John James Ferris was the left-arm partner who shared the new ball with Charlie Turner through the great Australian bowling years of the late 1880s. He took 61 Test wickets in only 9 matches at 12.70 apiece — one of the best averages in Test history — was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1889, and later qualified for England by residence and toured South Africa as an Englishman in 1891-92, taking 13 wickets in his only Test for his second country. He died of typhoid fever in Durban in 1900, aged 33.
Australian Test bowling in the late 1880s was dominated by the Turner-Ferris pair on right-arm/left-arm lines. Ferris was the quieter half of the partnership but the statistically superior one in pure averages.
After his sensational debut series in 1886-87 (18 wickets in two Tests), Ferris was a permanent Australian selection until the end of the 1890 tour. His decision to remain in England afterwards was shocking at the time but mirrored Spofforth's settlement in Derbyshire.
Ferris was born at Sydney in 1867 and made his first-class debut for NSW in 1886-87 against Alfred Shaw's English tourists, taking seven wickets in the match. By the end of that season he was an Australian Test bowler. In his first Test, at Sydney, he bowled unchanged with Turner to dismiss England for 45; Australia still lost the match by 13 runs.
The Turner-Ferris partnership through 1887-88 and the 1888 English tour was the most consistently successful new-ball pairing of the 19th century. At Lord's in July 1888 the pair took all 18 England wickets between them as Australia won by 61 runs — Ferris contributing 5/26 in the first innings and 3/19 in the second. He took 199 first-class wickets on the 1888 tour at 14.22, second only to Turner's 283. Like Turner, he was named one of the first six Wisden Cricketers of the Year (the 'Six Great Bowlers' issue) in 1889.
Ferris's 9 Tests for Australia between January 1887 and August 1890 produced 48 wickets at 14.25. He had a smooth, slingy left-arm action, bowled medium-pace, and used variations of length and pace rather than swing.
In 1890, after the financially troubled tour of England, Ferris quit Australian cricket, moved to England and qualified for Gloucestershire by residence. In 1891-92 he was selected for the second English tour to South Africa, captained by Walter Read, and in his only Test for England — the only one of that tour — he took 6/54 and 7/37 (13 wickets in the match). He thus became the second man, after Billy Midwinter, to play Tests for two different countries.
He never settled in England and his form fell away; by the late 1890s he had moved to South Africa, served briefly in the Boer War, and contracted typhoid. He died at Durban on 21 November 1900, aged 33.
Jan 1887: Test debut at Sydney; bowls unchanged with Turner.
1888: 199 first-class wickets in England.
Lord's 1888: Turner-Ferris share all 20 England wickets in match (Aus win by 61).
1889: Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
1890: Quits Australian cricket; moves to England.
Mar 1892: 13 wickets for England in his only Test against South Africa.
21 Nov 1900: Dies of typhoid in Durban, aged 33.
21 May 1867
Born at Sydney.
Jan 1887
Test debut; 4/27 and 5/76 at Sydney.
1888
199 first-class wickets in England; Lord's 8/45 in match.
1889
Named Wisden Cricketer of the Year.
1890
Quits Australian cricket after the tour of England.
Mar 1892
13/91 in only Test for England v South Africa.
21 Nov 1900
Dies of typhoid at Durban, aged 33.
“Ferris and Turner were the best pair of opening bowlers any country has ever sent into the field.”
Ferris's defection from Australian cricket prefigured Spofforth's and Murdoch's. The lack of a formal Test qualification rule meant such switches were rare but legal, and the 1890s saw a small group of cricketers crossing back and forth between Australian and English first-class teams.
One of the best new-ball bowlers of the 19th century, and one of the few cricketers to have taken Test wickets for two different countries.
Ferris's Test bowling average of 12.70 across his nine Australian Tests is one of the lowest of any 19th- or 20th-century Test bowler with 50+ wickets. His name has been almost entirely overshadowed by Turner and Spofforth in Australian cricket memory, but in the period 1887-1890 he was as feared as either.
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.