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INTERNATIONALS - UNITED KINGDOM
England v Australia - 1928 to 1933
In the very earliest days of speedway in the UK, and before the establishment of any form of team competition, the rivalry between the established Australian stars and the new crop of British riders was intense. Prior to the staging of the first official Test Match in 1930, various events between the two countries were staged, and I have chosen to include brief details of such meetings here. |
1928 | Sa 19.05 : Crystal Palace, London | England beat Australia | |
(Att: 20,000) | Ht.1 : Lionel Wills (Eng) beat Ron Johnson (Aus) | ||
This was a series of 3 match races, with | Ht.2 : Sig Schlam (Aus) beat Les
Blakebrough (Eng) |
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the winners meeting in the Final. | Ht.3 : Roger Frogley (Eng) beat Charlie Datson (Aus) | ||
Final: Frogley (Eng), Wills (Eng), Schlam (Aus) | |||
"Nearly an hour
before the start of the opening meeting on the new Crystal Palace
speedway, a steady downpour of rain set in. In spite of this, spectators
continued to pour into the grounds, and a little before zero hour there
was not a stand seat to be had for love or money. Thousands had to stand
out in the rain, and when it was announced that, owing to the
conditions, the start would be postponed for half an hour, the crowd
bore its discomforts with great patience. The Marconiphone loud-speakers
refused to function, so announcements had to be made by megaphone ;
apart from this, the organisation was excellent. Although a shade heavy
owing to the deluge, the track was in very fine condition. Later on, the
rain almost ceased, and the crowd was fully repaid for its
long-suffering. The chief event was an international match race between
three celebrated Australian and English riders." "Two Englishmen and one Australian lined up for the Final, and after one false rolling start, caused by the fact that Schlam's "Peashooter" was running very erratically, the three got going and dead-heated for the first bend. Here, However, Schlam went into a broadside like lightning, and shot ahead. On the following straight, however, his engine suddenly cut out like a knife, and he had, perforce, to become a spectator.Thereafter, the race became rather dull, for, although Frogley and Wills were at the top of their form, their riding, as a spectacle, was not in the same street as that of the Australians. Less experienced riders on the more reliable machines ruled the day." |
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Excerpts from The Motor Cycle report of May 24th 1928 | 1928 Crystal Palace | ||
1928 | Sa 17.11 : Southampton (Att: 8,000) | England | 19 | Australia | 8 | |
Eric Spencer 2 2 2 | 6 | Buzz Hibberd 1 2 1 | 4 | |||
Bill Bragg 0 1 1 | 2 | Hilary Buchanan 0 0 0 | 0 | |||
Les Dallimore 1 2 2 | 5 | Boyd Pratt 0 0 0 | 0 | |||
Sonny Wilson 0 1 0 | 1 | Noel Johnson 2 0 2 | 4 | |||
Roger May 2 1 1 | 4 | Harold Stevens 0 0 0 | 0 | |||
Colin Watson 1 0 0 | 1 | Bert Spencer 0 0 0 | 0 | |||
Heat scoring 2-1-0-0 1 Spencer, Hibberd, [Bragg, Buchanan] 88.2 2-1 2-1 2 Johnson, Dallimore, [Wilson, Pratt] 92.2 1-2 3-3 3 May, Watson, [Stevens, Spencer] 94.4 3-0 6-3 4 Spencer, Bragg, [Pratt, Johnson] 89.4 3-0 9-3 5 Dallimore, Wilson, [Stevens,Spencer] 93.4 3-0 12-3 6 Hibberd, May, [Watson, Buchanan] 93.8 1-2 13-5 7 Spencer, Bragg, [Stevens, Spencer] 87.2 3-0 16-5 8 Dallimore, Hibberd, [Wilson, Buchanan] 91.2 2-1 18-6 9 Johnson, May, [Watson, Pratt] 94.4 1-2 19-8 |
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1929 | Sa 06.07 : Sheffield (Att: 18,000) | England | 19 | Australia | 8 | |
Heat scoring
4-2-1-0 Ht.1 Beckett, Platts, Parsons, Wise 87.2 6-1 6-1 Ht.2 Round, Chapman, Barber, Jackson 84.4 5-2 11-3 Ht.3 Wise, Barber, Round ret, Parsons ef 85.4 2-4 13-7 Ht.4 Beckett, Platts, Jackson, Chapman No Time 6-1 19-8 |
Clem Beckett 4 4 | 8 | Syd Parsons © 1 ef | 1 | ||
Bert Round 4 ret | 4 | Dick Wise 0 4 | 4 | |||
Jack Barber 1 2 | 3 | Jack Chapman 2 0 | 2 | |||
W E "Gus" Platts 2 2 | 4 | Jack Jackson 0 1 | 1 | |||
1929 | We 24.07 : Exeter | England | 4 | Australia | 14 | |
Ht.1: Bishop
(A) beat Buckland (E) 81.4 Ht.2: Johnson (A) beat Kempster (E) 86.2 Ht.3: Stevens (A) beat Watson (E) 82.4 Ht.4: Stokes (E) ef, pushed beat Buchanan (A) ef 183.0 (Both riders broke their gearboxes) SF1: Bishop (A) beat Johnson (A) SF2: Stevens (A) beat Stokes (E) Final: Bishop (A) beat Stevens (A) |
A knock-out competition of match races for "The Ashes" trophy | |||||
Jim Kempster | Jack Bishop | |||||
Colin Watson | Harold Stevens | |||||
Frank Buckland | Hilary Buchanan | |||||
Ron Stokes | Noel Johnson |
1929 |
Sa 03.08 : Sheffield (Att: 7,000) | England | beat | Australia | ||
Ht.1 Barber (E) beat
Chapman (A) 84.8 Ht.2 Round (E) beat Parsons (A) 83.0 Ht.3 Platts (E) beat Kelly (A) 84.2 Ht.4 Cummings (E) beat Litchfield (A) 89.0 Semi-Final 1. Round beat Barber 85.6 Semi-Final 2. Platts Beat Cumming 86.0 Final. Round beat Platts 83.8 |
A knock-out competition of match races | |||||
Jack Barber | Jack Chapman | |||||
Bert Round | Syd Parsons | |||||
W E "Gus" Platts | Les "Ned" Kelly | |||||
George Cummings | Keith Litchfield | |||||
1929 | Mo 09.09 : Coventry (Att: 25,000) | England | 9½ | Australia | 6½ | |
Jack Parker | 3 | Max Grosskreutz | 3 | |||
16 match races, scoring 1-0 | Arthur Jervis | 3 | Frank Arthur | 2 | ||
Wilmot Evans | 2½ | Billy Lamont | 1 | |||
Syd Jackson | 1 | Col Stewart | ½ | |||
1: Evans & Stewart dead-heat ½-½
2: Arthur bt Jackson 0-1 ½-1½ 3: Jervis bt Grosskreutz F 1-0 1½-1½ 4: Parker bt Lamont 1-0 2½-1½ 5: Evans bt Arthur 1-0 3½-1½ 6: Grosskreutz bt Jackson 0-1 3½-2½ 7: Jervis bt Lamont F 1-0 4½-2½ 8: Parker bt Stewart 1-0 5½-2½ |
9: Grosskreutz bt Evans
0-1 5½-3½ 10: Lamont bt Jackson 0-1 5½-4½ 11: Jervis bt Stewart 1-0 6½-4½ 12: Parker bt Arthur F 1-0 7½-4½ 13: Evans bt Lamont F 1-0 8½-4½ 14: Jackson bt Stewart 1-0 9½-4½ 15: Arthur bt Jervis 0-1 9½-5½ 16: Grosskreutz bt Parker 0-1 9½-6½ |
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1929 Coventry | ||||||
1929 | Nottingham | England | 20 | Australia | 8 | |
No other details | ||||||
1930 | England won series 4-1 | Attendance | ||||
OFFICIAL | Mo 30.06 : Wimbledon | England | 17 | Australia | 35 | 35,800 |
We 23.07 : Belle Vue (Hyde Road) | England | 56 | Australia | 39 | 40-50,000 | |
We 20.08 : Stamford Bridge | England | 49 | Australia | 46 | 45,000 | |
We 03.09 : Belle Vue (Hyde Road) | England | 51 | Australia | 45 | 40,000 | |
Fr 26.09 : Wembley | England | 49 | Australia | 45 | 25,000 | |
The
first-ever Test Match was arranged in secret by the Wimbledon promotion,
in fear that the other promoters would not release
their contracted stars for such an event. Instead, riders were booked
for a "championship" (i.e individual) event, and other
promoters were not happy when plans for a Test match were revealed. They
were placated by agreements that other Tests would be staged, for which
star riders would be made available. The ACU were as ignorant about the
Test Match plans as most of the promoters, and took no action at all in
the organisation of the event. The start was delayed for 45 minutes to enable the capacity crowd to negotiate the traffic jams and long turnstile queues around the stadium. The 6-a-side match over 9 heats resulted, as expected, in a comfortable victory for Australia, but the obvious public excitement over the Test meant that subsequent matches were increased to 8-a-side over 16 heats, which was to the detriment of the Australians, as they struggled to find two additional riders of Test match calibre. The track record was broken 3 times during the meeting. A team of mainly Northern riders led England to a big win at Belle Vue in front of another capacity crowd, but the third match at Stamford Bridge (then, as now, home of Chelsea FC) was much closer, though Australia began with two 5-1's. The second of those came when England star Varey crashed, and lay, unmoving, on the track before being stretchered off. An electrical problem saw the stadium plunged into darkness for 35 minutes, before a mighty cheer accompanied the news that Varey had recovered consciousness ... soon, he staggered onto the track, and he returned to ride in heat 6 - which he won! With two heats remaining the score was 42-42. In heat 15, Phillips and Charles faced Aussies Huxley and Wilkinson, but Huxley fell, leaving England on a 5-1. But then Charles' tyre burst, Wilkinson fell, and Huxley had remounted to finish second behind Phillips. Eng 45 Aus 44. Heat 16 : Syd Jackson and Tiger Stevenson v Cyclone Billy Lamont and Max Grosskreutz. Jackson went from third to first in a lap and a half and, with Stevenson holding out a engine-troubled Lamont for third, England had won a fine match. The popularity of the series caused the 4th Test, originally due to be staged at Sheffield (Owlerton), to be switched to the much larger Belle Vue (Hyde Road) a week before the event. Huxley and Jack Chapman scored over half Australia's points, but England had more strength in depth, though captain Varey barely arrived in time for the match having missed the boat from the Isle of Man where he had been practising for the Manx Grand Prix. At Wembley it rained all day and all evening, but another close match ensued, and close racing too, with Squib Burton beating Billy Lamont by a whisker after a superb 4-lap race. England did just enough to win the match, but the star of the series had been Vic Huxley, who dropped just 6 points in the five matches. He also won the "second-half" knock-out trophies at all five meetings. |
