Monty Noble's Australians won the 1909 Ashes 2-1 in England, the first Australian series win in England since 1902. Warren Bardsley scored 136 and 130 in the drawn fifth Test at The Oval (9-11 August 1909), becoming the first cricketer ever to make a century in each innings of a Test match. Australia's pace bowler Tibby Cotter and all-rounder Warwick Armstrong led the tour averages.
England had won the 1903-04 and 1905 Ashes, lost 1907-08 in Australia 4-1. By 1909 the rebuilding had not progressed: Hirst and Rhodes were still mainstays but Hayward was past his best and the new generation (Hobbs, debuting at Edgbaston, was only one of several blooded) had not yet taken hold.
Monty Noble was probably the most analytically minded captain of his generation; his field-placing and bowling-rotation were ahead of their time. He was also the senior batsman, fielder and a useful change bowler.
Edgbaston's first-Test victory by 10 wickets had given England optimism; Hirst and Blythe's combined 22 wickets in that match were the high point of the series for the home side. By Lord's, where Armstrong made 71 and took 6 wickets, the tide had turned.
The 1909 Australians, captained by Monty Noble, sailed for England with Trumper, Macartney, Bardsley, Ransford, Armstrong, Cotter, Hopkins and Laver in the squad — a full-strength side coming off the 1907-08 Ashes win at home. England, captained mostly by Archie MacLaren (with one Test under Lord Hawke), suffered from selectorial chaos: 25 different players were used in five Tests.
The first Test at Edgbaston (27-29 May) was won by England by 10 wickets — Hirst and Blythe took 11 wickets each. The second at Lord's (14-16 June) was won by Australia by nine wickets, Armstrong dominant. The third at Headingley (1-3 July) went to Australia by 126 runs after Cotter's pace and Armstrong's leg-breaks broke the home batting. The fourth at Old Trafford (26-28 July) was drawn. The fifth at The Oval (9-11 August) was drawn after Bardsley's twin tons.
Bardsley, opening for Australia at The Oval, scored 136 in the first innings and 130 in the second — the first cricketer in Test history to make a hundred in both innings of a match. Hugh Trumble had retired; Trumper made 73; Macartney 50; the match drifted into a high-scoring draw on the final afternoon.
Final series: Australia 2 wins, England 1, two draws. The Ashes returned to Australia for the first time on English soil since the 1902 series.
27-29 May 1909: 1st Test Edgbaston — England win by 10 wickets.
14-16 June 1909: 2nd Test Lord's — Australia win by 9 wickets.
1-3 July 1909: 3rd Test Headingley — Australia win by 126 runs.
26-28 July 1909: 4th Test Old Trafford — drawn.
9 August 1909: Bardsley 136 in 1st innings at The Oval.
11 August 1909: Bardsley 130 in 2nd innings — first Test twin centuries.
Final series: Aus 2 - Eng 1; Ashes regained on English soil.
27-29 May 1909
1st Test, Edgbaston — England win by 10 wickets.
14-16 June 1909
2nd Test, Lord's — Australia win by 9 wickets.
1-3 July 1909
3rd Test, Headingley — Australia win by 126 runs.
26-28 July 1909
4th Test, Old Trafford — drawn.
9 August 1909
Bardsley 136 at The Oval.
11 August 1909
Bardsley 130 in 2nd innings — first Test twin centuries.
Aug 1909
Series ends Aus 2-1; Ashes back to Australia.
“He was a beautiful, easy left-handed driver, and the most patient of openers.”
Frank Woolley made his Test debut in this series — and was famously kept waiting at The Oval for 19 minutes by Armstrong's deliberately slow trial balls before he could face his first delivery. Jack Hobbs played his first home Tests, beginning the long opening partnership with Wilfred Rhodes that would mature in the 1911-12 tour.
Monty Noble retired from international cricket in 1909 with a Test record of 1,997 runs at 30.25 and 121 wickets at 25.00.
A series in which a cohesive Australia comfortably outplayed an England side missing the cohesion of selectorial trust. Bardsley's twin centuries are the lasting individual landmark; Noble's captaincy and Armstrong's all-round contribution were the structural reasons.
Bardsley's twin-centuries record stood as a unique feat for nearly 40 years before being matched by Herbert Sutcliffe (1924-25) and Sir Donald Bradman (1947-48), and has been done only around 90 times in Test history.
The 1909 series is also remembered as the bridge between the Trumper era and the Hobbs era; both men crossed in this summer, with Trumper's last England-tour and Hobbs's first home series.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.