In the same Old Trafford Test that produced Ranjitsinhji's debut 154*, England's fast bowler Tom Richardson took 7 for 168 and 6 for 76 — match figures of 13 for 244 from 110 overs of fast bowling. He bowled unchanged for three hours on the final afternoon as Australia scrabbled to 125 for 7 chasing 125 to win. Australia held on by three wickets. Richardson's spell is one of the great lost-cause performances in Test history.
Richardson, 25 and at the absolute peak of his career, had taken 290 first-class wickets the previous summer. Australia, captained by Harry Trott, won the toss and made 412; Richardson took 7 for 168 in 68 overs of round-arm fast bowling. England replied with 231; following on, they recovered to 305 thanks to Ranjitsinhji's 154* (see entry).
Australia were set 125 in just over a session. Trott opened with Joe Darling. Richardson, given the new ball, bowled the entire spell from the City End. He took six wickets in 42 overs, dismissing Trott, Iredale, Giffen, Gregory, Donnan and Trumble. Australia were 100 for 7 with 25 still required and Richardson visibly tiring after three hours of fast bowling.
Kelly and McKibbin scrambled the runs. Richardson pulled up at the end of the match still wanting one more over. England lost by three wickets. The defeat was the more painful for the spell that did not quite save it. Wisden reported that Richardson 'walked off in tears, leaning on the shoulder of Bobby Abel.'
The 13/244 was, at the time, the third-best Test match analysis in history. It remains a benchmark for the 'unbroken three-hour fast spell' in cricket — a workload that almost no modern fast bowler would attempt.
Australia 412; Richardson 7/168 in 68 overs.
England 231 first innings.
England follow on; Ranji 154*; England 305.
Australia chase 125; Richardson opens new-ball spell.
Bowls unchanged from City End for three hours.
Six wickets fall: Trott, Iredale, Giffen, Gregory, Donnan, Trumble.
Australia 100/7 chasing 125; Richardson visibly tiring.
Kelly and McKibbin steal the last 25; Australia win by 3 wickets.
Richardson 'walks off in tears' (Wisden).
16 Jul 1896
Test begins; Australia 412; Richardson 7/168.
17 Jul
England 231; follow on.
18 Jul, morning
Ranji 154*; England 305.
18 Jul, afternoon
Australia chase 125; Richardson opens spell.
18 Jul, evening
Three-hour spell; Australia 100/7 then 125/7 winning.
“Richardson walked off in tears, leaning on the shoulder of Bobby Abel.”
“I never saw a finer effort by a fast bowler.”
Richardson played in the 1897-98 series in Australia and took 8/94 in his only outstanding performance of that tour. By 1898 his Surrey workload had begun to break him; he played his last Test in 1898 and his last county match in 1904. He died in 1912 in mysterious circumstances in France, possibly by suicide.
Tom Richardson's three-hour fast spell at Old Trafford in 1896 is the most-cited losing performance in Test cricket. He took 13 wickets and walked off the field in tears.
The Old Trafford 13/244 is the most-cited fast-bowling spell in Victorian cricket. Richardson's career — 290 wickets in 1895, 1,005 wickets across four seasons — established the model of the workhorse English fast bowler that runs through Maurice Tate, Alec Bedser, Bob Willis and James Anderson. Wisden's 'walked off in tears' phrase has become a lay shorthand for great losing performances.
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.