It was more than a year after the two sides met in Australia, that the Ashes’ hostilities were resumed, this time in England in the summer of 1893, with a three-Test series.
The first Test match was played in July at Lord’s, and ended in a draw. England won the toss and made 334, with opener and captain Arthur Shrewsbury making 106 and Billy Gunn 91. Charlie Turner took 6-67 for Australia.
The tourists were 75/5 at one stage in their reply, but eventually posted 269, largely due to Harry Graham’s 107.
Batting again, England declared on 234/8, with Shrewsbury making 81 and Gunn 77, but with it only being three-day match, the teams ran out of time and it was declared a draw.
The teams met in London again for the second Test, this time at The Oval. Again, it was England who batted after winning the toss. They took full advantage, making a massive, by contemporary standards, 483. Stanley Jackson top-scored with 103, while there were substantial contributions too W.G.Grace (68) Shrewsbury (66) and Albert Ward 55.
Australia were then dismissed for just 91, Jonny Briggs with 5-34 and Bill Lockwood 4-37.
Australia were made to follow on and did second better time round. Harry Trott top-scored with 92, and there were half centuries for Alec Bannerman and George Giffen, but it was not enough to then slipping to defeat by an innings and 43 runs.
The teams headed north to Old Trafford, Manchester for the third Test, where it was Australia’s turn to win the toss and bat first.
William Bruce made 68, but with Tom Richardson taking 5-49, Australia were bowled out for 204. In return, England made 243, largely thanks to Billy Gunn’s unbeaten 102.
In their second innings, Australia were all out for 236, Bannerman scoring 60.
That meant England needed 198 to win, but the match ended before a result could be forced either way. The home side had reached 118/4, when hands were shaken on the draw.