Manly versus Australia

In the early history of cricket at Manly, perhaps the most unusual match was the one-dayer played on 27 February 1867 between Manly and “The Australians”. At that time, the landlord of the Pier Hotel was Charlie Lawrence. He had toured Australia with the England cricket team in 1861-62, and liked Australia so much that he stayed. Together with George Smith, a former Mayor of Sydney, Lawrence was associated with the celebrated Aboriginal cricketers, who were the first team from Australia to tour in England. Lawrence put up the Aboriginal team on his land at Manly, and coached them in the finer points of the game. As a fund-raiser for the forthcoming tour of England, a match was arranged between the men of Manly and the Australian Club, some of the best players in the country at that time. Representing Manly were: Smithers, Cozens, Grey, Wills, Mullagh, Lawrence, G Sly, H Sly, Hart, Johnson and Gould. Cozens and Mullagh were members of the Aboriginal side.
A report of the match from the Sydney Morning Herald (28 February 1867) stated: “The Beachites went first to the wicket, with Smithers and Cozens against the bowling of Sheridan and Howell. The first wicket (that of Smithers) fell for 13, Cozens and Grey for 9 more. Wills made a stand, and kept his wicket intact till the finish of the innings, but with the exception of Lawrence, who, however, was caught when he had scored 8, he obtained little support from his comrades. He was the only one who made double figures. All were out for 53.”
In reply, the Australians made 107, Blanchard and Sheridan being top scorers; Wills took three wickets. There was no time for a second innings. The pitch came in for criticism: “its roughness militated against good bowling.” However the report noted that a good cricket ground would be a very important addition to “our principal marine resort.”