On 29 May 1902 at Edgbaston, on a damp pitch, Wilfred Rhodes (7 for 17) and George Hirst (3 for 15) bowled Australia out for 36 — for almost a century the lowest total in Test cricket. The remarkable bowling, taking 90 minutes, is part of the Edgbaston Test legend; the match was eventually drawn after a thunderstorm washed out two days.
Edgbaston was hosting its first Test in 1902 — Warwickshire had only recently been admitted to the County Championship. The pitch had been protected from rain in the days before the match but a heavy shower on the morning of day one left it tacky. MacLaren's decision to bat first looked vindicated by Tyldesley's 138.
Rhodes and Hirst were both 24, and although both had been in the England side before, neither had quite produced a defining Test moment.
Australia, captained by Joe Darling, were among the strongest sides ever to leave their country. Trumper, Hill, Noble and Trumble were all in the XI. The decision to follow on after 36 all out was reluctantly taken; Darling, with little choice, batted again himself.
The first Test of the 1902 Ashes series began at Edgbaston — the ground's first ever Test — on 29 May 1902. England, captained by Archie MacLaren, batted first and made 376 for 9 declared, with Johnny Tyldesley making 138 in 80 minutes. With the new ball MacLaren attacked from the off; Rhodes and Hirst, the Yorkshire pair, opened the bowling.
What followed was extraordinary. Rhodes, with his slow left-arm spin on the rain-affected pitch, took 7 for 17 in 11 overs. Hirst, with his swerve, took 3 for 15 in 12 overs. Australia were bowled out in 90 minutes for 36 — Trumper top-scoring with 18 — for nearly a century the lowest total in Test cricket, only surpassed (or equalled, depending on the source) by New Zealand's 26 in 1955. Two of the 23 overs were sent down by Lockwood, but the bowling figures were almost entirely Yorkshire's.
Following on, Australia were 46 for 2 (Trumper 50 in the second innings) when twelve hours of overnight rain made the pitch unplayable for the rest of the third day. The match was drawn. England were left to reflect that the most spectacular dismissal in Test history had brought no result; Australia escaped with the series score level.
England 376/9 declared (Tyldesley 138).
Australia open with Trumper and Duff.
Rhodes and Hirst open the bowling — wickets in successive overs.
Australia all out 36 in 90 minutes — Trumper 18 top-score.
Rhodes 11-3-17-7; Hirst 12-5-15-3.
Following on, Australia 46/2 at stumps (Trumper 50).
Twelve hours of overnight rain end play.
Match drawn.
29 May 1902, morning
England bat first; Tyldesley 138, total 376/9 dec.
29 May 1902, afternoon
Australia bat — bowled out 36 in 90 minutes.
Day 2
Following on, Australia 46/2 at stumps.
Overnight
12 hours of rain make the pitch unplayable.
Day 3
Only 75 minutes' play possible; match drawn.
“It took 90 minutes to bowl out Australia for 36, with Trumper making half of the total.”
The series moved to Lord's (drawn), then to Bramall Lane, Sheffield (Australia won), then to Old Trafford (Australia won by 3 runs), then to The Oval (Jessop's Match — England won by 1 wicket). Australia retained the Ashes 2-1.
The Edgbaston match raised the question, much debated since, of whether MCC's decision to begin the series at a ground new to Test cricket had been the right one. The lopsided rainfall — three of the five Tests were rain-affected — coloured the whole summer.
Among the great bowling performances of Test cricket, undermined only by the weather. Rhodes' 7 for 17 — at the start of his Test career, on a sticky English pitch — was as fine an exhibition of slow left-arm bowling as has ever been delivered.
The Australian 36 stood as the lowest Test total for over 50 years; it has been bettered (or matched, depending on how follow-on totals are counted) only a handful of times in 120 years. Rhodes' 7 for 17 stood as his best Test figures (he never took more than seven in an innings).
The match is remembered in Edgbaston's history as the inaugural Test, the day of Tyldesley's 138, and the day Australia made 36 — three highlights for one fixture.
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.