Van Diemen's Land v Port Phillip, 1851
The match was incorporated into celebrations marking the separation of the Port Phillip District from New South Wales in 1851 as the colony of Victoria.
The team representing Port Phillip, generally named "Victoria" in the press, was drawn from the Melbourne Cricket Club.
The Van Diemen's Land team, designated "Tasmania" in newspapers, consisted of players from both Launceston and Hobart.
The match, intended to be played to a finish with no limits on time, took place on a pitch that made batting difficult.
The Victorian team found the home bowling difficult to face, on account of its unusually slow pace; in their first innings, they scored 82.
When the first day's play ended due to bad light, Van Diemen's Land had scored 15 runs and lost six wickets.
The next morning, the home team scored the required runs for the loss of one more wicket, recording a three-wicket victory.
The first recorded match in Australia took place in Sydney in 1803 between the military and civilians; according to the journalists Jim Kilburn and Mike Coward, in a review of Australian cricket, the New South Wales governor ordered that equipment for the game should be made in government workshops.
[1] The vast distances between the colonies initially prevented intercolonial cricket, but clubs quickly came into existence in the population centres and an element of competition soon arose.
[4] With these main cities 200 kilometres (120 mi) apart, it was difficult to establish competitive games; despite an abandoned attempt in 1841, the first match between North and South Tasmania did not take place until 1850.
[13] While the match was being arranged, legislation passed in the United Kingdom to separate the Port Phillip District, which was to be renamed as Victoria, from the colony of New South Wales.
When news of this much anticipated decision reached the colony late in 1850, two weeks of celebrations were arranged in Melbourne to mark independence.
[5][14] The Melbourne Club decided that the team should wear red, white and blue colours on their clothing for the game.
Even as the team prepared to depart, only ten people had been found, and the eleventh, Duncan Cooper, only joined as they left on the steamer Shamrock.
[1][16] The Victorian team were dismayed by the state of the pitch, which looked extremely difficult to bat on, and later received an apology from the government of Tasmania.
[23] According to Ray Webster in his analysis of all Australian first-class matches, spectators were not charged for admission;[24] the attendance was approximately 1,000 on the first day and 1,500 on the second.
[25] Although the colonies were officially called Van Diemen's Land and Port Phillip at this point, press reports generally referred to the teams as "Tasmania" and "Victoria".
[13][22] The Tasmanians, bowling first, used their underarm style; the two bowlers, William Henty and Robert McDowall, had an unusually slow pace.
[22] A syndicated Tasmanian press report of the match described Philpott as batting "in fine style" before he was caught at mid-off.
[13] Thomas Hamilton and Charles Lister batted steadily before the former was bowled in the first hour, after which the score was 34 runs for the loss of three wickets.
James Brodie hit out to score 17 runs, equalling William Philpott as the highest scorer of the innings.
The last two wickets fell cheaply; Frederick Marsden and Matthew Hervey were both bowled, and Melmoth Hall remained not out on six.
[13][22] For Tasmania, Gervase Du Croz and Marshall opened the batting to the fast roundarm bowling of Lister and Hamilton.
The new man, George Maddox, scored a single from his first ball; Marshall was then caught at point, having batted 105 minutes for 13 runs.
[13][22] The last batsman, McDowall, batted effectively to score eleven runs before he was caught by Antill at mid-on off Hamilton's bowling.
[22] By the time play ended for the day, Van Diemen's Land had lost six wickets for 15 runs.
Tabart and Arthur batted until the end of the day,[13][22] when the umpires called off play due to bad light.
[13][22] Tabart made several big hits and Van Diemen's Land reached their target without further loss, winning by three wickets.
[13] The spectators displayed high levels of sportsmanship throughout the match; they did not cheer the fall of Port Phillip wickets or celebrate scoring shots from their own team.
[31] Nevertheless, the Victorians were unimpressed by the cricket of the Tasmanians, and their inability to cope with roundarm fast bowling; the teams did not compete against each other regularly for 30 years.
