The Sydney Riot of 1879 was an instance of civil disorder that occurred at an early international cricket match. It took place on 8 February 1879 at what is now the Sydney Cricket Ground during a match between New South Wales and a touring English team. The riot was sparked by a controversial umpiring decision, when star Australian batsman Billy Murdoch was given out by George Coulthard. In the immediate aftermath of the riot, the England team cancelled the remaining games they were scheduled to play in Sydney.
About Sydney Riot of 1879 in brief
The Sydney Riot of 1879 was an instance of civil disorder that occurred at an early international cricket match. It took place on 8 February 1879 at what is now the Sydney Cricket Ground during a match between New South Wales and a touring English team. The riot was sparked by a controversial umpiring decision, when star Australian batsman Billy Murdoch was given out by George Coulthard, a Victorian employed by the Englishmen. The dismissal caused an uproar among the spectators, many of whom surged onto the pitch and assaulted Coulthar and some English players. It was alleged that illegal gamblers in the New South. Wales pavilion, who had bet heavily on the home side, encouraged the riot because the tourists were. in a dominant position and looked set to win. Another theory given to explain the anger was that of intercolonial rivalry, that the New. South Wales crowd objected to what they perceived to be a slight from a Victorian umpire. In the immediate aftermath of the riot, the England team cancelled the remaining games they were scheduled to play in Sydney. The affair led to a breakdown of goodwill that threatened the future of Anglo-Australian cricket relations. However, friction between the cricketing authorities finally eased when Lord Harris agreed to lead an England representative side at The Oval in London against the touring Australians in 1880; this match became the fourth-ever Test and cemented the tradition of Anglo.Australian Test matches. The incident also caused much press comment in England and Australia. In Australia, the newspapers were united in condemning the unrest, viewing the chaos as a national humiliation and a public relations disaster.
The team was originally meant to be entirely amateur, but two professional Yorkshire bowlers, George Ulyett and Tom Emmett, joined the tour team after two Middlesex players had to withdraw due to a bereavement. The tour was generally regarded as a success; a highlight was the Australians’ famous victory over a very strong Marylebone Cricket Club outfit, which included W. G. Grace, the dominant cricketer of the 19th century, in less than four hours. At the time, English cricket was dominated by amateurs. Although amateurs were not paid for playing, they did receive generous “expenses” which usually exceeded anything they would have been paid as professionals. Despite the presence of two professional Englishmen in the team, the Uentlemen were described as ‘gentlemen’, a euphemism for professionals. The likes of Ned Kelly, Ned Kelly and Ned Kelly had heightened perceptions that Australia had a bushranger culture, and heightened perceptions of abusive bandit culture. In contrast, in a large part, social sport was a leisure pursuit to them, and such as Oxford and Cambridge, such as Harrow and Harrow, and universities such as Cambridge, were regarded by the social standards as coarse and uncultured. In 1878, the Dave Gregory-led campaign in 1878 was the first major Australian tour to England. The Melbourne Cricket Club, the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket was not created until 1905—invited Lord Harris to lead a team to Australia.
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