The 1956 English cricket season is memorable for the performances of Jim Laker

Jim Laker

James "Jim" Charles Laker was a cricketer who played for England in the 1950s, known for "Laker's match" in 1956 at Old Trafford, when he took nineteen wickets in England's victory against Australia...

, especially his unique feat in taking 19 wickets in a match, which he performed in the Old Trafford Test Match. He took a total of 46 wickets in the 5 Tests, a record in an England-Australia series. Furthermore, in May he had taken all ten wickets in the Australian first innings in their match against Surrey, assisting Surrey to become the first county side since 1912 to defeat the Australians.

Honours

• County Championship - Surrey
• Minor Counties Championship - Kent II
• Wisden - Dennis Brookes
  Dennis Brookes
  Dennis Brookes was an English cricketer who played for Northamptonshire between 1934 and 1959 . He also played in one Test match for England against West Indies in 1948. Brookes was President of Northamptonshire from 1982 to 1984...
  
  , Jim Burke
  Jim Burke (cricketer)
  James Wallace Burke was an Australian cricketer who played in 24 Tests from 1951 to 1959.- Early years :...
  
  , Malcolm Hilton
  Malcolm Hilton
  Malcolm Jameson Hilton was an English left-arm spin bowler, who played for Lancashire and in four Test matches for England....
  
  , Gil Langley
  Gil Langley
  Gilbert Roche Andrews "Gil" Langley was an Australian Test cricketer, champion Australian rules footballer and member of parliament, serving as Speaker of the South Australian House of Assembly....
  
  , Peter Richardson
  Peter Richardson (cricketer)
  Peter Edward Richardson is an English former cricketer, who played for Worcestershire, Kent and, in thirty four Tests, for England....
  
  

Test series

England retained the Ashes after defeating Australia 2-1 with two matches drawn.

External sources

• CricketArchive – season summary

Further reading

• Bill Frindall
  Bill Frindall
  William Howard Frindall, MBE was an English cricket scorer and statistician. He was familiar to cricket followers from his appearances on the BBC Radio 4 programme Test Match Special, nicknamed the Bearded Wonder by Brian Johnston for his ability to research the most obscure cricketing facts in...
  
  , The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877-1978, Wisden, 1979
• Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993
• Ray Robinson, On Top Down Under, Cassell, 1975