| 1981 Ashes series | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | 18 June 1981 – 1 September 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location |  England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | England won the six-Test series 3–1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player of the series | Ian Botham (Eng) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1982-83 → | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
The tour by theAustralian cricket team in England in 1981 included the 51stAshes series ofTest matches betweenAustralia andEngland. Despite having been 1–0 down after two Tests, England won the next three to finish 3–1 victors (with two draws), thus retaining the Ashes.
Australia's regular captainGreg Chappell made himself unavailable for selection, andKim Hughes was re-instated. The Australian squad selected for the tour was as follows:
Doug Walters was overlooked despite a strong summer at home.[1] This resulted in protests from fans and Walters' eventual retirement from first class cricket.[2][3]
Bruce Yardley had been Australia's most successful spinner that summer with 47 wickets, followed byJim Higgs with 38. The selectors preferred Ray Bright (22 wickets at 40) and Graeme Beard (29 wickets at 25).[4]
Mike Whitney was called up as a replacement during the tour.
Although the two teams were ranked below the mightyWest Indies of that era, the 1981 Ashes is nevertheless widely regarded as one of the most entertaining Test series ever due to the see-sawing nature of both the individual games and the series as a whole.
England won the series 3–1 despite being 1–0 down after the first two Tests.
Before the third Test atHeadingley, the inspirationalMike Brearley was reinstated asEngland captain, replacingIan Botham, whose 12-Test tenure as captain had been winless and whose previously excellent form with both bat and ball had fallen away (he had made apair in the second Test atLord's).
The series turned around in the legendary[5][6] third Test at Headingley. A galvanised Botham took 6 for 95 in Australia's first innings and scored 50 in England's, but Australia nonetheless compiled 401 for 9 declared (John Dyson scoring 102) and bowled England out for 174, thus forcing England to follow on 227 runs in arrears. Despite a stubborn 46 fromGeoff Boycott, in the second innings Botham came to the crease with England on 105 for 5, still requiring 122 runs to avoid an innings defeat. He played an outstanding innings of 149 not out, sharing partnerships of 117 withGraham Dilley for the eighth wicket, 67 withChris Old for the ninth and 37 withBob Willis for the tenth, to set Australia a target of 130. Australia then reached 56 for 1, seemingly well set, before Brearley switched Willis's bowling end to allow him to bowl down the slope. Willis bowled a superb spell of 8 for 43 to dismiss Australia for 111; England became only the second team in Test Match history to win a match after being made tofollow-on.[7]
The fourth Test atEdgbaston was a similarly inspired comeback victory for England. England conceded a 69-run first innings deficit, and set Australia a target of only 151 in the fourth innings. Australia reached 105 for 4 before Botham took five for 11, including a spell of five wickets for a solitary run, to end Australia's second innings at 121 and give England victory by 29 runs.
England also went on to win the fifth Test atOld Trafford to retain the Ashes, including another century for Botham (who reached his hundred in 86 balls). Botham scored 118 from 102 balls, dominating a chalk-and-cheese partnership of 149 withChris Tavaré, who blocked his way to 78 from 289 balls. Botham's innings included six sixes, which was an Ashes record untilBen Stokes's innings of 135 atHeadingley in the2019 Ashes series. Second-innings centuries fromAllan Border andGraham Yallop could not avert defeat.
The sixth Test atThe Oval was drawn, withDennis Lillee taking 11 wickets in the match and Botham taking 10.
18–21 June 1981 Scorecard |
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Australia won by 4 wickets Trent Bridge,Nottingham Umpires:WE Alley andDJ Constant Player of the match:DK Lillee (Aus) |
2–7 July 1981 Scorecard |
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16–21 July 1981 Scorecard |
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England won by 18 runs Headingley,Leeds Umpires:DO Oslear andKE Palmer Player of the match:IT Botham (Eng) |
30 July – 2 August 1981 Scorecard |
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England won by 29 runs Edgbaston,Birmingham Umpires:HD Bird andDO Oslear Player of the match:IT Botham (Eng) |
13–17 August 1981 Scorecard |
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England won by 103 runs Old Trafford, Manchester Umpires:DJ Constant andKE Palmer Player of the match:IT Botham (Eng) |
27 August – 1 September 1981 Scorecard |
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Three ODIs were played on this tour prior to the Test series. Australia won the Prudential Trophy 2–1, winning atEdgbaston andHeadingley, after losing the first match atLord's.
4 June 1981 Scorecard |
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6 June 1981 Scorecard |
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Australia won by 2 runs Edgbaston,Birmingham Umpires:DJ Constant andAGT Whitehead Player of the match:MW Gatting (ENG) |
8 June 1981 Scorecard |
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Australia won by 71 runs Headingley,Leeds Umpires:BJ Meyer andKE Palmer Player of the match:GM Wood (AUS) |
The Australian team visitedSri Lanka in May 1981 en route to England. They played three limited-overs matches and one first-class match against theSri Lanka national team, which at that time was on the brink of achieving Test status. The first-class match was played atPaikiasothy Saravanamuttu Stadium inColombo and ended in a draw after being badly affected by the weather.
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