 The captain Denness had just recovered from a mystery virus, Edrich from a back injury and Dennis Amiss and Bob Willis had thrown off groin strains.However, they had beaten New South Wales and were the first MCC team to beat Queensland since the war.Boycott's replacement Brian Luckhurst was chosen to open with Amiss, followed by the batsmen Edrich, Denness, Keith Fletcher, Greig, the wicketkeeper Alan Knott, the spinner Derek Underwood and the fast bowlers Willis, Mike Hendrick and Peter Lever.