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1930 Series Point-Scorers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
England | Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frank Varey | 0 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 28 | Colin Watson | - | 1 | - | - | 8 | 9 | Vic Huxley | 9 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 51 | Dick Wise | - | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | 4 | |
Squib Burton | - | 9 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 26 | Bob Harrison | - | - | - | 8 | - | 8 | Max Grosskreutz | 6 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 33 | Bruce McCallum | - | 2 | - | - | - | 2 | |
Frank Charles | - | 5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 17 | Joe Abbott | - | 7 | - | - | - | 7 | Frank Arthur | 6 | 6 | 8 | 3 | - | 23 | Bluey Wilkinson | - | - | 0 | - | 2 | 2 | |
Jim Kempster | 5 | 10 | 1 | 1 | - | 17 | Tiger Stevenson | - | - | 7 | - | - | 7 | Billy Lamont | 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 23 | Arnie Hansen | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | |
Eric Langton | - | 8 | - | 9 | - | 17 | Gus Kuhn | 0 | - | - | - | 6 | 6 | Dick Case | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 22 | Stan Catlett | - | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | |
Jack Parker | 1 | - | - | 9 | 7 | 17 | Arthur Warwick | - | - | 6 | - | - | 6 | Jack Chapman | - | 0 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 22 | Billy Galloway | - | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | |
Wal Phillips | 4 | - | 12 | - | - | 16 | Syd Jackson | - | - | 3 | - | - | 3 | Ron Johnson | 5 | - | 7 | 6 | 4 | 22 | Buzz Hibberd | - | - | - | 0 | - | 0 | |
Roger Frogley | 6 | - | 2 | - | 5 | 13 | Arthur Jervis | - | - | 3 | - | - | 3 | Charlie Spinks | - | - | 3 | - | 2 | 5 | ||||||||
Wally Hull | - | 5 | - | 6 | - | 11 | Oliver Langton | - | 2 | - | - | - | 2 | |||||||||||||||
Jack Ormston | 1 | - | - | - | 8 | 9 |
First-Ever Official Test Match programme, Wimbledon, special thanks to Roger Stevens | 2nd Test at Belle Vue |
4th Test at Belle Vue, Manchester | 3rd Test at Stamford Bridge |
5th Test at Wembley |
1st Test at Wimbledon | ACU Steward : Mr A G Pickering | |||||||||||||
England | 17 | Australia | 35 | 1: Huxley, Phillips, Case
ef, pushed, Kempster f 2-4 73.2 (record) 2: Arthur, Johnson, R Frogley, Varey ef 1-5 3-9 76.2 3: Grosskreutz, Lamont, Parker, Ormston 1-5 4-14 74.4 4: Kempster, Phillips, Johnson, Arthur f 5-1 9-15 74.4 5: Frogley, Grosskreutz, Lamont, Kuhn (rep. Varey) 3-3 12-18 74.6 6: Huxley, Case, Ormston, Parker f 1-5 13-23 73.8 7: Lamont, Kempster, Grosskreutz, Phillips f 2-4 15-27 73.0 (record) 8: Huxley, Frogley, Varey f, Case f,rm,f 2-3 17-30 74.2 9: Arthur, Johnson, Parker ret, Ormston ret 0-5 17-35 76.0 |
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1 Jim Kempster © | f | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 Vic Huxley © | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | |||||
2 Frank Varey | ef | - | f | 0 | 2 Frank Arthur | 3 | f | 3 | 6 | |||||
3 Jack Parker | 1 | f | ret | 1 | 3 Max Grosskreutz | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |||||
4 Roger Frogley | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 4 Dick Case | 1 | 2' | f | 3+1 | |||||
5 Wal Phillips | 2 | 2' | f | 4+1 | 5 Ron Johnson | 2' | 1 | 2' | 5+2 | |||||
6 Jack Ormston | 0 | 1 | ret | 1 | 6 Billy Lamont | 2' | 1' | 3 | 6+2 | |||||
res Gus Kuhn | 0 | 0 | res Arnie Hansen | - | ||||||||||
2nd Test at Belle Vue | ACU Steward: R J Gabriel | |||||||||||||
England | 56 | Australia | 39 | 1: Burton, Varey, Arthur,
Huxley f,rm 82.6 5-1 5-1 2: Grosskreutz, Kempster f,rm, Chapman f, Watson f 93.8 2-3 7-4 3: E Langton, Case, Lamont, Charles 87.4 3-3 10-7 4: Abbott, Hull, McCullum, Wise f 87.8 5-1 15-8 5: Grosskreutz, Burton, Varey, Chapman ret 87.6 3-3 18-11 6: Huxley, Kempster, Watson, Arthur 87.2 3-3 21-14 7: E Langton, Charles, Wise, Catlett (rep. McCullum) 85.8 5-1 26-15 8: Lamont, Abbott, Hull, Case 87.8 3-3 29-18 9: Varey, Burton, McCullum, Wise 85.8 5-1 34-19 10: Kempster, Case, O Langton (rep.Watson), Lamont f 86.0 4-2 38-21 11: Huxley, Arthur, Abbott, Hull 86.6 1-5 39-26 12: Grosskreutz, E Langton, Charles, Catlett (rep.Chapman) 84.4 3-3 13: Varey, Burton, Lamont, Case 85.6 5-1 47-30 14: Kempster, Wise, O Langton (rep.Watson), Catlett (rep. McCullum) 87.6 4-2 51-32 15: Grosskreutz, Hull, Abbott, Catlett (rep.Chapman) 87.8 3-3 54-35 16: Arthur, Charles, Huxley, E Langton 85.4 2-4 56-39 GOLDEN SWORD CHAMPIONSHIP 1: Huxley, Chapman, ? 84.2 ; 2: Lamont, McCallum, ? 88.2 ; 3: Burton, Kempster, ? 85.8 ; 4: Langton, Charles, ? 85.8 ; Final: Huxley, Burton [Lamont, Langton] 83.8 |
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1 Frank Varey © | 2' | 1' | 3 | 3 | 9+2 | 1 Vic Huxley © | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 | |||
2 Squib Burton | 3 | 2 | 2' | 2' | 9+2 | 2 Frank Arthur | 1 | 0 | 2' | 3 | 6+1 | |||
3 Jim Kempster | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 3 Max Grosskreutz | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | |||
4 Colin Watson | f | 1' | - | - | 1+1 | 4 Jack Chapman | f | ret | - | - | 0 | |||
5 Eric Langton | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 5 Billy Lamont | 1' | 3 | f | 1 | 5+1 | |||
6 Frank Charles | 0 | 2' | 1' | 2 | 5+2 | 6 Dick Case | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |||
7 Joe Abbott | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1' | 7+1 | 7 Dick Wise | f | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |||
8 Wally Hull | 2' | 1' | 0 | 2 | 5+2 | 8 Bruce McCallum | 1 | - | 1 | - | 2 | |||
9 Oliver Langton | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 Stan Catlett | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
3rd Test at Stamford Bridge | ||||||||||||||
England | 49 | Australia | 46 | 1: Arthur, Case,
Kempster, Burton f 1-5 1-5 44.55mph 2: Huxley, Spinks, Warwick, Jackson, Varey f,ns 1-5 2-10 44.77mph 3: Phillips, Grosskreutz, Frogley, Lamont 4-2 6-12 44.88mph 4: Stevenson, Chapman, Jervis, Johnson ret 4-2 10-14 44.55mph 5: Huxley, Burton, Spinks, Kempster 2-4 12-18 45.22mph 6: Varey, Warwick, Grosskreutz, Lamont 5-1 17-19 44.44mph 7: Phillips, Charles, Johnson, Chapman 5-1 22-20 45.00mph 8: Arthur, Stevenson, Case, Jervis 2-4 24-24 44.88mph 9: Burton, Lamont, Grosskreutz, Kempster 3-3 27-27 44.55mph 10: Johnson, Warwick, Varey, Chapman ex 3-3 30-30 43.79mph 11: Phillips, Case, Charles, Arthur ef 4-2 34-32 45.22mph 12: Huxley, Jervis, Stevenson, Spinks 3-3 37-35 45.22mph 13: Johnson, Chapman, Frogley, Burton punc 1-5 38-40 44.11mph 14: Varey, Arthur, Warwick, Case 4-2 42-42 45.34mph 15: Phillips, Huxley f,rm , Charles punc, Wilkinson f 3-2 45-44 45.80 16: Jackson, Grosskreutz, Stevenson, Lamont ret 4-2 49-46 44.66mph |
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1 Jim Kempster © | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | 1 | 1 Frank Arthur © | 3 | 3 | ef | 2 | 8 | |||
2 Squib Burton | f | 2 | 3 | punc | 5 | 2 Dick Case | 2' | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5+1 | |||
3 Frank Varey | f,ns | 3 | 1' | 3 | 7+1 | 3 Vic Huxley | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 | |||
4 Arthur Warwick | 1 | 2' | 2 | 1 | 6+1 | 4 Charlie Spinks | 2' | 1 | 0 | - | 3+1 | |||
5 Wal Phillips | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 5 Max Grosskreutz | 2 | 1 | 1' | 2 | 6+1 | |||
6 Frank Charles | - | 2' | 1 | punc | 3+1 | 6 Billy Lamont | 0 | 0 | 2 | ret | 2 | |||
7 Tiger Stevenson | 3 | 2 | 1' | 1 | 7+1 | 7 Ron Johnson | ret | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | |||
8 Arthur Jervis | 1 | 0 | 2 | - | 3 | 8 Jack Chapman | 2 | 0 | ex | 2' | 4+1 | |||
9 Syd Jackson | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 Bluey Wilkinson | f | 0 | ||||||||
10 Roger Frogley | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 Dick Wise | - | |||||||||
4th Test at Belle Vue | ACU Steward: W G Gabriel | ||||||||||||
England | 51 | Australia | 45 | 1: Huxley, Langton,
Varey, Hibberd 3-3 3-3 82.8 2: Chapman, Burton, Arthur, Harrison 2-4 5-7 84.8 3: Johnson, Hull, Kempster, Lamont ret 3-3 8-10 85.8 4: Parker, Case, Grosskreutz, Charles ret 3-3 11-13 85.6 5: Varey, Chapman, E Langton, Arthur 4-2 15-15 85.0 6: Huxley, Harrison, Burton, Hibberd 3-3 18-18 84.6 7: Grosskreutz, Case, Hull, Kempster 1-5 19-23 85.4 8: Parker, Charles, Johnson, Lamont 5-1 24-24 83.4 9: Langton, Varey, Case, Grosskreutz ret 5-1 29-25 83.8 10: Harrison, Johnson, Burton, Lamont ret 4-2 33-27 85.0 11: Huxley, Parker, Charles, Hibberd 3-3 36-30 83.8 12: Chapman, Arthur, Hull, Kempster 1-5 37-35 84.6 13: Langton, Varey, Lamont, Johnson f 5-1 42-36 84.8 14: Harrison, Case, Burton f,rm , Grosskreutz ret 4-2 46-38 85.4 15: Chapman, Charles, Parker, Arthur 3-3 49-41 84.4 16: Huxley, Hull, Wise, Kempster f 2-4 51-45 85.8 |
