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INTERNATIONALS - AUSTRALIA

Australia v England - 1936-37 to 1938-39

1936-37 This season saw the staging of the normal five-match Official series at Sydney and Melbourne, together with several unofficial matches.
In addition a second, "unofficial" England team took part in another five-match series in Western Australia. Results of this series, which
were also advertised as "Test Matches", have been unearthed by Ross Garrigan and Barry Forsyth.

1936-37 Australia won series 3-2 Attendance
OFFICIAL Sat 12.12 : Sydney Royale, NSW Australia 29 England 25 50,000
Sat 02.01 : Melbourne (Olympic Park), Vic Australia 33 England 21
Mon 18.01* : Sydney Royale, NSW Australia 25 England 28 30,000
Sat 30.01 : Sydney Royale, NSW Australia 26 England 28 30,000
Sat 06.02 : Sydney Royale, NSW Australia 31 England 22 40,000
* Postponed from Sat 16.01 due to rain
Complete heat details for this series are available here
Australia Total England Total
Wally Little 9 9 4 6 8 36 Jack Parker 30
Bluey Wilkinson 5 - 29 Norman Parker 5 1 7 8 4 25
Vic Huxley 7 3 8 28 Tommy Croombs 5 0 7 3 6 21
Clem Mitchell 8 9 - 2 3 22 Les Wotton 4 5 2 4 2 17
Vic Duggan - - 2 5 2 9 Wal Phillips 3 6 3 5 - 17
Dick Case 0 - 3 1 4 8 Cliff Parkinson 4 2 3 2 3 14
Bill Rogers - 6 - - - 6 Eric Gregory - 0 - - 0 0
Bert Spencer - 3 - - - 3
Jack Bibby - 2 - - - 2
Art Fenn 1 - - - - 1
Billy Lamont - - 0 - - 0
Steve Langton 0 - - - - 0

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OTHER MATCHES ridden by the official England touring team in 1936-37 : {short description of image}
Sat 5.12.36 at Sydney Royale NSW 22 (Vic Huxley 9, Wally Little 9, Art Fenn 2, W Moyes 1, Steve
Langton 1, Dick Sulway 0, Vic Duggan 0) England 32 (Jack Parker 6, Norman Parker 6, Cliff
Parkinson 6, Les Wotton 5, Tommy Croombs 5, Eric Gregory 4)
Sat 26.12.36 at Melbourne Olympic Park Victoria 19 (Bill Rogers 9, Clem Mitchell 4, Bert Spencer
3, Ray Taylor 3) England 17 (Wal Phillips 7, Norman Parker 5, Cliff Parkinson 3, Les Gregory 2)
Sat 23.1.37 at Sydney Royale NSW 25 (Wally Little 8, Vic Huxley 6, Vic Duggan 5, Dick Sulway 4,
Billy Lamont 1, Steve Langton 1) England 29 (Jack Parker 8, Wal Phillips 8, Norman Parker 7, Les
Wotton 4, Tommy Croombs 2, Cliff Parkinson 0, Eric Gregory 0)
Mon 01.02.37 at Bathurst, NSW Unofficial International Australia 22 (Vic Huxley 3 3 3 = 9, Vic
Duggan 1 3 2' = 6+1, Bluey Wilkinson 3 3 = 6, Art Fenn 1 = 1) England 13 (Norman Parker 1' 2 2
= 5+1, Jack Parker 2 1' = 3+1, Tommy Croombs 2 = 2, Cliff Parkinson 2 = 2, Les Wotton 1 = 1)
Ht.1 : Wilkinson, Croombs, Duggan. Ht.2 : Huxley, Parkinson, N Parker. Ht.3 : Duggan, N Parker.
Ht.4 : Huxley, J Parker, Fenn. Ht.5 : Wilkinson, N Parker, J Parker. Ht.6 : Huxley, Duggan, Wotton.
[Programme - see right]

