Double Headers

86 Other instances involving British teams Near misses Because the ‘MCC’ touring sides played under a different name in Test matches, I have had to exclude those instances when one touring MCC side was playing a first-class fixture as ‘MCC’ against a local XI, while another touring MCC side was playing a Test match elsewhere as ‘England’. Instances thus excluded are as follows: England v South Africa (Johannesburg, 1st Test) and MCC v Canterbury (Christchurch), both in 1922/23. Both games started on 23 December 1922; simultaneous playing dates were 23 and 26 December. England v South Africa (Cape Town, 2nd Test) and MCC v New Zealand (Wellington) 1922/23. The game in New Zealand started on 30 December 1922, and that in South Africa on 1 January 1923; simultaneous playing dates were 1 and 2 January. England v South Africa (Durban, 5th Test) and MCC v Auckland (Auckland) 1922/23. The Test match started on 16 February 1923 and the game in New Zealand on 17 February; simultaneous playing dates were 17 and 19 February. England v New Zealand (Wellington, 2nd Test) and two matches between MCC and Trinidad at Port of Spain in 1929/30. The Test Match was played on 24-25-27 January 1930, with the Trinidad games on 22-23-24-25 January and 27-28-29 January respectively. Simultaneous playing dates were therefore 24, 25 and 27 January. England v New Zealand (Auckland, 3rd Test) and MCC v British Guiana (Georgetown) 1929/30. The Test Match was due to start on 14 February 1930, but play was only possible on 17 February, which was also the second day of the game in Georgetown. Before the MCC took over responsibility for major tours, matches by touring XIs from England were generally played under the names of their respective tour-organisers. This being so, even if two tours took place simultaneously, there was no chance of any simultaneous matches involving two sides both with the same name. Nevertheless, for completeness mention should be made of the one other season when two separate ‘England’ sides played Test cricket, although neither side was known simply as ‘England’ when the Test matches themselves were being played. We are talking here of 1891/92, when a side under the auspices of Lord Sheffield and captained by W.G.Grace toured Australia, the first and last playing days of the tour being 20 November 1891 and 28 March 1892; while a side led by Walter Read (of Reigate fame) toured South Africa playing matches from 19 December 1891 until 23 March 1892. The former played three games which have come to be accepted as Test matches – at Melbourne on 1-6 January 1892, at Sydney on 29 January-3 February, and at Adelaide on 24-28 March. In South Africa, Read’s team played just a single Test, 79 on 19-22 March at Cape Town. This was the only eleven-a- side, and hence the only first-class, match of Read’s tour. 79 The game was not styled as a Test match at the time, but has since been accepted into the ranks of Test matches.