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1 Frank Varey © | 1' | 3 | 2' | 2' | 8+3 | 1 Vic Huxley © | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | ||
2 Eric Langton | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 2 Buzz Hibberd | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | ||
3 Squib Burton | 2 | 1' | 1 | 1 | 5+1 | 3 Frank Arthur | 1 | 0 | 2' | 0 | 3+1 | ||
4 Bob Harrison | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 4 Jack Chapman | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 11 | ||
5 Jim Kempster | 1' | 0 | 0 | f | 1+1 | 5 Ron Johnson | 3 | 1 | 2 | f | 6 | ||
6 Wally Hull | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 Billy Lamont | ret | 0 | ret | 1 | 1 | ||
7 Jack Parker | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1' | 9+1 | 7 Max Grosskreutz | 1' | 3 | ret | ret | 4+1 | ||
8 Frank Charles | ret | 2' | 1' | 2 | 5+2 | 8 Dick Case | 2 | 2' | 1 | 2 | 7+1 | ||
9 Norman Hartley | - | 9 Dick Wise | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
5th Test at Wembley | |||||||||||||
England | 49 | Australia | 45 | 1: Huxley, Watson,
Wilkinson ret, Kuhn f,rm, f 2-3 2-3 83.4 2: Chapman, Lamont, Varey, Ormston ret 1-5 3-8 83.2 3: Parker, Grosskreutz, Burton ret Galloway f 3-2 6-10 87.4 4: Johnson, Case, Frogley, Charles ret 1-5 7-15 87.0 5: Watson, Kuhn, Grosskreutz, Spinks 5-1 12-16 84.0 6: Ormston, Varey, Case, Johnson ret 5-1 17-17 84.2 7: Huxley, Parker, Burton, Wilkinson 3-3 20-20 83.6 8: Lamont, Chapman, Charles, Frogley 1-5 21-25 83.6 9: Watson, Kuhn, Johnson, Case f 5-1 26-26 84.2 10: Huxley, Ormston, Wilkinson, Varey 2-4 28-30 84.4 11: Burton, Lamont, Chapman, Parker 3-3 31-33 81.6 12: Charles, Frogley, Grosskreutz, Spinks f 5-1 36-34 84.6 13: Lamont, Kuhn, Chapman, Watson ret 2-4 38-38 84.4 14: Ormston, Spinks, Varey, Grosskreutz f 4-2 42-40 83.0 15: Burton, Parker, Johnson, Case f 5-1 47-41 82.6 16: Huxley, Frogley, Wilkinson, Charles 2-4 49-45 83.2 |
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1 Colin Watson © | 2 | 3 | 3 | ret | 8 | 1 Vic Huxley © | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | ||
2 Gus Kuhn | f | 2' | 2' | 2 | 6+2 | 2 Bluey Wilkinson | ret | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
3 Jack Ormston | ret | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 3 Billy Lamont | 2' | 3 | 2 | 3 | 10+1 | ||
4 Frank Varey | 1 | 2' | 0 | 1 | 4+1 | 4 Jack Chapman | 3 | 2' | 1' | 1 | 7+2 | ||
5 Squib Burton | ret | 1' | 3 | 3 | 7+1 | 5 Max Grosskreutz | 2 | 1 | 1 | f | 4 | ||
6 Jack Parker | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2' | 7+1 | 6 Charlie Spinks | - | 0 | f | 2 | 2 | ||
7 Frank Charles | ret | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 7 Ron Johnson | 3 | ret | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
8 Roger Frogley | 1 | 0 | 2' | 2 | 5+1 | 8 Dick Case | 2' | 1 | f | f | 3+1 | ||
9 Arthur Jervis | - | 9 Arnie Hansen | - | ||||||||||
10 Syd Jackson | - | 10 Billy Galloway | f | 0 | |||||||||
1930 | Following the success of the Official Test Matches, several unofficial matches were staged | |||||
UNOFFICIAL | ||||||
Tu 10.06 : Leicester Stadium (Att: 12,000) | England | 15 | Australia | 21 | ||
1: Arthur,
Jackson, Frogley, Johnson 3-3 3-3 2: Burton, Grosskreutz, Taylor, Kempster 3-3 6-6 3: Arthur, Taylor, Kempster, Jackson f 1-5 7-11 4: Grosskreutz, Frogley, Johnson, Burton 2-4 9-15 5: Frogley, Johnson, Taylor, Kempster 3-3 12-18 6: Grosskreutz, Burton, Jackson, Arthur ef 15-21 |
Roger Frogley | 6 | Max Grosskreutz | 8 | ||
Squib Burton | 5 | Frank Arthur © | 6 | |||
Syd Jackson © | 3 | Alby Taylor | 4 | |||
Jim Kempster | 1 | Ron Johnson | 3 | |||
Mo 16.06 : Nottingham | See England v Overseas | |||||
We 09.07 : Southampton | England | 26 | Australia | 28 | ||
1: Hansen, Wilkinson,
Stevenson, Goulden f 75.4 1-5 1-5 2: Mitchell, Frogley, Case, Sharp 76.6 2-4 3-9 3: Spinks, Bishop, Croombs, Jones 76.4 3-3 6-12 4: Goulden, Mitchell, Stevenson, Case 77.0 4-2 10-14 5: Sharp, Frogley, Spinks, Jones f 76.6 5-1 15-15 6: Hansen, Croombs, Wilkinson, Bishop 75.8 2-4 17-19 7: Stevenson, Goulden, Jones, Spinks e/t 76.4 5-1 22-20 8: Hansen, Frogley, Sharp, Wilkinson 75.2 3-3 25-23 9: Case, Mitchell, Bishop, Croombs77.6 1-5 26-28 |
Tiger Stevenson |
5 | Arnie Hansen © |
9 | ||
Frank Goulden © |
5+1 | Bluey Wilkinson |
3+1 |
1930 Southampton |
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Roger Frogley |
6+1 | Clem Mitchell | 7+1 | |||
Triss Sharp | 4+1 | Dick Case | 4 | |||
Phil Bishop | 3 | Charlie Spinks | 4 | |||
Tommy Croombs |
3+1 | Bert Jones | 1 | |||
Len Parker | - | Dick Sulway |
- | |||
Sa 12.07 : Leeds (heat scoring 4-2-1-0) | England | 29 | Australia | 13 | ||
1: Burton, Grosskreutz,
Abbott, ? 5-2 2: 5-2 10-4 3: 5-2 15-6 4: Charles, Grosskreutz, Taylor, ? 4-3 19-9 5: 6-1 25-10 6: Burton, Grosskreutz, Taylor, ? 4-3 29-13 |
Squib Burton © | ? | Max Grosskreutz © | 6 | ||
Joe Abbott | ? | Alby Taylor | ? | |||
Frank Charles | ? | Dick Wise | ? | |||
Roy Barrowclough | ? | Syd Parsons | ? | |||
Billy Ellmore | ? | Frank Duckett | ? | 1930 Leeds | ||
Th 28.08 : Leicester Stadium (Att: 15,000) | England | 25 | Australia | 11 | ||
1: Frogley, Arthur,
Jackson, ? 4-2 2: Burton, Varey, Lamont, Case 5-1 9-3 3: Arthur, Case, ? , ? 1-5 10-8 4: Burton, Frogley, ? , ? 5-1 15-9 5: Varey, Frogley, ? , ? 5-1 20-10 6: Burton, Jackson, Lamont, ? 5-1 25-11 |
Squib Burton | 9 | Frank Arthur | ? | ||
Roger Frogley | 7 | Dick Case | ? | |||
Frank Varey | ? | Ron Johnson | ? | |||
Syd Jackson | ? | Billy Lamont | ? | |||
Th 04.09 : Halifax(Thrum Hall) 3 laps, rolling start | England | 31 | Australia | 23 | ||
1: Lamont, Langton, Cort,
? 3-3 2: Chapman. Michie, Wise, ? 2-4 5-7 3: Byers, Hibberd, Watson, ? 4-2 9-9 4: Langton, Wise, Cort, ? 4-2 13-11 5: Haigh, Michie, McCallum, ? 5-1 18-12 6: Lamont, Byers, Evans ? 2-4 20-16 7: Cort, Langton, Hibberd, ? 5-1 25-17 8: Haigh, Lamont, Evans, ? 3-3 28-20 9: Wise, Watson, Byers, ? 3-3 31-23 Heat details from Wally Auckram (NZ) |
Eric Langton © | 7 | Billy Lamont © | 8 | ||
Gordon Byers | 6 | Dick Wise | 6 | |||
Dusty Haigh | 6 | Jack Chapman | 3 | |||
Clem Cort | 5 | Buzz Hibberd | 3 | |||
Scot Michie | 4 | Ernie Evans | 2 | |||
Harry Watson | 3 | Bruce McCallum | 1 | |||
We 24.09 : Exeter | England | 24 | Australia | 28 | ||
1: Watson, R Johnson,
Mitchell, ? 3-3 75.4* 2: Buckland, Case, Taft, ? 4-2 7-5 3: Wilkinson, Francis, Lloyd, ? 3-3 10-8 4: Watson, Case, N Johnson, ? 3-3 13-11 5: Buckland, Wilkinson, Taft, ? 4-2 17-13 6: R Johnson, Mitchell, Francis, ? 1-5 18-18 7: Wilkinson,Sanderson,Sharp f,Watson ret20-21 8: R Johnson, Mitchell, Taft, Buckland ret 21-26 9: Francis, N Johnson, Lloyd ret, Case ret 24-28 |
Colin Watson © | 6 | Ron Johnson © | 8 | ||
Frank Buckland | 6 | Bluey Wilkinson | 8 | |||
Joe Francis | 6 | Clem Mitchell | 5 | 1930 Halifax | ||
Harry Taft | 3 | Dicky Case | 4 | |||
Tiger Sanderson | 2 | Noel Johnson | 3 | |||
Wally Lloyd | 1 | Jack Sharp | 0 | |||
Sa 18.10 : Exeter | England | 30 | Australia | 24 | ||
1 Watson, Bravery, R
Johnson, (Bryant f) 76.2 5-1 5-1 2 Buckland, N Johnson, Luke 79.7 4-2 9-3 3 Spinks, Bishop, Sharp 79.4 2-4 11-7 4 N Johnson, Jackson, Bravery 82.4 1-5 12-12 5 Spinks, Buckland, Luke 79.4 3-3 15-15 6 R Johnson, Bishop, Ormston 78.5 3-3 18-18 7 Watson, Spinks, Sharp 78.5 3-3 21-21 8 Buckland, R Johnson, Luke 79.5 4-2 25-23 9 Ormston, Bishop, N Johnson |
Colin Watson © | 6 | Ron Johnson © | 6 | ||
Ted Bravery | 3 | Percy Bryant | 0 | |||
Frank Buckland | 8 | Charlie Spinks | 8 | |||
Jack Luke | 3 | Jack Sharp | 2 | |||
Jack Ormiston | 4 | Jack Jackson | 2 | |||
Phil Bishop | 6 | Noel Johnson | 6 | |||
Tu 20.05 : West Ham | ||||||
Individual evernt, but advertised as an "International Test Match - Australia v England". | ||||||
Ht 1: (Aus) Frank Arthur, Bluey Wilkinson, Harold Hastings. | ||||||
Ht 2: (Eng) Tiger
Stevenson, Arthur Westwood, Roger Frogley. |
||||||
Ht.3: (Aus) Vic Huxley,
Bert Jones, Dick Sulway. |
1930 West Ham | |||||
Ht 4: (Eng) Jack Ormston,
Geoff Taylor, Tommy Croombs. |
||||||
Semi-Final 1: (Aus)
Huxley, Arthur. |
||||||
Semi-Final 2: (Eng)
Stevenson, Ormston f. |
||||||
Final: Huxley (Aus), Stevenson (Eng). | ||||||
1931 | England won series 4-1 | Attendance | ||||
OFFICIAL | Sa 27.06 : Crystal Palace | England | 55 | Australia | 37 | 47,000 |
Mo 20.07 : Leicester Super | England | 46 | Australia | 47 | 25,000 | |
Fr 21.08 : Wembley | England | 53 | Australia | 43 | 50,000 | |
Sa 05.09 : Belle Vue (Hyde Road) | England | 53 | Australia | 41 | 40,000 | |
We 23.09 : Stamford Bridge | England | 48 | Australia | 46 | ||
Postponed from Fr 14.08 due to rain | ||||||
Speedway machines
were far less reliable in 1931 than they are today, and the Australian
team were afflicted with a plethora of engine problems at Crystal Palace
in front of a record crowd, which resulted in a big England victory.
