On 11-12 August 1884, Australia's captain Billy Murdoch became the first man to score a double century in Test cricket — 211 against England at The Oval, in 525 minutes off 525 deliveries with 24 fours. Australia made 551, then a Test record. England, in desperation, used all eleven players as bowlers; the wicketkeeper Hon Alfred Lyttelton, bowling underhand lobs with his pads on, finished with the best figures, 4 for 19.
Lord Harris won the toss for England and put Australia in. Percy McDonnell made 103, Murdoch came in at 158/2 and stayed all the way to 502/4, batting through two days. He was 145 not out at the end of the first day, then resumed on the second to break Charles Bannerman's old Test record (165*) before reaching 200. He was eventually out for 211, caught at the wicket; he had been dropped at 46, 171 and 205, all by Ulyett.
Murdoch's stand of 207 with Tup Scott (102) was the first double-century partnership in Test cricket. Australia's eventual 551 was 100 runs more than any previous Test innings total.
When the regular bowlers ran out of ideas, Lord Harris called on his entire side. Wicketkeeper Lyttelton, an Eton-and-Cambridge amateur with no first-class wickets to his name, padded up his pads and bowled underhand lobs from the Pavilion End. WG Grace, also an irregular bowler, kept wicket. Lyttelton's figures of 4 for 19 — including Midwinter, caught Grace in the keeper's gloves — were the best of the innings; he is still the only player in international cricket history to take a four-wicket haul while playing as a wicketkeeper.
England made 346, followed on, and reached 85/2 when time ran out. Match drawn. Murdoch's 211 stood as the highest individual Test score until Tip Foster's 287 at Sydney in 1903.
Lord Harris wins toss, inserts Australia.
McDonnell 103 from 158/2 partnership.
Murdoch in at 158/2, joined by Scott.
207 partnership Murdoch-Scott, first double-century stand in Tests.
Murdoch 145* at close of day one.
Murdoch passes Bannerman's 165* — new Test record.
Murdoch reaches 200 — first Test double century.
Out 211 caught wicketkeeper, after 525 mins / 525 balls.
Australia 551 — first 500 total in Tests.
All 11 England players bowl — a Test first.
Lyttelton (wk) takes 4/19 with underhand lobs.
England 346, follow on, draw saved by time.
11 Aug 1884
Australia 363/2 at close; Murdoch 145*.
12 Aug, morning
Murdoch passes Bannerman's 165*; first Test double-century.
12 Aug, afternoon
Out 211; Australia all out 551; Lyttelton 4/19 with lobs.
13 Aug
England 346; follow on; chase saved by time.
“The dignified atmosphere of Test cricket was for the moment in danger.”
“Murdoch played the noblest innings of his career.”
Murdoch's 211 was the highest score in any Test until 1903 — almost 20 years. He would later (controversially) tour England with Australia in 1890, then play Test cricket for England against South Africa in 1891-92, becoming one of the few men to represent two countries in Tests.
Lyttelton's lobs entered cricket folklore. He kept wicket without removing his pads to bowl, and several Australian batsmen apparently could not contain themselves laughing at the sight; Wisden noted that 'the dignified atmosphere of Test cricket was for the moment in danger.'
The first 200 in Tests, the first 500 total, the first time all eleven bowled — and a wicketkeeper's lobs the most successful spell of the day. The Oval Test of 1884 reset every batting record in the game.
The match created three foundational Test records — first 200, first 500 total, first all-eleven-bowl — and one piece of pure comedy in Lyttelton's pads-and-lobs spell. Murdoch's 211 remained the highest Test score in England until Bobby Abel's 132 was overtaken by Hammond's 240 at Lord's in 1938. The Lyttelton record (highest bowling return by a Test wicketkeeper) has stood for over 140 years.
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.