George Parr's English XII — Tour of Australia and New Zealand, 1863-64

Spiers and Pond, who had largely funded the 1861-62 tour, had relocated to London by 1863 but retained their Melbourne contacts. The success of the first tour had made a sequel inevitable; the only question was who would captain it. George Parr, the leading English professional batsman of the 1850s, was the obvious choice after Stephenson declined.

Parr's twelve trained on board ship as Stephenson's had done. The party included the volatile E.M. Grace (older brother of W.G., then 17), who had not been on the first tour. The colonies awaited the Englishmen with greater experience and several stronger sides than in 1861-62.

The 1863-64 tour was organised by the Melbourne caterers Spiers and Pond, building on their 1861-62 success. Parr was a more authoritative captain than Stephenson and his side included William Caffyn (touring for the second time), E.M. Grace, Robert Carpenter, Tom Hayward (the elder), George Tarrant and the Yorkshire roundarm bowler Edwin Willsher's contemporary E.J. 'Ned' Tinley. The party sailed from Liverpool on the SS Great Britain on 16 October 1863 and arrived in Melbourne on Christmas Eve, mirroring the schedule of two years earlier. They played thirteen matches in the Australian colonies — winning ten, drawing two, losing one (to Twenty-Two of Bendigo) — before crossing the Tasman to play seven matches in New Zealand, the first English cricket ever staged there. Caffyn was again the leading bowler. Tarrant, bowling fast roundarm, terrorised colonial batsmen on rough pitches. The most consequential development was off-field: the MCC at Lord's legalised overarm bowling on 10 June 1864 while the tour was on, and Parr's men adopted the new style for the New Zealand leg, giving Antipodean spectators their first sight of the modern delivery.

“We were fortunate in having for our captain a man of George Parr's experience and authority.”

The tour reinforced commercial interest in Antipodean cricket and entrenched the touring-eleven model. New Zealand cricket dates its earliest formal English contact from this tour. William Caffyn, who had been on the first tour as well, decided after the 1863-64 trip to emigrate to Australia permanently and took up coaching duties in Sydney, becoming arguably the most influential single figure in colonial cricket development.