The England cricket team toured Australia and New Zealand between October 1962 and March 1963 with a one-match stopover in Colombo, en route to Australia. The tour was organised by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and, in all matches other than Tests, the team was called MCC. In Australia, the tour itinerary consisted of 15 first-class matches, including the five-match Test series against Australia in which The Ashes were at stake. It was the last England cricket tour of Australia where the team travelled by ship.Radio Times listing for 'It Was More Fun by Boat', BBC Radio 4, 28 September 2002

The Test series was drawn and so Australia retained The Ashes. England won the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground by seven wickets but Australia levelled the series in the next match at the Sydney Cricket Ground with an eight wicket victory. After the fourth Test was drawn, England captain Ted Dexter was expected to launch an all-out attempt to win the fifth and so claim the series and The Ashes. He adopted a safety first approach instead, which meant the match became a dull draw, and he was heavily criticised for his negative tactics. In other matches, the MCC team were unconvincing, their few successes having counterpoint in heavy defeats by both New South Wales and a Combined XI team. After leaving Australia in February, England played a three-match Test series in New Zealand.

Background to the tour

Australia, led by Richie Benaud, had won The Ashes back from England in the 1958–59 series. Australia won four of the Tests in that series with one drawn.Playfair 1959, pp. 13–26. In the 1961 series in England, Australia had retained The Ashes by winning two Tests to one.Playfair 1962, pp. 52–64. Since then, England had convincingly defeated Pakistan in the 1962 series and there was a measure of optimism that the 1962–63 team might succeed in Australia although, as E. W. Swanton put it: "most judges accorded them a sporting chance of winning back the Ashes, but no more".Swanton, p. 120.

The big pre-tour issue for England was encapsulated in the title of an editorial written by Gordon Ross in the 1962 edition of the Playfair Cricket Annual: "Who will lead in Australia?"Playfair 1962, pp. 5–7. At the beginning of the 1962 season, England's Test captaincy was in a state of flux. Peter May had been captain for a record 41 Tests through 1955 to 1961, but he missed two matches in the 1961 Ashes series due to illness and he then declined to tour India, Pakistan and Ceylon in 1961–62, as also did Colin Cowdrey, Brian Statham and Fred Trueman. Ross believed there were three candidates to succeed May. One was Cowdrey who had been May's vice-captain for several years and another was Ted Dexter who had accepted the captaincy for the tour of the sub-continent. Dexter, however, had not been highly successful because, although England won their series in Pakistan 1–0, they lost the series in India 2–0 and that was India's first series victory over England. Ross' third option was David Sheppard, who had been out of cricket for over five years while he pursued his career as a churchman. Sheppard was owed long overdue leave and was expected to take a sabbatical so he could make a return to first-class cricket with Sussex, even if not with England.

Ahead of the 1962 series against Pakistan, Dexter was asked to continue as captain and he led England to big wins in the first two Tests, but then Cowdrey was given the job in the third Test which began on 5 July. England won that match by an innings.Wisden 1963, p. 323. Cowdrey was then asked to captain the amateurs in the last-ever Gentlemen v Players match, starting at Lord's on 18 July.Wisden 1963, p. 357. According to Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, the match was "in some respects a Test trial" because the MCC team for Australia would be chosen at the end of the month. Dexter and Sheppard were also playing for the amateurs; the professionals were led by Trueman. The plot thickened. Cowdrey had to withdraw from the Gentlemen team following an attack of nephrolithiasis and Dexter was appointed instead. Sheppard opened for Gentlemen and scored 112. He and Dexter, who scored 55, shared a second wicket partnership of 97. Next day, the media were moreorless unanimous in calling for Sheppard to lead the team in Australia. Hours later, MCC offered the job to Dexter, who accepted it; he also captained England in the last two Tests against Pakistan. The Gentlemen v Players match ended in a draw, but Wisden was in no doubt that Trueman's professionals would have won convincingly if rain had not prematurely curtailed the proceedings.

The 17-man squad was duly selected with no real surprises, except possibly the omission of Tony Lock, but he had been out of form in the 1962 season. Lock had something of a last word, however, because he was hired by Western Australia as their overseas player for the winter and he helped the Combined XI defeat MCC at the WACA Ground. He went on to captain the state team from 1963–64 to 1970–71.Moyes and Goodman, p. xii. One problem role was wicket-keeper. England had not had a settled keeper since Godfrey Evans and, as Gordon Ross said, it was "a department in which the selectors seem to vacillate more than in most". They chose John Murray who had been first choice for the 1961 Ashes series and his backup was Alan Smith who had yet to play Test cricket.