1936-37 England won series 3-2
UNOFFICIAL Sat 19.12 : Perth (Claremont), WA Australia 26 England 26
All details of Sat 09.01 : Perth (Claremont), WA Australia 27 England 27
this series from Sat 23.01 : Perth (Claremont), WA* Australia 28 England 29
Ross Garrigan Sat 06.02 : Perth (Claremont), WA Australia 25 England 28
and Barry Sat 20.02 : Perth (Claremont), WA Australia 33 England 21
Forsyth Complete heat details for this series are available here
This series was arranged by Jack Colebatch, a Western Australian who has promoted in the UK at Plymouth. He took over the Claremont track for the season, and organised the unofficial English touring team.
* Impotant notes regarding the 3rd match can be found in the heat details
Australia Total England Total
Jack Sharp 8 7 9 9 9 42 Wal Morton 8 9 12 8 7 44
Mick Murphy 9 8 6 8 9 40 Ted Bravery 5 6 2 7 6 26
Tiger Lewis 4 8 2 5 8 27 Don Hemingway* 6 7 2 7 4 26
Cecil Walker 0 2 6 0 3 11 Charlie Lish 3 1 8 2 - 14
Neil Schiller 1 - 3 3 2 9 Ron Clarke 1 3 1 3 3 11
Jack Clementson 3 2 2 - - 7 Jock Sweet 3 - 2 0 0 5
Les Fredericks - - - - 2 2 John Preston* - 1 0 1 1 3
Arthur Hopkins 1 0 0 - - 1 Lou Murphy* - - 2 - - 2
* guest
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Programme from the controversial 3rd match in the Perth 1936-37 series.
OTHER MATCH ridden by the unofficial England touring team in 1936-37 :
Sat 5.12.36 at Perth (Claremont), WA Western Australia 31½ (Jack Sharp 9, Tiger Lewis 6½, Mick Murphy 5, Jack Clementson 4, Cecil Walker 4, Arthur Hopkins 3) England 21½ (Don Hemingway 6, Ted Bravery 5, Charlie Lish 4, Ron Clarke 3, Jock Sweet 2½, Lou Murphy guest 1) (Att: 20,000)

1937-38 Australia won series 4-1 Complete heat details of this series here Attendance
OFFICIAL Sat 11.12 : Sydney Sports Ground, NSW Australia 26 England 28 30,000
All details of Mon 27.12 : Sydney Royale, NSW Australia 31 England 23 30,000
this series Sat 08.01 : Sydney Sports Ground, NSW Australia 27 England 26 32,000
from Ross Sat 29.01 : Sydney Royale, NSW Australia 30 England 24 20,000
Garrigan Sat 12.02 : Sydney Royale, NSW Australia 29 England 25
Australia Total England Total
Bluey Wilkinson 9 9 9 9 9 45 Les Wotton 6 4 7 5 4 26
Clem Mitchell 8 7 9 9 8 41 Jack Parker 5 4 7 3 5 24
Lionel van Praag 6 5 4 8 4 27 Joe Abbott 6 4 7 6 0† 23
Vic Duggan - 5 2 0 3 10 Bill Kitchen 5 6 - 4 7 22
Charlie Spinks 2 2 1 2 2 9 Cliff Parkinson - 3 3 4 3 13
Ron Johnson 0 2 - 2 3 7 Harold Stevenson - 2 1 2 4 9
Bill Rogers 1 - 2 - - 3 Jack Ormston 4 0 1 - - 5
Wally Little 0 1 - - - 1 Arthur Atkinson 2 - 0 - - 2
Kirkman - - - 0 - 0 Wally Lloyd - - - - 2 2
† 1 uncompleted ride (fell after clash with van Praag; non-starter in re-run due to injury)
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1937-38 Sat 11.12 : Perth (Claremont), WA The Australians 20 The Englishmen 16 (Att : 10,000)
UNOFFICIAL Heat Details Details of this match from Ross Garrigan
Heat No. 01 02 03 04 05 06 Total
Mick Murphy 2 3 5 The attempts of Perth promoter Jack Colebatch to repeat the previous season's unofficial Test series were foiled on two counts.

First, the Australian authorities now required that permission be obtained, and fees paid, for such a series, so the team names had to be changed.

Secondly, the Perth season was ultimately to last just three meetings, at the third of which (on Dec.18) promising young Australian rider Neil Schiller was sadly killed.
Neil Schiller 1' 2' 3 + 2
Don Hemingway 3 (0) 3
Bert Spencer (0) 3 3
Tiger Lewis 2 1' 3 + 1
Arthur Hopkins 1' 2 3 + 1
AUSTRALIANS 3 6 9 14 17 20 20
ENGLISHMEN 3 6 9 10 13 16 16
Ted Bravery 3 2 5
Jock Sweet (0) 1' 1 + 1
Les Gregory 2 1 3
Charlie Lish 1' (0) 1 + 1
Ted Bateman 3 3 6
Jack Parsons (0) (0) 0

1938-39 Australia won series 3-2 Attendance
OFFICIAL Sat 07.01 : Sydney Sports Ground, NSW Australia 22 England 32 25,000
Sat 21.01 : Sydney Sports Ground, NSW Australia 32 England 22 25,000
Sat 28.01 : Sydney Sports Ground, NSW Australia 23 England 31 20,000
Sat 11.02 : Sydney Sports Ground, NSW Australia 28 England 24 30,000
Sat 18.02 : Sydney Sports Ground, NSW Australia 35 England 18 35,000

