Old Trafford became the second English ground to stage a Test on 10 July 1884 — and was promptly rained off for the entire first day, setting a Manchester precedent that has held for over 140 years. The match was eventually drawn after Australia had inched ahead on first innings. The Lancashire ground would go on to host more Ashes washouts than any other.
Old Trafford had been Lancashire's home ground since 1857, but Tests went first to The Oval (1880) and Lord's (later, 1884). The expansion of the Test calendar in 1884 to a three-match series brought Manchester into the rotation.
The 1884 Australian tour was already well advanced when the team arrived in Manchester. The series opener at Old Trafford had been heavily promoted in the local press but the weather had broken on the eve of the match.
The first Old Trafford Test was scheduled for 10-12 July 1884, the opening match of the first three-Test series ever played in England. The Australian touring side under Murdoch arrived in Manchester with a strong reputation, having dominated 1882's solitary Test at The Oval.
Day one was abandoned without a ball bowled. Heavy rain on the second morning further delayed play. When the match finally got going on the second afternoon, Australia were dismissed for 182, McDonnell top-scoring with 36. England replied with 223. Australia made 25/2 in their second innings before time ran out and the match was drawn.
The match introduced two Test cricket firsts: the first Test in Manchester, and the first Test in which all three of the Grace brothers... no, actually that was 1880. The first Test at Old Trafford and the first significant rain-affected English Test, then. The pattern of Manchester weather affecting Tests has held with remarkable consistency: between 1884 and 2025, eight Old Trafford Tests have been declared draws because of rain.
Day 1 (10 Jul): Abandoned without play; rain.
Day 2 (11 Jul): Late start; Australia 182 (McDonnell 36).
Day 3 (12 Jul): England 223; Australia 25/2; match drawn.
First Test at Old Trafford; first significant Manchester washout.
Lord's hosted the second Test of this series — its first Test.
10 Jul 1884
Day 1 abandoned to rain.
11 Jul
Australia 182 in delayed start.
12 Jul
England 223; Australia 25/2; drawn.
“The entire first day was lost to rain.”
The Lord's Test that followed (where AG Steel made the first Test century at headquarters) was a definitive English win. Australia's series effort effectively ended at Manchester, where rain had denied them a chance of a result.
Old Trafford has continued to host Tests since 1884, becoming one of the iconic English Ashes venues. The 1956 'Laker's match' is its most famous fixture.
Test cricket at Old Trafford began with a Manchester rain delay — and Manchester's climate has been part of every Test there since.
First Tests at venues are now markers in cricket history. Old Trafford's first Test introduced the Manchester rain pattern that has shaped Ashes scheduling for over a century — even leading to recent debates about whether to schedule Lancashire Tests later in the summer.
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.