Double Headers

98 Australians (Christchurch) in 1949/50. Simultaneous playing dates were 3 and 4 March 1950. •South Africa v Australia (Port Elizabeth, 5th Test) in 1966/67 overlapped with the Australians’ matches against Auckland at Auckland (simultaneous playing dates 24-25-27 February 1967) and against Central Districts at Palmerston North (28 February). •South Africa v Australia (Johannesburg, 3rd Test) and Canterbury v Australians (Christchurch) in 1969/70, with simultaneous play on 20- 21-23 February 1970. •And with the boot on the other foot, the only ‘Test match’ on Australia’s tour in New Zealand in 1949/50 was played on exactly the same dates - 17-18-20 March 1950 - as the Australians were playing a South African XI at Johannesburg. •Similarly, the second ‘Test’ between New Zealand and Australia at Christchurch in 1969/70 coincided with the Australians’ match against Western Province at Cape Town. Simultaneous playing dates were 13 and 14 March 1970; play in both matches was also scheduled for 16 March, but rain prevented any play on this day at Christchurch. Near misses Until the 1927/28 season most interstate games in Australia, including those in the Sheffield Shield competition, were timeless: that is, they were played to a finish no matter how long it took. It was only the fact that some of these matches were completed relatively quickly that prevented further additions to the list of domestic double-headers. For example, in 1896/97 a timeless match between Tasmania and Victoria began at Launceston on 20 January 1897 and was completed on 22 January, while on 23 January the NSW v Victoria fixture began at Sydney. Similarly in 1923/24 a timeless match between South Australia and Victoria began at Adelaide on 15 February 1924 and was concluded on 20 February, while on the following day Victoria began a match with Tasmania at Hobart. In both these cases there would have been overlap between Victoria’s matches – and hence double-headers – if the earlier-started matches had run into a further day. The near-miss instance in 1896/97, like the three instances noted on page 92, would have featured two ‘away’ games for Victoria. In cases such as these, as with the genuine double-headers, the double- heading or potentially double-heading state would have had to select separate squads for the two fixtures. The same was also true on occasion in the ‘post-timeless’ period, even though no actual or prospective double- heading was in prospect. Thus in 1937/38 and 1949/50, although actual playing dates did not coincide, the programme (and the travelling distances involved) required two separate Victoria squads for a Shield game and a friendly against Tasmania: in the former season, Victoria played Tasmania at Melbourne from 1-3 February 1938 and started a Shield game against South Australia at Adelaide on 4 February, while in the latter season they played Tasmania at Melbourne from 24-26 January 1950 and began a Shield game against NSW at Sydney on 27 January. Australia: First home of the geographical double-header