Australia won the Test series 3–0. England were captained by Mike Brearley; Australia by Greg Chappell. The Ashes were not at stake after ECB refused to put the urn at risk for a short series.

As part of the settlement between World Series Cricket and the Australian Cricket Board, this series was hastily arranged along with another involving Australia and the West Indies. The two Test series overlapped, with Australia alternating between playing the West Indies and England. Wikipedia This unique triangular format was never repeated in subsequent years.

The Aluminium Bat Incident: The first test was known for the ComBat incident, where Australian Dennis Lillee circumvented the Laws of cricket at the time by using an aluminium bat. Australia were playing England in the first Test, and were in trouble at the end of the first day, at a score of 232/8, with Dennis Lillee not out. When the second day of play began, Lillee emerged onto the field carrying not the traditional willow bat, but a cricket bat made from aluminium. Lillee faced four balls (from Botham) and scored three runs using an aluminium bat. Ten minutes were lost while the umpire persuaded Lillee to change the bat for a standard wooden one with an angry skipper Mike Brearley refusing to let Lillee off the hook.

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