Australia were expected to do well at the countries' largest track, the
third-of-a-mile Leicester Super (where races were over 3 laps) but their
victory margin was limited to a single point. It was in this match that
England lost two of its' best riders for the rest of the season, captain
Cyril "Squib" Burton and Wal Phillips. Burton's engine seized
solid in heat 1, and Ron Johnson couldn't avoid him - Burton suffered a
broken thigh. Two races later, Phillips crashed and a spoke almost
penetrated right through his ankle. Australia needed a last heat 4-2 to
win the match, which they got when Arthur led home Jack Parker and Arnie
Hansen, after Eric Langton's engine failed early in the race. England new boy Reg Bounds was the difference between the two teams at Wembley, before England took the series with a win at Belle Vue in front of a big crowd that included two train loads of fans from the London tracks. England were led by Jack Parker, who scored a maximum despite defying doctor's orders not to ride, and Ginger Lees. Each team lost a rider to injury during the match - Joe Abbott for England, and Ron Johnson for Australia. Parker was unbeaten again in the final match at Stamford Bridge, and broke the track record, but this time it was a last heat decider in which Australia needed a 5-1 to win the match, but when Dick Smythe was left at the start it was all over. |
1931 Series Point-Scorers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
England | Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jack Parker | 7 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 49 | Gus Kuhn | - | - | - | - | 7 | 7 | Frank Arthur | 9 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 39 | Billy Lamont | - | - | - | 1 | 5 | 6 | |
Eric Langton | 12 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 37 | Jack Ormston | 5 | - | - | - | - | 5 | Max Grosskreutz | 7 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 33 | Bobby Blake | - | 5 | - | - | - | 5 | |
Dusty Haigh | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 26 | Frank Varey | - | - | - | 5 | - | 5 | Vic Huxley | 6 | 6 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 33 | Arnie Hansen | - | 5 | 0 | - | - | 5 | |
Ginger Lees | - | - | 8 | 11 | 2 | 21 | Arthur Warwick | - | - | 1 | - | 4 | 5 | Bluey Wilkinson | 4 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 24 | Dickie Smythe | 0 | - | - | - | 3 | 3 | |
Colin Watson | 4 | - | 3 | 6 | 8 | 21 | Joe Francis | 3 | - | - | - | - | 3 | Lionel van Praag | - | 9 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 19 | Col Stewart | - | - | 3 | - | - | 3 | |
Reg Bounds | - | - | 10 | - | 3 | 13 | Hal Herbert | - | 3 | - | - | - | 3 | Dick Case | 6 | 8 | - | - | - | 14 | Len Woods | 2 | - | - | 1 | - | 3 | |
Tom Croombs | - | - | 4 | 7 | - | 11 | Syd Jackson | - | 3 | - | - | - | 3 | Ron Johnson | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 13 | Dick Wise | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | |
Joe Abbott | - | 8 | - | 2 | - | 10 | Fred Wilkinson | - | 3 | - | 0 | - | 3 | Charlie Spinks | - | - | 7 | 4 | - | 11 | Len Stewart | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | |
Squib Burton | 10 | 0 | - | - | - | 10 | Tom Farndon | - | - | 2 | - | - | 2 | |||||||||||||||
Wal Phillips | 10 | | - | - | - | 10 | Harry Whitfield | - | - | 2 | - | - | 2 | |||||||||||||||
Arthur Jervis | - | 9 | - | - | - | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
1 ride - fell, non-starter |
1931 Crystal Palace | 1931 Leicester Super | 1931 Wembley |
1931 Belle Vue | 1931 Stamford Bridge |
1st Test at Crystal Palace | |||||||||||||
England | 55 | Australia | 37 | 1 Huxley, Watson,
Ormston, Woods 80.6 3-3 3-3 2 Case, Wilkinson, Phillips, Francis 82.6 1-5 4-8 3 Burton, Arthur, Haigh f,rm, Smythe f 81.4 4-2 8-10 4 Langton, Parker, Grosskreutz, Johnson 80.6 5-1 13-11 5 Ormston, Wilkinson ret, Case ret, Watson ret 85.0 3-0 16-11 6 Phillips, Arthur, Francis, Smythe 81.4 4-2 20-13 7 Haigh, Burton, Grosskreutz, Johnson 82.4 5-1 25-14 8 Langton, Parker, Woods, Huxley f,rm 81.8 5-1 30-15 9 Arthur, Watson, Ormston, Smythe 82.0 3-3 33-18 10 Phillips, Grosskreutz, Johnson, Francis f 80.8 3-3 36-21 11 Burton, Huxley, Woods, Haigh ret 82.6 3-3 39-24 12 Langton, Parker, Wilkinson, Case ret 81.4 5-1 44-25 13 Grosskreutz, Johnson f,rm, Watson ret, Ormston f 87.2 44-30 14 Phillips, Francis, Huxley , Woods 81.6 5-1 49-31 15 Case, Burton, Wilkinson, Haigh 81.6 2-4 51-35 16 Langton, Arthur, Parker, Stewart 81.8 4-2 55-37 |
|||||||||
1 Colin Watson© | 2 | ret | 2 | ret | 4 | 1 Vic Huxley © | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
2 Jack Ormston | 1' | 3 | 1' | f | 5+2 | 2 Len Woods | 0 | 1 | 1' | 0 | 2+1 | ||
3 Wal Phillips | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 3 Dick Case | 3 | ret | ret | 3 | 6 | ||
4 Joe Francis | 0 | 1 | f | 2' | 3+1 | 4 Bluey Wilkinson | 2' | ret | 1 | 1 | 4+1 | ||
5 Squib Burton | 3 | 2' | 3 | 2 | 10+1 | 5 Dickie Smythe | f | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | ||
6 Dusty Haigh | 1 | 3 | ret | 0 | 4 | 6 Frank Arthur | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | ||
7 Eric Langton | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 7 Max Grosskreutz | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | ||
8 Jack Parker | 2' | 2' | 2' | 1 | 7+3 | 8 Ron Johnson | 0 | 0 | 1' | 2' | 3+2 | ||
9 Syd Jackson | - | 9 Len Stewart | 0 | 0 | |||||||||
10 Arthur Warwick | - | 10 Arnie Hansen | - | ||||||||||
2nd Test at Leicester Super | |||||||||||||
England | 46 | Australia | 47 | 1 Abbott, Huxley, Burton
F, Johnson F 75.6 3-2 3-2 2 Case, van Praag, Herbert, Jackson 74.6 1-5 4-7 3 Hansen, Arthur, Haigh, Phillips f,ns 73.4 1-5 5-12 4 Parker, Langton, Grosskreutz ret, B Wilkinson ret 78.0 5-0 10-12 5 Case, van Praag, Abbott, Jackson 75.6 1-5 11-17 6 Jervis, Arthur, Hansen, Herbert 73.2 3-3 14-20 7 Haigh, F Wilkinson, Grosskreutz f,rm, B Wilkinson ret 74.6 19-21 8 Huxley, Langton, Parker, Blake 74.2 3-3 22-24 9 Jackson, Abbott, Arthur f , Hansen f 75.8 5-0 27-24 10 Jervis, Grosskreutz, Herbert, B Wilkinson ret 73.6 4-2 31-26 11 Blake, Haigh, Huxley 74.4 2-4 33-30 12 Langton, van Praag, Parker, Case 74.4 4-2 37-32 13 B Wilkinson, Abbott, Grosskreutz 75.6 2-4 39-36 14 Jervis, Blake, Herbert, Huxley ret 72.6 4-2 43-38 15 van Praag, Case, F Wilkinson, Haigh ret 75.0 1-5 44-43 16 Arthur, Parker, Hansen, Langton ret 2-4 46-47 |
|||||||||
Squib Burton © | f | - | - | - | 0 | Vic Huxley © | 2 | 3 | 1 | ret | 6 | ||
Joe Abbott | 3 | 1 | 2' | 2 | 8+1 | Ron Johnson | f | - | - | - | 0 | ||
Arthur Jervis | - | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | Dick Case | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2' | 8+1 | ||
Hal Herbert | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Lionel van Praag | 2' | 2' | 2 | 3 | 9+2 | ||
Wal Phillips | f,ns | - | - | - | - | Frank Arthur | 2' | 2 | f | 3 | 7+1 | ||
Dusty Haigh | 1 | 3 | 2 | ret | 6 | Arnie Hansen | 3 | 1' | f | 1 | 5+1 | ||
Jack Parker | 3 | 1' | 1 | 2 | 7+1 | Max Grosskreutz | ret | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||