The Duke of Norfolk was chosen as team manager with Alec Bedser as his assistant. Norfolk was a surprise choice but he was a former MCC president and a keen patron of cricket in Sussex. It had been expected that Billy Griffith as MCC secretary would manage the tour but he needed to remain at Lord's to oversee the abolition of amateur status and the introduction of one-day cricket. Norfolk had to return to Britain for a month during the tour and Griffith flew out as his interim replacement.Swanton, p. 132.

Alec Bedser had last played for England in 1955 (he retired from first-class cricket in 1960) and his career total of 236 Test wickets remained a world record. As the 1962–63 series began, it seemed certain that Bedser would see his record being broken. Brian Statham had 229 Test wickets, Richie Benaud 219 and Fred Trueman 216. In the fourth Test at the Adelaide Oval, Statham took his 237th wicket when he had Barry Shepherd caught in the gully by Trueman. When the series ended, Statham had 242 wickets. Trueman and Benaud were both tied with Bedser on 236.Playfair 1963, p. 74. Statham soon lost the record as he did not play in the New Zealand series, where Trueman took another 14 wickets to overtake him and extend the record to 250.Wisden 1964, p. 808.

England squad MCC selected a squad of 17 players. The tour was managed by the Duke of Norfolk with the assistance of Billy Griffith and Alec Bedser. Ted Dexter was the team captain with Colin Cowdrey as his vice-captain. The table gives the name, county club, age (i.e., on 1 October 1962) and on field roles of each player: + Batsmen Name County club Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Ken Barrington Surrey right-handed right arm leg break and googly Playfair 1962, p. 147. Colin Cowdrey Kent right-handed none Playfair 1962, p. 148. Ted Dexter Sussex right-handed right arm medium pace Tom Graveney Worcestershire right-handed none Playfair 1962, p. 152. Peter Parfitt Middlesex left-handed right arm medium pace Geoff Pullar Lancashire left-handed none Playfair 1962, p. 159. David Sheppard Sussex right-handed slow left arm orthodox

+ All-rounders Name County club Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Ray Illingworth Yorkshire right-handed right arm off break Playfair 1962, p. 154. Barry Knight Essex right-handed right arm fast medium Fred Titmus Surrey right-handed right arm off break Playfair 1962, p. 162.

+ Wicket-keepers Name County club Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref John Murray Middlesex right-handed none Playfair 1962, p. 157. Alan Smith Warwickshire right-handed none Playfair 1962, p. 160.

+ Bowlers Name County club Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref David Allen Gloucestershire right-handed right arm off break Playfair 1962, p. 146. Len Coldwell Worcestershire right-handed right arm fast medium Playfair 1962, p. 149. David Larter Northamptonshire right-handed right arm fast Playfair 1962, p. 155. Brian Statham Lancashire left-handed right arm fast Playfair 1962, p. 161. Fred Trueman Yorkshire right-handed right arm fast England used 16 of their 17 players in the series. Larter was the only one to miss out on selection. Seven players took part in all five Tests. The leading batsman was Barrington with 582 runs at 72.75 per innings. The leading bowler was Trueman with 20 wickets at 26.05 runs per wicket.Wisden 1964, p. 807.

Australia Test selections Australia, captained by Richie Benaud, selected a total of 15 players in the five Tests. Eight players took part in all five matches. Details of each Australian player includes the state he represented in 1962–63, his age on 1 October 1962, his batting hand and his style of bowling:

+ Batsmen Name State team Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Bill Lawry Victoria left-handed left arm medium pace Bob Simpson New South Wales right-handed right arm leg break and googly Neil Harvey New South Wales left-handed right arm off break Brian Booth New South Wales right-handed right arm medium pace Peter Burge Queensland right-handed right arm medium pace Norm O'Neill New South Wales right-handed right arm leg break Barry Shepherd Western Australia left-handed right arm off break

+ All-rounders Name State team Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Richie Benaud New South Wales right-handed right arm leg break and googly Alan Davidson New South Wales left-handed left arm fast medium Ken Mackay Queensland left-handed right arm medium pace

+ Wicket-keepers Name State team Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Wally Grout Queensland right-handed none Barry Jarman South Australia right-handed none

+ Bowlers Name State team Birth date Batting style Bowling style Ref Graham McKenzie Western Australia right-handed right arm fast Neil Hawke South Australia right-handed right arm medium fast Colin Guest Victoria right-handed right arm fast medium

Australia's leading batsman on average was Burge with 245 runs at 61.25 per innings. He played in only three matches and the leading runscorer was Booth with 404 at 50.50 per innings. The leading bowler was Davidson with 24 wickets at 20.00 runs per wicket.Wisden 1964, pp. 807–808.

Tour itinerary The following is a list of the 28 matches played by England/MCC in Ceylon and Australia (see English cricket team in New Zealand in 1962–63 for the New Zealand matches). 15 are rated as first-class fixtures.Wisden 1964, pp. 805–807. Test matches are listed in bold. The matches in italics were not first-class.