On 19-22 March 1892, Walter Read's privately-organised English XI played South Africa in what was retrospectively granted Test status — only the second Test in South African history after Major Wharton's 1888-89 tour. England won by an innings and 189 runs at Newlands; John Ferris, the Australian-born bowler now qualified for England, took 13 wickets. South Africa's Test cricket had begun fitfully and would not produce a competitive home performance until the next decade.
South African cricket dated to the 1850s but had been almost entirely localised. Major Warton's 1888-89 tour had played the first two Tests (Port Elizabeth and Cape Town); both were heavy English wins. Walter Read's 1891-92 tour was the second English visit and ran across most of the South African summer.
The party arrived in Cape Town in late November 1891 and played around the Cape, in Kimberley, Johannesburg and Pietermaritzburg. The Newlands Test was scheduled at the close.
Walter Read, the Surrey amateur who had captained England in two Tests in 1887-88, organised the 1891-92 tour privately on commercial lines. The party of 13 sailed for Cape Town in late November and played 20 first-class matches across the southern summer; only the final fixture, against an All-South-Africa XI at Newlands in mid-March 1892, was retrospectively given Test status by the ICC's later research.
South Africa won the toss and chose to bat. They were dismissed for 97 in 53 overs; John Ferris — born in Sydney, having played eight Tests for Australia, now qualified for England by residence — took 6 for 54. England replied with 369; wicketkeeper Henry Wood made 134 not out and was the only Englishman to score a Test century batting at number nine for several decades. South Africa, set 272 in their second innings, were dismissed for 83. Ferris took 7 for 37. England won by an innings and 189.
The match was the second instance of three brothers playing in the same Test — Frank Hearne for South Africa, Alec Hearne and George Hearne for England. It was also unusual in that both J.J. Ferris and W.L. Murdoch were making England Test debuts after previously playing for Australia.
South Africa win toss; bat first.
South Africa 97; Ferris 6/54 in 21 four-ball overs.
England 369; Henry Wood 134* at nine.
South Africa 83 second innings; Ferris 7/37.
England win by an innings and 189.
Second three-brothers Test (Hearnes).
Ferris's 13 for 91 — his only Test for England, and his last anywhere.
Nov 1891
Tour party sails for Cape Town.
Dec 1891 - Mar 1892
20 first-class matches across the country.
19 Mar 1892
Test begins at Newlands; South Africa 97.
20-21 Mar
England 369; Wood 134*.
22 Mar
South Africa 83; England win by an innings and 189.
“The Englishmen were too good for any South African combination then in existence.”
South Africa's next Test was the 1895-96 series against Lord Hawke's tour, when George Lohmann took 35 wickets at 5.80. They would not win a Test until 1905-06. The Walter Read tour was a financial near-failure; the proceeds barely covered expenses.
South Africa's second Test, 13 wickets to a renegade Australian, and the first three-brothers Test of the modern era. The early shape of South African cricket.
The 1892 Test is one of South Africa's foundational Test fixtures. The Newlands ground at Cape Town became the historic home of South African cricket; the 1892 fixture is its first Test. The Hearne three-brothers selection remains a Test trivia staple. J.J. Ferris's career — from Australian Test star to English Test debut to early death of typhoid in the Boer War in 1900 — is a strange foot-note of cricket migration.
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.