Dave Gregory, a NSW public servant and the eldest cricketing brother of a long-running Australian dynasty, captained the All-Australian XI to a 45-run victory over James Lillywhite's England side at Melbourne in March 1877. He thus became the first Test captain in cricket history.
The Gregory family of Sydney included Dave, his brothers Ned (also in the 1877 XI) and Charles, and later his nephew Syd Gregory who played 58 Tests for Australia between 1890 and 1912. Sydney Cricket Ground's first scoreboard was built by Ned Gregory.
Captaincy of the All-Australian XI was decided shortly before the Melbourne match. Gregory's selection reflected a desire for a non-Victorian leader after the bulk of the side was chosen.
Gregory was 31 years old, a clerk in the New South Wales Audit Office, and the senior pro of a Sydney cricket family that would produce six first-class cricketers and one of Australia's most enduring dynasties. He was selected to lead the Australian XI partly because the Victorians and New South Welshmen could agree on him as a neutral, partly because he was the obvious senior figure in the side, and partly because his brother Ned Gregory was also playing. He won the toss, batted, watched Bannerman score 165, and set careful fields for Kendall and Garrett through the second innings. He scored 1 and 43 with the bat and led Australia to victory by 45 runs. Two years later he captained Australia on the first overseas tour, in 1878, and was at the centre of the 1879 Sydney riot when his cousin Murdoch was given run out by umpire Coulthard.
Gregory wins the toss; elects to bat
Sets attacking field as Bannerman attacks Shaw
Bowling change to Kendall in second innings turns the match
Leads side off MCG as first winning Test captain
Mar 1877
Captains Australia in the first Test
Mar-Apr 1877
Captains Australia in the rematch (lost by 4 wickets)
1878
Leads Australia on first tour of England
Feb 1879
Captains Australia in third Test, present at Sydney riot
“A captain who treated his men as equals — rare in colonial cricket.”
The first Test captain. A NSW public servant from a family that supplied seven first-class cricketers and three Test players over four generations.
Gregory's name heads every list of Test captains. The Gregory family went on to provide three Test cricketers — Dave, Ned and Syd — and remains one of cricket's longest dynasties. The annual Sheffield Shield trophy was first contested in 1892, by which time Gregory was a senior NSW administrator.
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.