On 2 January 1879 Fred Spofforth took the first hat-trick in Test cricket — dismissing Vernon Royle bowled, Francis MacKinnon bowled (first ball of his Test career) and Tom Emmett caught — at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. England were 26 for some when the hat-trick fell. Spofforth went on to take 13 for 110 in the match, and Australia won by 10 wickets.
MacKinnon, the 28th Chief of MacKinnon and a Scottish chieftain, had come on the tour as the most amateur of amateurs. Royle was a famously brilliant cover fielder. Emmett was Yorkshire's left-arm chief.
England were 26 when Royle joined Charlwood after the early loss of Hornby and Webbe. Spofforth was bowling fast and full at the southern end.
The third Test in cricket history was the only Test of Lord Harris's 1878-79 tour. Australia won the toss, batted, and made 256, with Alec Bannerman and Tom Horan the chief contributors. England's reply collapsed almost from the start. Spofforth, bowling fast from the southern end, removed Vernon Royle (the famous Lancashire amateur and Eton parson) bowled. Francis MacKinnon, the 28th Chief of MacKinnon and a Cambridge Blue, was bowled first ball — his first delivery in Test cricket and almost his last. Tom Emmett, the seasoned Yorkshire all-rounder, was caught at slip off the next ball. Spofforth had Test cricket's first hat-trick. He finished with 6/48 in 25 four-ball overs and 7/62 in the second innings — the first 13-wicket Test match haul, all in a single Test fixture. England, set 99, were dismissed for 105 (after Australia were given 4 byes). Australia won by 10 wickets. Spofforth's match figures stood as the best in Test cricket until Tom Richardson's 13 wickets in 1894-95.
Vernon Royle bowled by Spofforth
Francis MacKinnon bowled first ball — Test debutant golden duck
Tom Emmett caught at slip next ball — hat-trick complete
Spofforth ends with 6/48
Spofforth 7/62 in second innings — 13/110 in match
Australia win by 10 wickets
1 Jan 1879
Australia 256 in first innings
2 Jan 1879
Spofforth's hat-trick: Royle, MacKinnon, Emmett
2 Jan 1879
England 113; Spofforth 6/48
3-4 Jan 1879
Spofforth 7/62; England 105 chasing 99 — Australia win by 10 wickets
“Spofforth bowled with a fire and a precision that none of us had ever encountered.”
MacKinnon never played another Test (one of the worst Test debuts in history). Royle played one more in 1879 and never represented England again. Emmett retained his place. Spofforth missed the next two Tests through injury and was unavailable for the 1880 Oval Test, but his Melbourne 13/110 cemented his status as the world's leading bowler.
The first hat-trick in Test cricket. Spofforth 13/110 in the only Test of Lord Harris's tour — and Australia's first Test win at home since the inaugural fixture.
The first Test hat-trick. Spofforth's Melbourne match figures stood for fifteen years; the hat-trick names — Royle, MacKinnon, Emmett — are part of cricket's roll of bowling firsts. It was also the first ten-wicket Test match haul (followed soon by his second, at the Oval in 1882).
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.