Eric Langton | 2' | 2 | 3 | ret | 7+1 | Bluey Wilkinson | ret | ret | ret | 3 | 3 | ||
Syd Jackson | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | Bobby Blake | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | ||||
Fred Wilkinson | 2' | 1 | 3+1 | ||||||||||
3rd Test at Wembley | ACU Steward : Mr H N Edwards | ||||||||||||
England | 53 | Australia | 43 | 1 Watson, van Praag,
Whitfield F,rm, Huxley f 82.0 4-2 4-2 2 Lees, Spinks, Grosskreutz, Langton e/t 79.8 3-3 7-5 3 Arthur, Bounds, Croombs, Stewart 80.2 3-3 10-8 4 Parker, Haigh, Wilkinson F,rm, Johnson f 79.0 5-1 15-9 5 Spinks, Grosskreutz, Whitfield, Watson ef 82.4 1-5 16-14 6 Arthur, Langton, Lees, Stewart 79.8 3-3 19-17 7 Johnson, Bounds, Croombs, Wilkinson f 80.6 3-3 22-20 8 Haigh, Parker, van Praag, Huxley ef 81.4 5-1 27-21 9 Arthur, Stewart, Farndon, Watson e/t 80.6 1-5 28-26 10 Langton, Wilkinson, Lees, Johnson ret 82.6 4-2 32-28 11 Bounds, Croombs, van Praag, Huxley e/t 81.2 5-1 37-29 12 Parker, Spinks, Grosskreutz, Haigh f 79.6 3-3 40-32 13 Johnson, Wilkinson, Farndon, Watson f 83.8 1-5 41-37 14 Lees, Langton, Huxley, van Praag 81.0 5-1 46-38 15 Bounds, Grosskreutz, Warwick, Hansen, Spinks f,ns, Croombs f,ns 81.6 4-2 50-40 16 Parker, Arthur, Stewart, Haigh f 80.2 3-3 53-43 |
|||||||||
1 Colin Watson © | 3 | ef | 0 | f | 3 | 1 Vic Huxley © | f | ef | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
2 Harry Whitfield | 1 | 1 | - | - | 2 | 2 Lionel van Praag | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
3 Eric Langton | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2' | 7+1 | 3 Max Grosskreutz | 1' | 2' | 1' | 2 | 6+3 | ||
4 Ginger Lees | 3 | 1' | 1 | 3 | 8+1 | 4 Charlie Spinks | 2 | 3 | 2 | f,ns | 7 | ||
5 Tommy Croombs | 1' | 1' | 2' | f,ns | 4+3 | 5 Frank Arthur | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 | ||
6 Reg Bounds | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 6 Col Stewart | 0 | 0 | 2' | 1' | 3+2 | ||
7 Jack Parker | 3 | 2' | 3 | 3 | 11+1 | 7 Bluey Wilkinson | 1 | f | 2 | 2' | 5+1 | ||
8 Dusty Haigh | 2' | 3 | f | f | 5+1 | 8 Ron Johnson | f | 3 | ret | 3 | 6 | ||
9 Tom Farndon | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 Arnie Hansen | 0 | 0 | |||||||
10 Arthur Warwick | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
4th Test at Belle Vue | |||||||||||||
England | 53 | Australia | 41 | 1 Huxley, Langton,
Lamont, Varey f 82.4 2-4 2-4 2 Croombs, Arthur, Watson, Spinks 82.0 4-2 6-6 3 Parker, Grosskreutz, Haigh, van Praag 81.8 4-2 10-8 4 B Wilkinson, Lees, Abbott, Johnson f 82.6 3-3 13-11 5 Arthur, Spinks, Langton, Varey ef 83.8 1-5 14-16 6 Grosskreutz, Croombs, Watson, van Praag 83.0 3-3 17-19 7 Parker, Haigh, B Wilkinson F,rm, Johnson f 83.0 5-1 22-20 8 Lees, Huxley, Abbott, Lamont ef 85.4 4-2 26-22 9 Grosskreutz, Varey, Langton ef, van Praag ef 83.2 2-3 28-25 10 Watson, B Wilkinson, Woods, Croombs ret 84.2 3-3 31-28 11 Parker, Huxley, Haigh, Lamont 82.6 4-2 35-30 12 Lees, Spinks, Arthur f, Abbott f,ex 83.2 3-2 38-32 13 Varey, B Wilkinson, Langton, Woods 84.8 4-2 42-34 14 Huxley, Croombs, Watson, Lamont f 84.0 3-3 45-37 15 Parker, Haigh, Arthur, Spinks 83.6 5-1 50-38 16 Lees, van Praag, Grosskreutz f,rm, F Wilkinson f 85.0 3-3 53-41 |
|||||||||
Eric Langton © | 2 | 1 | ef | 1 | 4 | Vic Huxley © | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | ||
Frank Varey | f | ef | 2 | 3 | 5 | Billy Lamont | 1 | ef | 0 | f | 1 | ||
Colin Watson | 1 | 1' | 3 | 1' | 6+2 | Frank Arthur | 2 | 3 | f | 1 | 6 | ||
Tommy Croombs | 3 | 2 | ret | 2 | 7 | Charlie Spinks | 0 | 2' | 2 | 0 | 4+1 | ||
Jack Parker | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | Max Grosskreutz | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1' | 9+1 | ||
Dusty Haigh | 1 | 2' | 1 | 2' | 6+2 | Lionel van Praag | 0 | 0 | ef | 2 | 2 | ||
Joe Abbott | 1' | 1 | f,ex | - | 2+1 | Bluey Wilkinson | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
Ginger Lees | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 | Ron Johnson | f | f | - | - | 0 | ||
Fred Wilkinson | f | 0 | Len Woods | 1' | 0 | 1+1 | |||||||
Larry Boulton | - | Bobby Blake | - | ||||||||||
5th Test at Stamford Bridge | |||||||||||||
England | 48 | Australia | 46 | 1 Parker, Huxley, Lamont
ef, pushed, Haigh ef 77.0* 3-3 3-3 2 Watson, Kuhn, Grosskreutz f, Johnson f 77.4 5-0 8-3 3 Arthur, Warwick, Smythe, Lees 79.0 2-4 10-7 4 Langton, van Praag, Wilkinson, Bounds 79.0 3-3 13-10 5 Parker, Grosskreutz, Haigh, Johnson 76.8* 4-2 17-12 6 Watson, Arthur, Smythe, Kuhn ef 77.4 3-3 20-15 7 Wilkinson, van Praag, Lees, Warwick 79.4 1-5 21-20 8 Huxley, Langton, Bounds, Lamont 78.6 3-3 24-23 9 Parker, Haigh, Smythe, Arthur ex-tapes 77.4 5-1 29-24 10 Kuhn, Watson, Wilkinson ef, van Praag ef 79.6 5-0 34-24 11 Lamont, Huxley, Lees, Warwick ef 80.0 1-5 35-29 12 Johnson, Grosskreutz, Langton, Bounds ef 80.0 1-5 36-34 13 Parker, Haigh, Wise, Wilkinson ef 78.0 5-1 41-35 14 Huxley, Kuhn, Lamont, Watson f 79.6 2-4 43-39 15 Grosskreutz, Warwick, Johnson, Lees 78.4 2-4 45-43 16 Arthur, Bounds, Langton, Smythe 80.0 3-3 48-46 |
|||||||||
1 Jack Parker © | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 1 Vic Huxley © | 2 | 3 | 2' | 3 | 10+1 | ||
2 Dusty Haigh | ef | 1 | 2' | 2' | 5+2 | 2 Billy Lamont | 1' | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5+1 | ||
3 Colin Watson | 3 | 3 | 2' | f | 8+1 | 3 Max Grosskreutz | f | 2 | 2' | 3 | 7+1 | ||
4 Gus Kuhn | 2' | ef | 3 | 2 | 7+1 | 4 Ron Johnson | f | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||
5 Ginger Lees | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 Frank Arthur | 3 | 2 | ex-t | 3 | 8 | ||
6 Arthur Warwick | 2 | 0 | ef | 2 | 4 | 6 Dickie Smythe | 1 | 1' | 1 | 0 | 3+1 | ||
7 Eric Langton | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1' | 7+1 | 7 Bluey Wilkinson | 1' | 3 | ef | ef | 4+1 | ||
8 Reg Bounds | 0 | 1' | ef | 2 | 3+1 | 8 Lionel van Praag | 2 | 2' | ef | - | 4+1 | ||
9 Tom Farndon | - | 9 Dick Wise | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
10 Phil Bishop | - | 10 Charlie Spinks | - | ||||||||||
1932 | England won series 3-2 | Attendance | ||||
OFFICIAL | Sa 04.06 : Stamford Bridge | England | 50 | Australia | 41 | 42,000 |
Th 23.06 : Wembley | England | 35 | Australia | 59 | ||
Sa 16.07 : Belle Vue (Hyde Road) | England | 53 | Australia | 43 | ||
Sa 06.08 : Crystal Palace | England | 45 | Australia | 49 | ||
Th 15.09 : Wembley | England | 51 | Australia | 42 | 53,000 | |
UK speedway's biggest-ever attendance at that time | ||||||
Originally scheduled for Sa 24.09 at Southampton | ||||||
Despite
the failure of their captain, Colin Watson, to score in the opening
Test at Stamford Bridge, England were inspired by the form of young Tom
Farndon to victory over Australia, whose riders were unable to match the
home heat-leaders. Not so at Wembley, where Australia won by the biggest
margin so far, 24 points, in a match where the crowd became incensed by
some very rough riding, several riders were disqualified (i.e excluded),
the Australians got the best of some appalling rolling starts, and the
steward (who would now be called a referee) left under a police escort!
