On the third morning of the fifth Test of 1926, after overnight thunderstorms had turned the Oval pitch into one of the most treacherous in Test history, Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe added 172 for the first wicket — Hobbs 100, Sutcliffe 161 — in an innings widely regarded as the finest piece of opening batting in cricket.
England led by 22 on first innings — a thin margin. Heavy thunder on Sunday night left the pitch wet under a sun that began to dry it on Monday morning, exactly the conditions in which spinners and seamers alike could produce 'shooters' and 'kickers'. The Australian attack of Mailey, Macartney and Grimmett seemed perfectly suited.
England held a slender first-innings lead at the Oval and faced two days on a wicket that had been drenched by Sunday-night rain. By the standards of 1920s English cricket, the surface was unplayable: the ball hissed, leapt, kept low and turned. Australia opened with Mailey, Macartney and Charles Macartney's left-arm orthodox; the captain, Herbert Collins, set close fielders for Hobbs from ball one.
Hobbs and Sutcliffe walked out at 22 for 0 overnight. They played, watched and ducked the rest of that morning session and added 172 to take England effectively out of reach. Sutcliffe was in for 282 minutes; Hobbs reached 100 with a clip off the legs and was out shortly afterwards for 100 even. Sutcliffe went on to 161, finally bowled by Mailey. England declared at 436. Hobbs himself rated his 100 'the best innings I ever played'; Wisden, summarising the match in 1927, agreed: 'No man living could have batted better.'
Australia, set 415 to win, were bowled out for 125 — Wilfred Rhodes 4 for 44, Larwood 3 for 34. England won by 289 runs and the Ashes were back at Lord's for the first time since 1911-12.
Sunday night thunder soaks the Oval pitch
Monday morning: Hobbs and Sutcliffe walk out at 22/0 overnight
172-run partnership; Hobbs reaches 100 with a clip off the legs
Sutcliffe out for 161 to Mailey; England declare 436
Australia bowled out for 125; England win by 289 runs
Sun 15 Aug 1926
Heavy rain overnight at the Oval
Mon 16 Aug 1926 morning
Hobbs-Sutcliffe 172 on sticky wicket
Mon 16 Aug 1926 afternoon
Sutcliffe 161; England declare 436
“It was the finest innings I ever played, on the worst wicket I ever batted on.”
England regained the Ashes, the Hobbs-Sutcliffe opening partnership was now fixed in selectorial doctrine, and Sutcliffe was named one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year for 1927. Hobbs called the 100 his finest Test innings, a judgment he never revised.
Hobbs's 100 and Sutcliffe's 161 on the Oval sticky of August 1926 are the standard reference for batsmanship under near-impossible conditions, and the partnership of 172 is the climactic moment of the greatest opening pair Test cricket has had.
The 1926 Oval partnership remained the textbook example of sticky-wicket batting until uncovered pitches disappeared from Test cricket in the 1980s. Sutcliffe finished his Test career averaging 60.73 in 54 Tests, the highest by any English Test batsman.
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.