiscipline of some players. According to "Wisden", quarrels began among the players during the opening match at Sheffield Park, Uckfield and Scott had "neither the strength of character nor the experience as a leader that the difficulties of his position demanded". Scott and the team manager Ben Wardill spent a lot of time adjudicating quarrels and the stress of the captaincy impacted Scott's performances as a batsman. The 1887 edition of "Wisden" bemoaned the absence of Murdoch, saying: "W. L. Murdoch, who was chief in the field of the three teams of 1880, 1882, and 1884, may not have exhibited all the qualities which go to make up that rare and valuable being, an ideal captain – but he certainly had a larger experience and a stronger will than the gentleman who, with the best of intentions, and the greatest sincerity of purpose, led the team of 1886".