Heroes of the match were the unbeaten Dick Case / Billy Lamont pairing,
with Lamont following his partner home in all their four rides together. A capacity crowd at Belle Vue saw an even match, with England drawing ahead in the closing stages against an Australian side for whom Ron Johnson failed to arrive (car breakdown) and Dickie Smythe was injured in a road accident on his journey north, while Vic Huxley became the first rider to score 100 points in Test matches. At the Crystal Palace, the scores were level going into the final (16th) heat, and when Varey led Johnson and Wilkinson after a lap, a draw looked a likely result. But then Johnson took the lead, and Varey's tyre burst (not uncommon in those days), so Australia took the win on a night of superb and aggressive racing, and several falls. The final Test was scheduled for Southampton . In July the National Speedway Association said "There is no foundation whatever for the rumours which have been circulated regarding a change of venue for the 5th Test, which will take place at Southampton on 24th August as arranged" 4 weeks later the same organisation announced that it had been moved to Wembley at a later date! The series was tied, and speedway's biggest-ever crowd (press reports varied from 50,000 to 80,000!) descended on Wembley for the decider, while millions more listened to live race commentary on BBC Radio, and Pathe News filmed the match. Star of the meeting was Australian Vic Huxley, with a superb maximum, but too many weak links meant that he finshed on the losing side against the England team led by Eric Langton and Ginger Lees, who thus won the series. But the race points for the series were equal at 234 to each country. |
1932 Series Point-Scorers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
England | Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Eric Langton | 2 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 34 | Joe Francis | - | 0 | - | 8 | - | 8 | Dick Case | 6 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 43 | Max Grosskreutz | 7 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
Tom Farndon | 11 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 7 | 31 | Jack Ormston | - | 7 | 1 | - | - | 8 | Vic Huxley | 5 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 41 | Dickie Smythe | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 14 |
Ginger Lees | - | 5 | 11 | 4 | 10 | 30 | Tiger Stevenson | - | - | - | - | 5 | 5 | Bluey Wilkinson | 5 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 29 | Lionel van Praag | 2 | - | 3 | 0 | 7 | 12 |
Frank Varey | 8 | - | 11 | 7 | - | 26 | Syd Jackson | - | - | - | 4 | - | 4 | Frank Arthur | 6 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 26 | Jack Chapman | 2 | - | - | - | 1 | 3 |
Wal Phillips | 10 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 23 | Dusty Haigh | - | - | 2 | - | - | 2 | Billy Lamont | 4 | 8 | 6 | 8 | - | 26 | Charlie Spinks | - | 1 | 2 | - | - | 3 |
Jack Parker | - | 5 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 22 | Gordon Byers | - | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | Ron Johnson | 4 | 3 | - | 5 | 7 | 19 | |||||||
Nobby Key | 6 | 0 | - | 6 | 4 | 16 | Tom Croombs | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | ||||||||||||||
Geo. Greenwood | 5 | 8 | - | - | - | 13 | Colin Watson | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | ||||||||||||||
Arthur Warwick | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1 | - | 11 | |||||||||||||||||||||
1st Test - Stamford Bridge | 2nd Test - Wembley | 4th Test - Crystal Palace | 5th Test - Wembley |
3rd Test - Belle Vue ... BULLETIN and PROGRAMME (RARE!) | |
1st Test at Stamford Bridge | |||||||||||||
England | 50 | Australia | 41 | Speeds
(mph) rather than time (secs) were announced. 1 Arthur, Phillips, Smythe f, Watson f 45.80mph 2-3 2-3 2 Varey, Case, Chapman, Langton f 45.68mph 3-3 5-6 3 Johnson, Key, Grosskreutz, Warwick ef 45.57mph 2-4 7-10 4 Farndon, Greenwood, Huxley, van Praag 46.51mph 5-1 12-11 5 Arthur, Smythe f, Varey ef, Langton ex,start 34.95mph 0-3 12-14 6 Wilkinson, Warwick, Key, Case ex,start 45.80mph 3-3 15-17 7 Greenwood, Farndon, Grosskreutz, Johnson f 45.68mph 5-1 20-18 8 Phillips, van Praag, Huxley, Croombs 45.22mph 3-3 23-21 9 Warwick, Wilkinson, Key, Arthur 45.92mph 4-2 27-23 10 Farndon, Lamont, Case, Greenwood f 45.57mph 3-3 30-26 11 Phillips, Grosskreutz, Johnson, Watson 45.80mph 3-3 33-29 12 Varey, Huxley, Langton, van Praag 45.22mph 4-2 37-31 13 Farndon, Lamont, Arthur f, Greenwood ef 44.44mph 3-2 40-33 14 Case, Phillips, Chapman, Watson 45.57mph 2-4 42-37 15 Grosskreutz, Varey, Langton, Johnson f 45.45mph 3-3 45-40 16 Warwick, Key, Huxley, van Praag 45.22mph 5-1 50-41 |
|||||||||
1 Colin Watson© | f | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 Frank Arthur © | 3 | 3 | 0 | f | 6 | ||
2 Wal Phillips | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 2 Dickie Smythe | f | f | - | - | 0 | ||
3 Eric Langton | f | ex-t | 1 | 1' | 2+1 | 3 Dick Case | 2 | ex-t | 1' | 3 | 6+1 | ||
4 Frank Varey | 3 | ef | 3 | 2 | 8 | 4 Jack Chapman | 1' | - | - | 1 | 2+1 | ||
5 Nobby Key | 2 | 1' | 1 | 2' | 6+2 | 5 Ron Johnson | 3 | f | 1' | f | 4+1 | ||
6 Arthur Warwick | ef | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 6 Max Grosskreutz | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | ||
7 Tom Farndon | 3 | 2' | 3 | 3 | 11+1 | 7 Vic Huxley | 1 | 1' | 2 | 1 | 5+1 | ||
8 George Greenwood | 2' | 3 | f | ef | 5+1 | 8 Lionel van Praag | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
9 Tommy Croombs | 0 | 0 | 9 Bluey Wilkinson | 3 | 2 | 5 | |||||||
10 Syd Jackson | - | 10 Billy Lamont | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||
2nd Test at Wembley | |||||||||||||
England | 35 | Australia | 59 | 1 Lees, Smythe, Huxley,
Parker ef 79.8 3-3 3-3 2 Greenwood, Arthur, Grosskreutz, Farndon f 78.8 3-3 6-6 3 Johnson, Ormston, Wilkinson, Warwick ef 78.0 2-4 8-10 4 Case, Lamont, Phillips, Langton 79.6 1-5 9-15 5 Huxley, Greenwood, Smythe, Farndon ef 80.0 2-4 11-19 6 Grosskreutz, Ormston, Arthur, Warwick 78.4 2-4 13-23 7 Wilkinson, Phillips, Spinks, Key, Langton f,ns, Johnson f,ns 80.2 2-4 15-27 8 Case, Lamont, Lees, Parker f 79.6 1-5 16-32 9 Huxley, Ormston, Smythe, Francis ex,time 79.4 2-4 18-36 10 Langton, Arthur, Phillips, Grosskreutz f 79.6 4-2 22-38 11 Parker, Wilkinson, Lees f,pushed, Johnson f 80.0 4-2 26-40 12 Case, Lamont, Greenwood, Farndon f 81.1 1-5 27-45 13 Langton, Huxley, Smythe, Phillips f 80.6 3-3 30-48 14 Arthur, Parker, Grosskreutz ex,unfair ride, Key f 80.0 2-3 32-51 15 Wilkinson, Greenwood, Spinks ex,time, Farndon ef 81.0 2-3 34-54 16 Case, Lamont, Ormston, Warwick 80.2 1-5 35-59 |
|||||||||
1 Jack Parker © | ef | f | 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 Vic Huxley © | 1' | 3 | 3 | 2 | 9+1 | ||
2 Ginger Lees | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | 5 | 2 Dickie Smythe | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1' | 5+1 | ||
3 George Greenwood | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 3 Frank Arthur | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||
4 Tom Farndon | f | ef | f | ef | 0 | 4 Max Grosskreutz | 1' | 3 | f | ex | 4+1 | ||
5 Jack Ormston | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 Ron Johnson | 3 | f,ns | f | - | 3 | ||
6 Arthur Warwick | ef | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | 6 Bluey Wilkinson | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 9 | ||
7 Eric Langton | 0 | f,ns | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 Dick Case | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | ||
8 Wal Phillips | 1 | 2 | 1 | f | 4 | 8 Billy Lamont | 2' | 2' | 2' | 2' | 8+4 | ||
9 Joe Francis | ex-2 | - | 9 Charlie Spinks | 1 | ex-2 | 1 | |||||||
10 Nobby Key | 0 | f | 0 | 10 Jack Chapman | - | ||||||||
3rd Test at Belle Vue | |||||||||||||
England | 53 | Australia | 43 | 1 Parker,
Langton, Huxley, Smythe 79.4 5-1 5-1 2 Case, Farndon, Lamont, Haigh f 80.0 2-4 7-5 3 Varey, Wilkinson, van Praag, (Ormston?) 80.6 3-3 10-8 4 Lees, Grosskreutz, Arthur, Phillips ef 79.4 3-3 13-11 5 Farndon, Huxley, Haigh, (Smythe?) 78.6 4-2 17-13 6 Case, Varey, Lamont, (Ormston?) 80.4 2-4 19-17 7 Lees, Wilkinson, Spinks, (Phillips?) 79.0 3-3 22-20 8 Parker, Arthur, Grosskreutz, (Langton?) 79.0 3-3 25-23 9 Varey, Huxley, Ormston, (Smythe?) 80.0 4-2 29-25 10 Lamont, Lees, Case, (Phillips?) 80.0 2-4 31-29 11 Parker, Langton, Spinks, (Wilkinson?) 79.6 5-1 36-30 12 Farndon, Grosskreutz, Arthur, Haigh ef 80.4 3-3 39-33 13 Lees, van Praag, Huxley, Phillips f 80.4 3-3 42-36 14 Case, Langton, Lamont, Parker ef 79.6 2-4 44-40 15 Farndon, Wilkinson, Haigh, (???) 80.2 4-2 48-42 16 Varey, Warwick, Arthur, (Grosskreutz?) 81.4 5-1 53-43 |
|||||||||
Eric Langton © | 2' | (0) | 2' | 2 | 6+2 | Vic Huxley © | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1' | 6+1 | ||
Jack Parker | 3 | 3 | 3 | ef | 9 | Dickie Smythe | 0 | (0) | (0) | - | 0 | ||
Tom Farndon | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 | Dick Case | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | ||
Dusty Haigh | f | 1 | ef | 1 | 2 | Billy Lamont | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | ||
Frank Varey | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 11 | Ron Johnson | did not arrive | - | |||||
Jack Ormston | (0) | (0) | 1 | - | 1 | Bluey Wilkinson | 2 | 2 | (0) | 2 | 6 | ||
Ginger Lees | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 11 | Frank Arthur | 1' | 2 | 1' | 1 | 5+2 | ||
Wal Phillips | ef | (0) | (0) | f | 0 | Max Grosskreutz | 2 | 1' | 2 | (0) | 5+1 | ||
