On 19 January 1883 Billy Bates of Yorkshire took the first hat-trick by an England bowler in a Test match — McDonnell, Giffen and Bonnor in successive deliveries — on the way to match figures of 14 for 102 and an innings win for Bligh's team at the MCG. It remained the only Ashes hat-trick by an England bowler for the rest of the 19th century.
Bates, a Sheffield-born off-spinner, had toured Australia with three previous English sides. He was known as 'The Duke' — partly for his clothes, partly because his on-field manner was unusually serene for a Yorkshire pro. By the 1882-83 tour he was a senior member of Bligh's side.
Bates was an off-break bowler with a quick arm and a flat trajectory — a true Yorkshire pro of his era, not a flighter. He had taken 6/68 in the first innings to bowl Australia out for 132. England replied with 294, a lead of 162.
In the second innings Bates settled into a long spell from the southern end. He had Percy McDonnell caught by WG (a substitute fielder, since this was Bligh's privately-raised side), then bowled the all-rounder George Giffen for a duck, and then trapped Bonnor — Australia's six-foot-six giant — leg before with the next ball. Three Australian wickets in three balls.
He finished with 7/74 in the second innings and match figures of 14/102. England won by an innings and 27 runs. The match was also the first Test won by Bligh's tour and the start of the comeback that would take the official series to 2-1.
Bates also made 55 with the bat, becoming the first bowler in Test history to take ten wickets and score a half-century in the same match. The Australian press, which had largely written off Bligh's side after the first-Test defeat, gave him column inches usually reserved for Spofforth.
Bates 6/68 in Australia's first innings.
England 294, lead by 162.
Bates 55 with the bat — first man to score 50 and take 10 in a Test.
McDonnell caught off Bates — first wicket of the hat-trick.
Giffen bowled second ball.
Bonnor lbw third ball — first England hat-trick in Tests.
Bates ends with 7/74 in second innings.
Match figures 14/102; England win by an innings and 27.
Series level at 1-1; Bligh's tour back in contention.
19 Jan 1883
2nd Test starts at MCG; Australia 132 (Bates 6/68).
20 Jan
England 294 (Bates 55); lead 162.
21 Jan
Bates' hat-trick: McDonnell, Giffen, Bonnor.
22 Jan
Bates 7/74; England win by an innings and 27.
26 Jan 1883
England win 3rd Test at Sydney; series 2-1.
“He died in 1900, the family couldn't afford to put up a gravestone, and he's been forgotten.”
“His 14 wickets then the best-ever by a Test match bowler.”
England won the third Test at Sydney to take the official series 2-1. Bates was the leading bowler of the tour. He continued to play for Yorkshire and England through the 1880s.
In the nets at Melbourne during the 1887-88 tour Bates was struck in the eye by a ball from a teammate. The injury ended his Test career. He attempted suicide on the voyage home and never fully recovered. He died in 1900, aged 44, in his native Sheffield.
The first England hat-trick in Test cricket, a 14-wicket match haul, and a 55 with the bat — Bates' Melbourne Test stands as one of the great all-round performances of the 19th century.
Bates' hat-trick was the first by any bowler for England in Tests and remained the only one in Ashes Tests until JT Hearne in 1899. His 14/102 was the best innings/match analysis by an England bowler in Australia until Frank 'Ferret' Foster in 1911-12. The all-round feat (50+ runs and 10+ wickets in a Test) was not equalled by an England player until George Hirst.
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.