Australian cricket team in England in 1938

The five-Test 1938 Ashes series between Australia and England was drawn. England and Australia won a Test each, with two of the other Tests drawn and the third game of the series, scheduled for Manchester, abandoned without a ball being bowled, only the second instance of this in more than 60 years of Test cricket. The Australians retained The Ashes.

In all, 30 first-class matches were played, and the Australian team won 15 of them losing only to England and H. D. G. Leveson-Gower's XI. There were also six minor games, the Australians winning five of them.

The touring team

• DG Bradman (captain - SA)
• SJ McCabe (vice-captain - NSW)
• CL Badcock (SA)
• SG Barnes (NSW)
• BA Barnett (VIC)
• WA Brown (QLD)
• AG Chipperfield (NSW)
• JHW Fingleton (NSW)
• LO Fleetwood-Smith (VIC)
• AL Hassett (VIC)
• EL McCormick (VIC)
• WJ O'Reilly (NSW)
• MG Waite (SA)
• CW Walker (SA)
• FA Ward (SA)
• ECS White (NSW)

Manager: WH Jeanes (SA)

The team travelled to England on the P&O liner RMS Strathmore.^[1]

Test series summary

First Test

10, 11, 13, 14 June 1938 (4-day match) Scorecard

England	v	Australia
658/8d (188 overs) E Paynter 216* (333) LO Fleetwood-Smith 4/153 (49 overs)		411 (130.3 overs) SJ McCabe 232 (277) K Farnes 4/106 (37 overs)
		427/6d (f/o) (188 overs) DG Bradman 144* (379) H Verity 3/102 (62 overs)

Match drawn Trent Bridge, Nottingham Umpires: F Chester and E Robinson

• England won the toss and elected to bat.
• 12 June was taken as a rest day.
• WJ Edrich, RA Sinfield and DVP Wright (all ENG), and AL Hassett and BA Barnett (both AUS) made their Test debuts.

Second Test

24, 25, 27, 28 June 1938 (4-day match) Scorecard

England	v	Australia
494 (137.3 overs) WR Hammond 240 (394) WJ O'Reilly 4/93 (37 overs)		422 (121.4 overs) WA Brown 206* (370) H Verity 4/103 (35.4 overs)
242/8d (72 overs) DCS Compton 76* (137) EL McCormick 3/72 (24 overs)		204/6 (48.2 overs) DG Bradman 102* (135) WJ Edrich 2/27 (5.2 overs)

Match drawn Lord's, London Umpires: EJ Smith and FI Walden

• England won the toss and elected to bat.
• 26 June was taken as a rest day.

Third Test

8, 9, 11, 12 July 1938 (4-day match) Scorecard

England	v	Australia

Match abandoned without a ball bowled Old Trafford, Manchester Umpires: A Dolphin and W Reeves

• No toss made.

Fourth Test

22, 23, 25 July 1938 (4-day match) Scorecard

England	v	Australia
223 (98.1 overs) WR Hammond 76 WJ O'Reilly 5/66 (34.1 overs)		242 (98.4 overs) DG Bradman 103 K Farnes 4/77 (26 overs)
123 (50.5 overs) CJ Barnett 29 WJ O'Reilly 5/56 (21.5 overs)		107/5 (32.3 overs) AL Hassett 33 DVP Wright 3/26 (5 overs)

Australia won by 5 wickets Headingley, Leeds Umpires: F Chester and EJ Smith

• England won the toss and elected to bat.
• 24 July was taken as a rest day.
• The match was scheduled for four days but completed in three.
• WFF Price (ENG) and MG Waite (AUS) made their Test debuts.

Fifth Test

20, 22, 23, 24 August 1938 (Timeless Test) Scorecard

England	v	Australia
903/7d (335.2 overs) L Hutton 364 WJ O'Reilly 3/178 (85 overs)		201 (52.1 overs) WA Brown 69 WE Bowes 5/49 (19 overs)
		123 (f/o) (34.1 overs) BA Barnett 46 K Farnes 4/63 (12.1 overs)

England won by an innings and 579 runs The Oval, London Umpires: F Chester and FI Walden

• England won the toss and elected to bat.
• 21 August was taken as a rest day.
• The match was completed in four days.
• A Wood (ENG) and SG Barnes (AUS) made their Test debuts.

The England total of 903-7d is the highest Test innings total to feature a duck - Eddie Paynter was dismissed for 0.^[2]

Ceylon

The Australians had a stopover in Colombo en route to England and played a one-day single-innings match there against the Ceylon national team, which at that time did not have Test status.^[3]