Australia Total England Total
Bluey Wilkinson* 9 9 9 9 9 45 Jack Parker 5 2 6 8 7 28
Lionel van Praag 4 8 6 7 8 33 Arthur Atkinson 4 6 4 7 7 28
Bill Longley 3 5 5 7 8 28 Alec Statham 7 7 8 2 - 24
Aub Lawson 0 - 1 3 4 8 Geoff Pymar 7 3 6 2 - 18
Clem Mitchell 1 5 1 - - 7 Wally Lloyd 5 3 2 1 3 14
Charlie Spinks 2 1 0 - 3 6 Norman Parker 4 1 5 3 1 14
Ray Taylor - - - 2 3 5 Bob Harrison - - - 1 0 1
Andy Menzies 3 - 1 0 - 4
Vic Huxley - 4 - - - 4 * Bluey Wilkinson was undefeated during the series.
Frank Dolan - - - 0 - 0

1st Test Results from Brisbane Courier-Mail. Sydney Morning Herald has ht 4 Longley & Praag interchanged, and ht 6 Pymar & Atkinson interchanged
Australia 22 England 32 1: Wilkinson, Menzies, Lloyd, J Parker 5-1 5-1
2: Statham, Praag, N Parker, Longley 2-4 7-5
3: Atkinson, Pymar, Mitchell, Spinks 1-5 8-10
4: J Parker, Longley, Lloyd, Praag 2-4 10-14
5: Wilkinson, Statham, Menzies, N Parker 4-2 14-16
6: Pymar, Praag, Longley, Atkinson 3-3 17-19
7: Lloyd, J Parker, Spinks, Mitchell 1-5 18-24
8: Wilkinson, Pymar, Atkinson, Menzies 3-3 21-27
9: N Parker, Statham, Spinks, Lawson 1-5 22-32
Bluey Wilkinson © 3 3 3 9 Jack Parker © 0 3 2' 5+1
Andy Menzies 2' 1 0 3+1 Wally Lloyd 1 1 3 5
Lionel van Praag 2 0 2 4 Alec Statham 3 2 2' 7+1
Bill Longley 0 2 1' 3+1 Norman Parker 1 0 3 4
Charlie Spinks 0 1 1 2 Arthur Atkinson 3 0 1' 4+1
Clem Mitchell 1 0 - 1 Geoff Pymar 2' 3 2 7+1
res. Aub Lawson 0 0 res. Bob Harrison no rides -
2nd Test I have seen reports that Wilkinson finished behind partner Longley in one of their races together, but I have found nothing in any Australian newspaper to support this.
Australia 32 England 22 1: Wilkinson, Longley, J Parker, Lloyd 55.2 5-1 5-1
2: Atkinson, Praag, Spinks, Pymar 56.0 3-3 8-4
3: Statham, Mitchell, Huxley, N Parker 55.6 3-3 11-7
4: Praag, Lloyd, J Parker, Spinks 54.4 3-3 14-10
5: Wilkinson, Longley, Atkinson, Pymar 54.8 19-11
6: Praag, Statham, N Parker, Spinks 54.6 3-3 22-14
7: Mitchell, Huxley, Lloyd, J Parker 55.0 5-1 27-15
8: Wilkinson, Statham, Longley, N Parker 54.4 31-17
9: Pymar, Atkinson, Huxley, Mitchell 55.2 1-5 32-22
Bluey Wilkinson © 3 3 3 9 Jack Parker ©
1 1' 0 2+1
Bill Longley 2' 2' 1 5+2 Wally Lloyd 0 2 1 3
Charlie Spinks 1' 0 0 1+1 Norman Parker 0 1' 0 1'
Lionel van Praag 2 3 3 8 Alec Statham 3 2 2 7
Clem Mitchell 2 3 0 5 Geoff Pymar 0 0 3 3
Vic Huxley 1' 2' 1 4+2 Arthur Atkinson 3 1 2' 6+1
res. Andy Menzies no rides - res. Bob Harrison no rides -
3rd Test
Australia 23 England 31 1: Wilkinson, Pymar, Menzies, Atkinson 54.0 4-2 4-2
2: Longley, J Parker, Mitchell, Lloyd 54.8 4-2 8-4
3: Statham, N Parker, Lawson, Praag 55.0 1-5 9-9
4: Atkinson, Pymar, Longley, Mitchell 55.6 1-5 10-14
5: Wilkinson, J Parker, Lloyd, Menzies 54.0 3-3 13-17
6: Statham, N Parker, Longley, Mitchell 56.0 1-5 14-22
