But if they really hoped to succeed they needed professionals, men who knew how to use a gun against men, who would match the killers on the other side.

England won two out of the three matches played against Murdoch's Australian Eleven, and after the third match some Melbourne ladies put some ashes into a small urn and gave them to me as captain of the English Eleven .”

A fourth match was played, against a " United Australian XI ", which was arguably stronger than the Australian sides that had competed in the previous three matches ; this game, however, is not generally considered part of the 1882 – 83 series.

* 1938 – English cricketer Len Hutton sets a world record for the highest individual Test innings of 364, during a Test match against Australia.

* 1975 – Bobby Fischer refuses to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title of World Champion by default.

* 1993 – All members of the Zambia national football team lose their lives in a plane crash off Libreville, Gabon in route to Dakar, Senegal to play a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Senegal.

They played one extra match on this tour, making the total of 21 games, including four tests against South Africa, with the British Isles winning three of them.

The Lions would only lose a single match on the rest of the tour, and won the test series against New Zealand, winning and drawing the last two games, to take the series two wins to one.

The tour will start in Hong Kong with a match against the Barbarians before moving on to Australia for the main tour featuring 6 provincial matches and 3 tests.

He scored both goals in his second game as England beat Portugal 2 – 1 in a friendly at Wembley ; and overcame obvious nerves on a return to Belgrade to play his third match against Yugoslavia.

At times, Charlton was not on speaking terms with United's other superstars George Best and Denis Law, and Best refused to play in Charlton's testimonial match against Celtic, saying that " to do so would be hypocritical ".

Lara's match-winning performance of 153 not out against Australia in Bridgetown, Barbados in 1999 has been rated by Wisden as the second best batting performance in the history of Test cricket, next only to the 270 runs scored by Sir Donald Bradman in The Ashes Test match of 1937.

In his second first-class match he made 92 against a Barbados attack containing Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall, two greats of West Indies teams.

In 1995 Lara in the Test match away series against England, scored 3 hundreds in Three consecutive Matches which earned him the Man of the Series award.

That same year Lara amassed 688 runs in the three match away Test series against Sri Lanka making three centuries, and one fifty – including the double century and a century in the first and second innings of the 3rd Test Match at the Sinhalese Sports Ground, equating to 42 % of the team's runs in that series.

Lara was reappointed as captain against the touring Australians in 2003, and struck 110 in his first Test match back in charge, showing a return to stellar performance.

Later that season, under his captaincy, West Indies won the two match Test series against Sri Lanka 1 – 0 with Lara making a double century in the First Test.

He nevertheless affirmed his commitment to returning to Twenty20 cricket, and on 27 June 2010 appeared for the Marylebone Cricket Club match against a touring Pakistan team, scoring 37 from 32 balls.

In fishing games, cards from the hand are played against cards in a layout on the table, capturing table cards if they match.

The team hosted ( and lost ) their divisional round match on January 15, 2006 against the Carolina Panthers.

The first football match at which there were any gate receipts was when Fulham played against Minerva in the Middlesex Senior Cup, on 10 October 1886.

In addition, long-time ace Carlos Zambrano was pulled from a game against the White Sox on June 25 after a tirade and shoving match with Derrek Lee, and was suspended indefinitely by Jim Hendry, who called the conduct " unacceptable.

Charlton's first Football League match was against Exeter City in August 1921, which they won 1 – 0.

In 1938 the highest attendance to date at the ground was recorded at over 75, 000 for a FA Cup match against Aston Villa.

1924 — The All Blacks Invincibles stop in Rarotonga on their way to the United Kingdom and play a friendly match against a scratch Rarotongan team.

On 26 August, when fielding in the All-England v Surrey and Sussex match, his right forefinger was split open, a wound that later reopened.

Surrey and Gloucestershire played a return match at The Oval in July 1870 and Gloucestershire won this by an innings and 129 runs.

and E. M. were called to account by the Gloucestershire membership because of the expenses they had claimed from Surrey for that match, and which Surrey had refused to authorise.

The claim had been submitted to Surrey re the controversial 1878 match in which Billy Midwinter was brought in as a late replacement, but Surrey refused to pay it and this provoked the enquiry.

As a result, Gloucestershire fell away in county competition and could no longer match Nottinghamshire, Surrey and Lancashire who had the strongest sides in the 1880s.

The Ryder Cup began following an exhibition match in 1926 between a team comprising American professionals against a similar one drawn from the British PGA on the East Course at Wentworth Club, in Surrey, England.

Present at the 1926 match, held on the East Course at Wentworth Club, Virginia Water, Surrey, was Samuel Ryder, a seed merchant who traded from St Albans, Hertfordshire.

The Oval, officially currently known as " The Kia Oval ", is the home ground for Surrey County Cricket Club and hosts the final Test match of the English summer season.

For his part the Duke of Kent, aged 50, already considering marriage and encouraged into this particular match with her sister-in-law by his now deceased niece Princess Charlotte, became engaged to Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld ( 17 August 1786 – 16 March 1861 ) and the couple married on 29 May 1818 at Schloss Ehrenburg, Coburg, ( Lutheran rite ) and again on 11 July 1818 at Kew Palace, Kew, Surrey.

* 21 & 22 August — the present Surrey County Cricket Club is formed at a meeting which takes place at the new Kennington Oval during a match between two local teams

* 25 & 26 May — the earliest-known first-class match at The Oval was Surrey Club v. MCC

* 25 & 26 June — the new Surrey CCC played its inaugural first-class match v. Kent CCC at The Oval, winning by 10 wickets

Yorkshire CCC plays its initial first-class match v. Surrey CCC at The Oval on 4, 5 & 6 June.

* 2, 3 & 4 June — Gloucestershire CCC plays its initial first-class match v. Surrey at Durdham Downs, near Bristol.

The Surrey team and committee were impressed, and when the regular Surrey captain, Lord Dalmeny, assumed control for the following match against Essex, the club's opening County Championship match, Hobbs retained his place and scored 155 runs in around three hours during Surrey's second innings.

Hobbs was awarded a benefit match by Surrey.

Late in the 1932 season, Bill Bowes bowled consistently short against Hobbs in a match between Surrey and Yorkshire.

The Oval is the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club, and also traditionally hosts the final Test match of each English summer season in late August or early September.

Thanks to C. W. Alcock, the Secretary of Surrey from 1872 to 1907, the first ever Test match in England was played at the Oval in 1880 between England and Australia.