Fred Spofforth was 6ft 3in tall, lean, and bowled with what contemporaries called 'all legs, arms and nose'. After his initial fast spells in 1878 he developed an extraordinary capacity to bowl medium and slow with the same action — concealing pace changes invisibly. He stared at batsmen during his run-up. He was the first bowler treated as a deliberate intimidator.
Spofforth had begun as a pure fast bowler in NSW intercolonial matches. His first-tour experience in England in 1878 led him to add medium and slow paces to his repertoire while keeping the same action.
On English pitches in 1878 the firm wickets blunted his fast bowling. He spent late June and July experimenting with slower deliveries and the cutter.
Spofforth was unusual in 19th-century cricket for both his physique and his deliberate use of pace variation. Contemporaries described his action as 'catherine-wheel' — long arms whirling, a high front leg, a long stride at delivery. By the 1878 English summer he had begun to slow himself down: at the Oval in August he bowled the same delivery action at three different paces, a quicker ball that nobody picked. Allan Steel called him 'the most difficult bowler to read in the world'. He was also the first bowler to use direct eye contact and stare-downs as a tactic — Tom Horan recorded that 'he glared at the batsman from the top of his run as if he were going to eat him'. The 6ft 3in frame and the famous 'demoniac' delivery — flying limbs and intent eyes — produced the impression of a hostile force unlike anything English batsmen had previously faced. By 1882 he was bowling well below medium pace at times yet still terrified the world's best.
Begins career as orthodox fast bowler in NSW
Reduces pace mid-1878 tour while keeping the same action
Develops famous 'demoniac' eye-contact intimidation
Bowls all three paces from same action by autumn 1878
Captures the 1882 Oval Test almost entirely off cutters and slow balls
1853
Born at Balmain, Sydney
Mid-1870s
Established as NSW's fastest bowler
1878 tour
Adds medium and slow paces; develops the stare
1882
Oval Test win on 14 wickets, mostly slow cutters
1888
Last tour of England
“All legs, arms and nose.”
“He glared at the batsman from the top of his run as if he were going to eat him.”
Spofforth's action and method were widely imitated. Aubrey Smith, Tom Richardson, S.F. Barnes — all 19th- and early-20th-century English fast bowlers credited Spofforth as a model.
The first deliberate intimidator. Spofforth's high action, concealed pace and direct eye-contact set the template for every fast bowler since.
Spofforth is the prototype of the modern aggressive fast bowler: tall, hostile, intimidatory, capable of varying pace without telegraph. The Wisden essay 'What Made Fred Spofforth The Demon Bowler' considers him the first bowler in cricket history to combine pace, accuracy and psychological pressure as deliberate weapons.
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.