George Greenwood | - | Charlie Spinks | 1' | 1 | 2+1 | ||||||||
Arthur Warwick | 2' | 2+1 | Lionel van Praag | 1' | 2 | 3+1 | |||||||
4th Test at Crystal Palace | |||||||||||||
England | 45 | Australia | 49 | 1 Jackson,
Parker, Smythe, Arthur 81.4 5-1 5-1 2 Lamont, Case, Lees, Key 82.0 1-5 6-6 3 Varey, Huxley, Grosskreutz, Phillips f 81.2 3-3 9-9 4 Langton, Wilkinson, Johnson f, Farndon f 81.4 3-2 12-11 5 Key, Arthur, Smythe, Lees chain 80.4 3-3 15-14 6 Case, Varey, Phillips, Lamont ex,start 81.4 3-3 18-17 7 Langton, Francis, Huxley, Grosskreutz 80.4 5-1 23-18 8 Francis, Wilkinson, Johnson ef, Parker f,ns, Jackson ret,ns 81.6 26-20 9 Arthur, Varey, Smythe, Phillips 82.0 2-4 28-24 10 Case, Lamont, Langton, Farndon 80.8 1-5 29-29 11 Huxley, Francis, Jackson, van Praag f 81.0 3-3 32-32 12 Key, Johnson, Lees, Wilkinson 80.4 4-2 36-34 13 Langton, Farndon, Smythe, Arthur 81.0 5-1 41-35 14 Lamont, Case, Francis, Jackson 82.0 1-5 42-40 15 Huxley, Lees, Grosskreutz, Key 82.4 2-4 44-44 16 Johnson, Wilkinson, Warwick, Varey punctured 82.0 1-5 45-49 |
|||||||||
1 Jack Parker © | 2' | f,ns | - | - | 2+1 | 1 Frank Arthur © | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | ||
2 Syd Jackson | 3 | ret | 1' | 0 | 4+1 | 2 Dickie Smythe | 1 | 1' | 1 | 1 | 4+1 | ||
3 Ginger Lees | 1 | ret | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 Dick Case | 2' | 3 | 3 | 2' | 10+2 | ||
4 Nobby Key | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 4 Billy Lamont | 3 | ex-t | 2' | 3 | 8+1 | ||
5 Wal Phillips | f | 1' | 0 | - | 1+1 | 5 Vic Huxley | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | ||
6 Frank Varey | 3 | 2 | 2 | ret | 7 | 6 Max Grosskreutz | 1' | 0 | - | 1 | 2+1 | ||
7 Tom Farndon | f | - | 0 | 2' | 2+1 | 7 Ron Johnson | f | ef | 2 | 3 | 5 | ||
8 Eric Langton | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 8 Bluey Wilkinson | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2' | 6+1 | ||
9 Joe Francis | 2' | 3 | 2 | 1 | 8+1 | 9 Jack Chapman | - | ||||||
10 Arthur Warwick | 1 | 1 | 10 Lionel van Praag | f | 0 | ||||||||
5th Test at Wembley | |||||||||||||
England | 51 | Australia | 42 | 1 Parker, Langton,
Smythe, Arthur f 80..0 5-1 5-1 2 Johnson, Lees, Byers f, Wilkinson ef 81.4 2-3 7-4 3 Huxley, Stevenson, Key, Grosskreutz 80.0 3-3 10-7 4 Case, Phillips, van Praag, Farndon 80.0 2-4 12-11 5 Lees, Arthur, Smythe, Byers 79.8 3-3 15-14 6 Johnson, Key, Wilkinson f, Stevenson f 82.4 2-3 17-17 7 Huxley, Farndon, Phillips, Grosskreutz 78.4 3-3 20-20 8 Langton, Parker, van Praag, Case f 79.4 5-1 25-21 9 Stevenson, Smythe, Key f, Arthur f 81.2 3-2 28-23 10 Farndon, Phillips, Wilkinson, Johnson f 78.4 5-1 33-24 11 Huxley, Langton, Parker, Grosskreutz 77.2** 3-3 36-27 12 Lees, van Praag, Byers, Case 79.8 4-2 40-29 13 Phillips, Farndon, Smythe, Arthur 79.0 5-1 45-30 14 Langton, Wilkinson, Johnson, Parker ef 78.6 3-3 48-33 15 Huxley, Lees, Chapman, Byers ef 78.6 2-4 50-37 16 van Praag, Case, Key, Stevenson 80.4 1-5 51-42 |
|||||||||
1 Jack Parker © | 3 | 2' | 1' | ef | 6+2 | 1 Frank Arthur © | f | 2 | f | 0 | 2 | ||
2 Eric Langton | 2' | 3 | 2 | 3 | 10+1 | 2 Dickie Smythe | 1 | 1' | 2 | 1 | 5+1 | ||
3 Ginger Lees | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 3 Ron Johnson | 3 | 3 | f | 1' | 7+1 | ||
4 Gordon Byers | f | 0 | 1 | ef | 1 | 4 Bluey Wilkinson | ef | f | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
5 Tiger Stevenson | 2 | f | 3 | 0 | 5 | 5 Vic Huxley | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | ||
6 Nobby Key | 1' | 2 | f | 1 | 4+1 | 6 Max Grosskreutz | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | ||
7 Wal Phillips | 2 | 1' | 2' | 3 | 8+2 | 7 Dick Case | 3 | f | 0 | 2' | 5+1 | ||
8 Tom Farndon | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2' | 7+1 | 8 Lionel van Praag | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | ||
9 Jack Ormston | - | 9 Jack Chapman | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
10 Colin Watson | - | 10 Billy Lamont | - | ||||||||||
1933 | England won series 3-2 | Attendance | ||||
OFFICIAL | Th 29.06 : Wembley | England | 76 | Australia | 47 | 50,000 |
Sa 15.07 : Belle Vue (Hyde Road) | England | 61 | Australia | 65 | 40,000 | |
Sa 29.07 : Crystal Palace | England | 63½ | Australia | 62½ | 30,000 | |
Mo 21.08 : Wimbledon | England | 62 | Australia | 64 | 25,000 | |
Tu 05.09 : West Ham | England | 74 | Australia | 52 | | |
As with all league and cup matches in 1933, the heat scoring for this series was 4-2-1-0. | ||||||
The press were told that the attendance was 82,606, but this was later reported as being "wildly exaggerated" | ||||||
The
First Test marked the introduction of the "classic" Test Match
race formula, with 6 riders + 2 reserves for each team, racing over 18
heats, with the formula for 1st 9 races bring repeated for heats 10 to
18. It also marked the first occasion on which clutch starts were
used (rolling starts were previously used), albeit from a hand-operated
(rather than electrically-operated) starting gate. England were
surprisingly easy winners at Wembley, especially as they lost 3 riders
to injury during the match (Farndon, Phillips & Rye), but the
Australians (who themselves lost Grosskreutz as early as heat 2) had a
long tail. Eric Langton, who suffered a debatable exclusion in his 5th
ride for riding on the infield, refused to come out for his final ride,
and was then "punished" by being dropped from the team for the
2nd Test at his home track, Belle Vue. It probably (together wirh sparse
use of home track rider Kitchen) cost England the match, despite a
record individual score of 22 for Lees. Australia had more top-end
power, with Bluey scoring a personal record Test score of 16. It needed Jack Parker to be at the top of his form at a packed Crystal Palace to edge home in the 3rd match, though the closeness of the scores was not echoed by closeness in the racing. "The Most Uninteresting Test Match" and "Heat after heat was nothing more than a procession" was the Speedway News opinion of the Wimbledon Test - another case of the close result giving a misleading impression of the standard of racing. Australia were huge favourites to win the final Test at West Ham because, for various reasons, England were without Langton, Parker, Phillips, Jackson, Kitchen, Lees, and Rye. But this meant that the "B" team had to prove themselves, which they did with a vengeance - England led by 20 points after 8 races, and the match was all over. Wilkinson did his best for Australia, riding unbeaten after the interval, but it was too late to stop the home country completing a 100 per cent record of series wins. |
1933 Series Point-Scorers | |||||||||||||||||||||
England | Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ginger Lees | 20 | 22 | 13 | 17 | - | 72 | Colin Watson | - | - | - | - | 9 | 9 | Bluey Wilkinson | 8 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 68 | |
Tiger Stevenson | 13 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 60 | Joe Francis | - | - | 6½ | 1 | - | 7½ | Vic Huxley | 12 | 16 | 8½ | 12 | 13 | 61½ | |
Jack Parker | 7 | 4 | 17 | 9 | - | 37 | Tommy Croombs | - | - | - | - | 7 | 7 | Dick Case | 8 | 12 | 15 | 10 | 12 | 57 | |
Tom Farndon | 1 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 33 | Bob Harrison | - | 2 | - | 4 | 1 | 7 | Max Grosskreutz | 0 | 9 | 13 | 18 | 4 | 44 | |
Syd Jackson | 15 | 12 | 4 | 1 | - | 32 | Wal Phillips | 4 | - | - | - | - | 4 | Ron Johnson | 8 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 21 | |
Frank Varey | - | 8 | - | - | 18 | 26 | Gordon Byers | - | - | - | - | 2 | 2 | Ernie Evans | 3 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 16 | |
Eric Langton | 16 | - | - | - | - | 16 | Tommy Gamble | - | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | Jack Chapman | - | 1 | - | 8 | 2 | 11 | |
Squib Burton | - | - | - | - | 12 | 12 | Claude Rye | 0 | - | - | - | - | 0 | Lionel van Praag | 5 | 1 | 2 | - | 1 | 9 | |
Bill Kitchen | - | 6 | 0 | 6 | - | 12 | Jack Sharp | 3 | - | - | 0 | - | 3 | ||||||||
In this series, heat scoring was 4-2-1-0. Bonus points have been ignored. | |||||||||||||||||
1st Test at Wembley | ACU Steward: Mr O'Neill | ||||||||||||||||
England | 76 | Australia | 47 | ||||||||||||||
Team Manager: Alec Jackson | |||||||||||||||||
1 Tiger Stevenson© | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 1 Vic Huxley © | 2 | 2 | 2 | f | 2 | 4 | 12 | ||
2 Tom Farndon | 1 | ret | f | - | - | - | 1 | 2 Lionel van Praag | 0 | 0 | (0) | 4 | (0) | 1 | 5 | ||
3 Ginger Lees | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 3 Dick Case | 4 | f | 4 | ret | f | ret | 8 | ||
4 Claude Rye | f | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | 4 Max Grosskreutz | f | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | ||
5 Eric Langton | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | ex | ns | 16 | 5 Ron Johnson | 2 | 4 | ret | 2 | (0) | f | 8 | ||
6 Wal Phillips | 1 | 2 | 1 | f | - | - | 4 | 6 Bluey Wilkinson | f | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | f | 8 | ||
7 Syd Jackson | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 7 Ernie Evans | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||
8 Jack Parker | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 8 Jack Sharp | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||||||
1 Stevenson,
Huxley, Farndon, Praag 80.4 5-2 5-2 2 Case, Lees, Rye f, Grosskreutz f 79.6 2-4 7-6 3 Langton, Johnson, Phillips, Wilkinson f 80.8 5-2 12-8 4 Lees, Huxley, Jackson, Praag 79.4 5-2 17-10 5 Langton, Phillips, Evans, Case f no time 6-1 23-11 6 Johnson, Stevenson, Wilkinson, Farndon ret 80.4 2-5 25-16 7 Langton, Huxley, Phillips, (Praag?) 79.4 5-2 30-18 8 Case, Stevenson, Sharp, Farndon f 80.6 2-4 32-23 9 Lees, Wilkinson, Jackson, Johnson ret 80.2 5-2 37-25 |
