Only five of the tourists had played any first-class cricket prior to the tour, and of these Bush, Sewell and Smith-Turberville had not played a first-class match since 1886. Only Lucas and Bromley-Davenport had played recently at first-class level. Lucas had played for Middlesex since 1891 and Bromley-Davenport for Cambridge University in 1892 and 1893. Indeed, only these two players ever played a significant amount of first-class cricket in England. The standard of the matches was therefore below that of first-class cricket in England. All the 13 played at least one first-class match on the tour.