Surrey medium-pacer George Lohmann had played two Tests in 1886 with a single wicket to show for them. At The Oval in August he changed his life: 7 for 36 and 5 for 68 — match figures of 12 for 104 against Australia, with England winning by an innings and 217. The performance launched the bowler whose career Test average (10.75) is still the lowest for any bowler with 100+ Test wickets.
Surrey CCC had been rebuilding through the early 1880s under captain John Shuter; by 1885 they were challenging for the unofficial county title and Lohmann was their bowling spearhead. He had been picked for England in 1886 against general expectation of his still-developing technique.
Australia, captained by McDonnell, had been beaten at Old Trafford and Lord's. The Oval was a dead rubber in series terms but a live audition for Lohmann.
Lohmann was a 21-year-old amateur (in name) from Wandsworth who had become the leading wicket-taker in English first-class cricket in 1885 with 142. His first two Tests of the 1886 series had been disappointing: one wicket at Old Trafford, none at Lord's. Selected for The Oval more on Surrey home advantage than form, he produced one of the great Test debutant breakouts.
In Australia's first innings he took 7 for 36 from 36.2 overs of medium-paced offcutters. The wicket was good; Australia were 68 all out before lunch on day two. England replied with 434, Walter Read 94 not out and WG Grace 170. Australia followed on, and Lohmann took 5 for 68 in their second innings; they were dismissed for 149. England won by an innings and 217 runs.
Lohmann finished the 1886 summer with 154 first-class wickets at 14.31. Over the next decade he became the world's best bowler — top of the Test wicket-taking lists by 1896, taking 8/7 against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in 1895-96 (still the third-best innings analysis in Test history). He suffered from tuberculosis, retired early, and died in South Africa in 1901, aged 36, while seeking a healthier climate.
Lohmann opens bowling at his home ground.
Australia 68 first innings; Lohmann 7/36 in 36.2 overs.
WG Grace 170 in England's reply; Walter Read 94*.
England 434, lead by 366.
Australia 149 second innings; Lohmann 5/68.
Match figures 12/104.
England win by an innings and 217 — series 3-0.
12 Aug 1886
Test begins; Australia 68 (Lohmann 7/36).
13 Aug
England 434 (Grace 170).
14 Aug
Australia 149 (Lohmann 5/68); England win by innings and 217.
1895-96
Lohmann 8/7 v SA at Port Elizabeth.
1 Dec 1901
Dies in Matjiesfontein, South Africa.
“He established himself as a great bowler with a superb twelve for 104.”
Lohmann played 18 Tests, took 112 wickets at 10.75. He toured Australia in 1886-87, 1887-88 and 1891-92, and South Africa twice. He retired in 1898 after tuberculosis took hold; he became the manager of the South African team but never returned to professional cricket. He died in Matjiesfontein in the Karoo in 1901.
Walter Read's 94* set a then-record for the highest score in a Test by a wicketkeeper-batsman (Read was keeping that match) — though the record-keeping conventions of 1886 were loose enough that the claim is sometimes contested.
The Test debut performance that introduced the bowler with the lowest career Test average in cricket history. Lohmann at The Oval in 1886 was the start of Surrey's golden decade.
Lohmann's career Test average of 10.75 is still the lowest of any bowler with 100+ Test wickets. His 8/7 at Port Elizabeth in 1895-96 is still the third-best innings analysis ever. The 1886 Oval Test established him; the rest of his career fulfilled it.
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.