On the night of 29-30 June 1899, after the first day of England's first Test at Headingley, Lancashire's left-arm spinner Johnny Briggs — already a 33-Test veteran with 118 wickets — suffered a violent epileptic fit at the team hotel. He was admitted to Cheadle Royal Hospital. He played one more season of county cricket in 1900 before relapses forced him to a sanatorium. He died in 1902 aged 39 — the first Test cricketer known to have died of an epilepsy-related illness.
Epilepsy in the late 19th century carried social stigma and was often misunderstood as a mental disorder. Briggs's diagnosis had been kept private through much of his career; only Lord Hawke and a few senior players had been told. His Headingley collapse was the first public manifestation.
Briggs had bowled 21 four-ball overs on day one of the Test. The Lancashire and team committees had earlier in the season agreed informally to reduce his workload.
Briggs had been one of England's most-reliable bowlers across the 1880s and 1890s — 118 Test wickets at 17.75, plus a Test hundred (121 v Australia at Melbourne 1884-85). His action — slow, looping left-arm spin — was beloved by Lancashire crowds. By 1899 he was 36 and in his fourteenth English summer.
The Third Test, the first at Headingley, began on 29 June. Briggs bowled 21 overs in Australia's first innings of 172, taking 3 for 53. Late in the afternoon he reportedly told Lord Hawke (who was watching from the pavilion) that he 'felt wrong' but could not say why. He returned to the team hotel, dined normally, and went to his room. At around 10:30pm he had a violent epileptic fit; the team doctor was summoned, and he was taken by carriage to Cheadle Royal Hospital — a mental health facility — under sedation.
The Headingley Test was completed without him; the match was drawn. Briggs spent the rest of 1899 in hospital. He recovered enough to play the 1900 Lancashire season, taking 120 wickets at 17.86, but suffered further relapses through 1901. He was readmitted to Cheadle Royal in early 1902 and died there of complications, in January 1902, aged 39.
Wisden's obituary called the case 'one of the saddest in cricket', noting that Briggs had often bowled with apparent good cheer through illnesses that he privately knew would shorten his life. He left a wife and two children; the Lancashire committee paid the family a £200 testimonial.
29 Jun 1899: First Headingley Test begins; Briggs 3/53 in Australia's first innings.
Late afternoon: Briggs tells Hawke he 'feels wrong'.
10:30pm: Violent epileptic fit at team hotel.
Hospitalised at Cheadle Royal under sedation.
Misses rest of Test (drawn) and rest of 1899 series.
Plays full 1900 Lancashire season — 120 wickets.
Relapses through 1901; readmitted early 1902.
Dies January 1902 aged 39.
29 Jun 1899
Test begins; Briggs 3/53 day one.
29 Jun, late afternoon
Briggs tells Hawke he 'feels wrong'.
29 Jun, 10:30pm
Violent epileptic fit at hotel.
30 Jun
Admitted to Cheadle Royal Hospital.
1900 season
Returns; 120 Lancashire wickets.
Jan 1902
Dies at Cheadle Royal aged 39.
“One of the saddest tragedies cricket has known.”
Briggs's funeral at Stretford Cemetery in Manchester was attended by Lord Hawke, Lancashire's senior players and around 5,000 mourners. The Lancashire committee voted £200 to his widow. A 'Briggs Fund' run through the Manchester Guardian raised a further £1,800 for his children's education.
The end of a Test career inside one Headingley night. Briggs's fit foreshadowed the early death of one of England's most popular Victorian bowlers.
Briggs is the first cricketer known to have died of complications related to a documented neurological condition. The 1902 obituaries marked a small step forward in public understanding: Wisden's obituary used the medical term 'epilepsy' and treated the case sympathetically rather than as a moral failing. The pattern of player welfare around mental and neurological health that runs through cricket's modern era — including Marcus Trescothick's 2008 retirement and the modern PCA mental-health programme — has its 19th-century antecedent in the Briggs case.
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