10 Praag, Parker,
Stevenson, Huxley f 81.0 3-4 40-29 11 Jackson, Lees, Evans, Case ret 79.6 6-1 46-30 12 Langton, Johnson, Wilkinson, Phillips f 80.2 4-3 50-33 13 Lees, Huxley, Jackson, (Praag?) 80.8 5-2 55-35 14 Jackson, Sharp, Case f, Langton ex 81.0 4-2 59-37 15 Wilkinson, Stevenson, Parker, (Johnson?) 81.4 3-4 62-41 16 Huxley, Parker, Praag, Langton ns 81.0 2-5 64-46 17 Jackson, Stevenson, Evans, Case ret 82.2 6-1 70-47 18 Lees, Parker, Johnson f, Wilkinson f 82.4 6-0 76-47 |
||||||||||||||||
2nd Test at Belle Vue | |||||||||||||||||
England | 61 | Australia | 65 | ||||||||||||||
Tiger Stevenson© | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | (0) | 1 | 7 | Vic Huxley © | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 16 | ||
Jack Parker | 1 | (0) | - | 2 | 1 | - | 4 | Ron Johnson | f | 1 | ret | (0) | - | (0) | 1 | ||
Ginger Lees | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 22 | Max Grosskreutz | 2 | 1 | 2 | (0) | 4 | (0) | 9 | ||
Bob Harrison | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | (0) | - | 2 | Dick Case | (0) | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | ||
Frank Varey | 2 | (0) | 4 | f | f | 2 | 8 | Bluey Wilkinson | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 16 | ||
Syd Jackson | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 12 | Ernie Evans | (0) | - | (0) | 4 | 4 | 1 | 9 | ||
Tom Farndon | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lionel van Praag | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
Bill Kitchen | 2 | 4 | 6 | Jack Chapman | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
1 Huxley,
Stevenson, Parker, Johnson f 80.8** 3-4 3-4 2 Lees, Grosskreutz, Harrison, (Case?) 80.4* 5-2 8-6 3 Wilkinson, Varey, Jackson, (Evans?) 81.0 3-4 11-10 4 Huxley, Lees, Johnson, Harrison 81.2 2-5 13-15 5 Case, Jackson, Grosskreutz, (Varey?) 83.0 2-5 15-20 6 Wilkinson, Stevenson, Praag, (Parker?) 81.0 2-5 17-25 7 Varey, Jackson, Huxley, Johnson ret 81.4 6-1 23-26 8 Case, Grosskreutz, Stevenson, Farndon 81.2 1-6 24-32 9 Lees, Wilkinson, Harrison, (Evans?) 81.6 5-2 29-34 |
10 Huxley,
Parker, Stevenson, (Johnson?) 82.0 3-4 32-38 11 Lees, Kitchen, Case, (Grosskreutz?) 82.2 6-1 38-39 12 Evans, Wilkinson, Jackson, Varey f 82.6 1-6 39-45 13 Lees, Huxley, Chapman, (Harrison?) 82.6 4-3 43-48 14 Grosskreutz, Jackson, Case, Varey f 82.2 2-5 45-53 15 Evans, Wilkinson, Parker, (Stevenson?) 82.2 1-6 46-59 16 Jackson, Varey, Huxley, (Johnson?) 82.0 6-1 52-60 17 Kitchen, Case, Stevenson, (Grosskreutz?) 81.6 5-2 57-62 18 Lees, Wilkinson, Evans, Farndon 82.0 4-3 61-65 |
||||||||||||||||
3rd Test at Crystal Palace | |||||||||||||||||
England | 63½ | Australia | 62½ | ||||||||||||||
1 Ginger Lees © | 2 | 1 | (0) | 4 | 4 | 2 | 13 | 1 Vic Huxley © | 1 | 1½ | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8½ | ||
2 Tom Farndon | 4 | (0) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 2 Ernie Evans | (0) | 0 | 1 | (0) | - | - | 1 | ||
3 Tiger Stevenson | f | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | ret | 12 | 3 Ron Johnson | 4 | ret | 2 | f | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
4 Joe Francis | 2 | 1½ | 1 | 1 | f | 1 | 6½ | 4 Bluey Wilkinson | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 14 | ||
5 Syd Jackson | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | 1 | - | 4 | 5 Dick Case | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 15 | ||
6 Jack Parker | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 17 | 6 Max Grosskreutz | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 13 | ||
7 Bill Kitchen | 0 | 0 | 7 Lionel van Praag | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||
8 Tommy Gamble | 0 | 0 | 8 Jack Chapman | - | |||||||||||||
1 Farndon, Lees, Huxley,
(Evans?) 81.4 6-1 6-1 2 Johnson, Francis, Wilkinson, Stevenson f 83.2 2-5 8-6 3 Grosskreutz, Case, Parker, Jackson 82.6 1-6 9-12 4 Stevenson, Huxley & Francis d-h, Evans 82.2 5½-1½ 14½-13½ 5 Parker, Wilkinson, Jackson, Johnson ret 82.0 5-2 19½-15½ 6 Case, Grosskreutz, Lees, (Farndon?) 83.0 1-6 20½-21½ 7 Parker, Jackson, Evans, Huxley 82.6 6-1 26½-22½ 8 Farndon, Johnson, Wilkinson, (Lees) 83.4 4-3 30½-25½ 9 Case, Grosskreutz, Francis, Stevenson 83.4 1-6 31½-31½ |
10 Lees, Huxley, Farndon,
(Evans?) 83.2 5-2 36½-33½ 11 Stevenson, Wilkinson, Francis, Johnson f 82.8 41½-35½ 12 Parker, Case, Grosskreutz, Kitchen 83.2 4-3 45½-38½ 13 Stevenson, Huxley, Praag, Francis f 83.0 4-3 49½-41½ 14 Wilkinson, Johnson, Jackson, Parker 83.2 1-6 50½-47½ 15 Lees, Farndon, Case, Grosskreutz 83.4 6-1 56½-48½ 16 Parker, Huxley, Praag, Gamble 83.6 4-3 60½-51½ 17 Wilkinson, Lees, Johnson, Farndon 83.4 2-5 62½-56½ 18 Grosskreutz, Case, Francis, Stevenson ret 84.6 1-6 63½-62½ |
||||||||||||||||
4th Test at Wimbledon | |||||||||||||||||
England | 62 | Australia | 64 | ||||||||||||||
Tiger Stevenson© | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 13 | Vic Huxley © | ret | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 12 | ||
Bill Kitchen | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | f | - | 6 | Ernie Evans | 1 | ret | 1 | ret | (0) | - | 2 | ||
Ginger Lees | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 17 | Bluey Wilkinson | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 | ||
Tom Farndon | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | f | 11 | Ron Johnson | (0) | (0) | - | f | - | - | 0 | ||
Syd Jackson | 0 | 1 | ret | 0 | - | - | 1 | Dick Case | 2 | ret | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
Jack Parker | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | f | - | 9 | Max Grosskreutz | 4 | 4 | ret | 4 | 4 | 2 | 18 | ||
Joe Francis | 1 | 0 | 1 | Jack Sharp | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||
Bob Harrison | 2 | 2 | 4 | Jack Chapman | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | |||||||||
1 Stevenson, Kitchen,
Evans, Huxley ret 75.6 6-1 6-1 2 Lees, Wilkinson, Farndon, (Johnson) 77.4 5-2 11-3 3 Grosskreutz, Case, Parker, Jackson 75.4 1-6 12-9 4 Farndon, Lees, Huxley, Evans ret 75.6 6-1 18-10 5 Parker, Wilkinson, Jackson, (Johnson) 76.0 5-2 23-12 6 Grosskreutz, Stevenson, Kitchen, Case ret 75.6 3-4 26-16 7 Huxley, Parker, Evans, Jackson ret 77.2 2-5 28-21 8 Stevenson, Wilkinson, Kitchen, Sharp 76.8 5-2 33-23 9 Case, Lees, Farndon, Grosskreutz ret 78.2 3-4 36-27 |
10 Huxley, Kitchen,
Stevenson, Evans ret 76.4 3-4 39-31 11 Farndon, Wilkinson, Lees, Johnson f 76.8 5-2 44-33 12 Grosskreutz, Parker, Case, Jackson 76.6 2-5 46-38 13 Lees, Huxley, Farndon, (Evans?) 76.2 5-2 51-40 14 Chapman, Wilkinson, Francis, Parker f 77.2 1-6 52-46 15 Grosskreutz, Case, Stevenson, Kitchen f 77.0 1-6 53-52 16 Chapman, Harrison, Huxley, Francis 77.2 2-5 55-57 17 Wilkinson, Harrison, Stevenson, Chapman 77.0 3-4 58-61 18 Lees, Grosskreutz, Case, Farndon f 75.4 4-3 62-64 |
||||||||||||||||
5th Test at West Ham | |||||||||||||||||
England | 74 | Australia | 52 | ||||||||||||||
Tiger Stevenson© | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | ret | 1 | 15 | Vic Huxley © | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 13 | ||
Squib Burton | 1 | 1 | f | 4 | 4 | 2 | 12 | Ron Johnson | (0) | 1 | 1 | (0) | (0) | 1 | 3 | ||
Tom Farndon | 4 | ret | ret | - | 4 | 2 | 10 | Bluey Wilkinson | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 16 | ||
Colin Watson | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | f,ns | - | 9 | Jack Chapman | 2 | 0 | - | (0) | (0) | (0) | 2 | ||
Frank Varey | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 18 | Dick Case | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 12 | ||
Tommy Croombs | 4 | 2 | f | (0) | 1 | f | 7 | Max Grosskreutz | f | (0) | - | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
Bob Harrison | 1 | 1 | Lionel van Praag | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||
Gordon Byers | 2 | (0) | 2 | Ernie Evans | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
1 Stevenson, Huxley,
Burton, (Johnson?) 83.0* 5-2 5-2 2 Farndon, Chapman, Wilkinson, Watson 85.6 4-3 9-5 3 Crombs, Varey, Case, Grosskreutz f 90.0 6-1 15-6 4 Watson, Huxley, Johnson, Farndon ret 85.2 4-3 19-9 5 Varey, Croombs, Wilkinson, Chapman 87.8 6-1 25-10 6 Stevenson, Case, Burton, (Grosskreutz?) 85.8 5-2 30-12 7 Varey Huxley, Johnson, Croombs f 89.2 4-3 34-15 8 Stevenson, Wilkinson, Praag, Burton f 85.0 4-3 38-18 9 Watson, Case, Evans, Farndon ret 86.8 4-3 42-21 |
10 Burton, Stevenson.
Huxley, (Johnson) 86.6 6-1 48-22 11 Wilkinson, Byers, Watson, (Chapman?) 86.6 3-4 51-26 12 Varey, Grosskreutz, Case, (Croombs?) 87.4 4-3 55-29 13 Farndon,Huxley, Harrison, (Johnson?),Watson f,ns 87.8 5-2 60-31 14 Wilkinson, Varey, Croombs, (Chapman?) 87.4 3-4 63-35 15 Burton, Case, Grosskreutz, Stevenson ret 87.0 4-3 67-38 16 Huxley, Varey, Johnson, Croombs f 88.0 2-5 69-43 17 Wilkinson, Burton, Stevenson, (Chapman?) 86.2 3-4 72-47 18 Case, Farndon, Grosskreutz, (Byers) 89.6 2-5 74-52 |
||||||||||||||||
ABBREVIATIONS | ||
© = captain | ns = non-starter | ' = bonus point |
ef = engine failed | rep. = replaced | * = new track record |
ex = excluded | ret = retired | ** = equals track record |
f = fell | rm = remounted | (0) = assumed point score |
Contributors : Roger Stevens, Ross Garrigan, Maciej Wegrzyn, Andy Davidson, Allen Trump, Wally Auckram, Speedway Researcher, Gary Gregor, Lynn Isaac, Phil Smith, Nigel Bird, Vic Butcher, David Austin, Christian Weber, Jim Henry |