Australian cricket team in England in 1956

The Australian cricket team toured England in the 1956 season to play a five-match Test series against England for The Ashes.

England won the series 2–1 with 2 matches drawn and therefore retained The Ashes.

The series is most notable for off-spinner Jim Laker's 46 wickets (a record for a 5-Test series) at an average of 9.60, including all ten wickets in the second innings of the fourth Test at Old Trafford, the first time this had been achieved in Test cricket. In that Test, known as Laker's Match, Laker took 19 wickets for 90 runs, still the best match bowling analysis achieved in both Test and all first-class cricket. Earlier in the summer, Laker had also taken ten wickets in an innings against the Australians in a tour match, playing for Surrey.

• Playfair Cricket Annual 1957

• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1957

• Bill Frindall, 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

• CricketArchive – tour summaries