7: Praag, Pymar, Atkinson, Spinks 53.8 3-3 17-25
8: Wilkinson, Statham, N Parker, Menzies 54.6 20-28
9: Praag, J Parker, Lloyd, Spinks 54.4 3-3 23-31
Bluey Wilkinson © 3 3 3 9 Jack Parker © 2 2 2 6
Andy Menzies 1 0 0 1 Wally Lloyd 0 1' 1' 2+2
Lionel van Praag 0 3 3 6 Alec Statham 3 3 2 8
Charlie Spinks - 0 0 0 Norman Parker 2' 2' 1' 5+3
Clem Mitchell 1 0 0 1 Geoff Pymar
2 2' 2 6+1
Bill Longley 3 1 1 5 Arthur Atkinson
0 3 1' 4+1
res. Aub Lawson 1 1 res. Bob Harrison no rides -
4th Test
Australia 28 England 24 1: Wilkinson, Atkinson, Pymar, Dolan 54.4 3-3 3-3
2: J Parker, Longley, Harrison f, Menzies f 55.2 2-3 5-6
3: Praag, Statham, N Parker, Lawson 54.8 3-3 8-9
4: Atkinson, Longley, Pymar, Menzies 53.0 2-4 10-13
5: Wilkinson, J Parker, Harrison, Taylor 55.0 3-3 13-16
6: Longley, N Parker, Menzies f, Statham f 55.8 3-2 16-18
7: Praag, Atkinson, Lawson, Pymar 55.0 4-2 20-20
8: Wilkinson, Taylor, Lloyd, N Parker 56.0 5-1 25-21
9: J Parker, Lawson, Praag, Harrison 56.2 3-3 28-24
Bluey Wilkinson © 3 3 3 9 Arthur Atkinson 2 3 2 7
Frank Dolan 0 - - 0 Geoff Pymar 1' 1 0 2+1
Bill Longley 2 2 3 7 Jack Parker © 3 2 3 8
Andy Menzies f 0 f 0 Bob Harrison f 1' 0 1+1
Lionel van Praag 3 3 1' 7+1 Alec Statham 2 f - 2
Aub Lawson 0 1 2 3 Norman Parker 1' 2 0 3+1
res. Ray Taylor 0 2' 2+1 res. Wally Lloyd 1 1
5th Test
Australia 35 England 18 1: Wilkinson, Atkinson, Taylor, N Parker 55.0 4-2 4-2
2: Longley, Spinks, Lloyd, Harrison ex-t 57.2 5-1 9-3
3: Praag, J Parker, Lawson (only 3 riders) 56.0 4-2 13-5
4: Longley, Atkinson, N Parker, Spinks 55.4 3-3 16-8
5: Wilkinson, Taylor, Lloyd, Harrison 55.4 5-1 21-9
6: J Parker, Longley, Spinks (only 3 riders) 56.2 24-12
7: Atkinson, Praag, Lawson,N Parker 56.2 3-3 27-15
8: Wilkinson, J Parker, Taylor f (only 3 riders) 55.2 3-2 30-17
9: Praag, Lawson, Lloyd, Harrison 56.6 5-1 35-18
Bluey Wilkinson © 3 3 3 9 Arthur Atkinson 2 2 3 7
Ray Taylor 1 2' f 3+1 Norman Parker 0 1' 0 1+1
Bill Longley 3 3 2 8 Bob Harrison ex-t 0 0 0
Charlie Spinks 2' 0 1' 3+2 Wally Lloyd 1 1 1 3
Lionel van Praag 3 2 3 8 Jack Parker © 2 3 2 7
Aub Lawson 1 1' 2' 4+2 (no rider) -
res. Andy Menzies no rides - (no reserve)

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{short description of image} A RARE collection -
all 5 programmes from the
1938-39 series at the
Sydney Sports Ground
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OTHER MATCHES ridden by the England touring team 1938-39 :
Sat 17.12.38 at Sydney Sports Ground NSW 16 (Bluey Wilkinson 6, Lionel van Praag 6, Clem Mitchell 2, Andy Menzies 2, Doug McLachlan 0, Frank Dolan 0) England 38 (Jack Parker 9, Arthur Atkinson 9, Alec Statham 8, Geoff Pymar 4, Wally Lloyd 4, Norman Parker 4)

The series was resumed after the war in 1947-48

Contributors : Ross Garrigan, Barry Forsyth, Phil Smith, Roger Stevens, Tom Marriott

© Brian Collins