Johnny Briggs — Lancashire's Spinner-Batsman, 1879-1900

Lancashire CCC in the 1880s was building a strong professional staff under AG Steel and Albert Hornby. Briggs, a small, quick man with a winning personality, was the public face of that side; his fielding alone made him a fixture at Old Trafford long before his bowling matured.

By 1888 Briggs was regarded as the most reliable all-rounder in English cricket. His selection for the 1888-89 South Africa tour was a footnote at the time but produced his career-best bowling figures, 15/28 at Cape Town.

John Briggs was born in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, on 3 October 1862, but moved to Widnes as a boy and qualified for Lancashire by residence. He played his first county match in 1879 at the age of 16. He was small, quick on his feet and brilliant at cover-point — fielding was his most immediate asset.

Briggs's batting developed first. He toured Australia with Alfred Shaw's side in 1884-85 and made 121 at Melbourne in only his second Test, opening the innings — England's first Test century in Australia. By 1885 his bowling — left-arm slow with a quick arm action and a sharp turn — had developed enough that he took 67 county wickets and a career-best 186 with the bat against Surrey at Liverpool, putting on a then-record 173 for the tenth wicket with the wicketkeeper Dick Pilling.

From 1886 onwards Briggs was Lancashire's leading all-rounder and a regular England Test selection. His most famous individual performance was 15 for 28 (7/17 and 8/11) in the second of the two retrospective Tests in South Africa in March 1889 — at the time the best bowling figures in Test history. In 1894-95 he took 31 wickets in five Tests in Australia under Stoddart, the highest tally in any Ashes series to that point. On 1 February 1895, in the Sydney Test, he became the first man in Test history to take 100 Test wickets, with Charlie Turner getting there three days later.

During the Headingley Test of June 1899, against Australia, Briggs suffered an epileptic seizure in the pavilion and was admitted to Cheadle Royal Asylum. He recovered enough to play through the 1900 county season, but the seizures recurred and he was committed permanently in late 1900. He died on 11 January 1902 at the age of 39.

“Poor Johnny Briggs.”

Briggs's premature death prompted a national subscription for his widow. Lancashire CCC raised funds at Old Trafford; tributes appeared in newspapers across the cricket world. He was buried at Stretford Cemetery; the Lancashire pavilion holds memorabilia including the bat with which he made the 121 at Melbourne.