West Indies
1985-01-20
Clive Lloyd retired from international cricket and the West Indies captaincy at the end of the 1984-85 Australian tour, ending an 11-year reign that included two World Cup finals, the Blackwash, and the most successful captaincy in cricket history at the time.
George Parr's English XII vs Australian and New Zealand colonial sides
1864-03-01
Two years after the Stephenson tour, the All-England Eleven captain George Parr led a second English party to Australia and added New Zealand to the itinerary for the first time. The twelve professionals, again playing against odds, lost only one of their thirteen Australian fixtures and introduced overarm bowling — legalised back home midway through their voyage — to colonial spectators who had never seen it.
All-England Eleven / Spiers and Pond
1859-10-01
In late 1859, as George Parr's twelve were touring North America, Australian entrepreneur Felix Spiers and his partner Christopher Pond made contact with the English cricket establishment about funding a professional tour of Australia. Heathfield Harman Stephenson, the Surrey professional, was agreed upon as captain, and by early 1861 the tour was confirmed. It was the first English cricket tour of Australia, arriving in Melbourne in December 1861.