 Encouraged by a 45-run victory, the colonists believed that they had enough cricketing talent to take on the English on their own soil.A team organised and managed by John Conway, a former Victorian player, toured England during the 1878 season.After a discouraging loss to Nottinghamshire in the opening match of the tour, the Australians met a Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) team at Lord's on 26 May 1878.