Sent in at number 10 to register a protest at the batting order, Surrey amateur Walter Read responded by hammering 117 off 155 balls in 113 minutes — the only Test century by a number 10 batsman, set in 1884 and not equalled in 142 years. With William Scotton blocking from the other end, the pair added 151 to save England from defeat against Murdoch's Australians.
Walter Read had been a Surrey first-class cricketer since 1873 and one of the leading amateur batsmen in England by 1884. The conventions of Victorian cricket placed amateurs in the upper order regardless of form; Lord Harris's decision to drop Read to 10 was unusual.
England had collapsed to 181 for 8 in reply to Australia's 551. Lord Harris's batting order — driven by a mix of strategy, pique and Victorian protocol — had sent in Walter Read at number 10, behind several professional bowlers. Read was furious. Watching from the dressing room, he muttered loudly enough for teammates to hear that he would 'show them.'
He walked out and proceeded to take the Australian attack apart. Spofforth, Palmer, Giffen, Boyle — all were driven, cut and pulled. Read's hundred came in 87 minutes, his 117 in 113. At the other end William Scotton, the Nottinghamshire opener, batted with monastic calm; he was 90 not out at the close of England's innings, having taken 340 minutes for the runs. The pair added 151 for the ninth wicket — a record stand that stood for decades.
England reached 346, still 205 behind, and saved the match in the second innings (85 for 2). Read's 117 remains the only century by a number 10 in Test history; the closest later effort was Pat Symcox's 108 for South Africa in 1998, also at number 10.
The innings is remembered both for its brilliance and for its origin in dressing-room politics. Read, a Surrey amateur of considerable status, did not take well to the implication that he was a tail-end batsman. The 117 was both a Test rescue and an act of personal vindication.
Australia 551, Murdoch 211 — first Test 200.
England 181/8; Read in at number 10.
Read hits 100 in 87 minutes.
Read out 117 in 113 minutes; only number 10 Test century.
Read-Scotton 9th-wicket stand of 151.
Scotton 90 in 340 minutes — opposite-pole batting.
England 346, follow on, save the match.
11 Aug 1884
Australia 551, Murdoch 211.
13 Aug morning
England 181/8; Read goes in at 10.
13 Aug afternoon
Read 100 in 87 min; eventually out 117.
13 Aug close
Scotton 90*; England 346.
13 Aug late
England 85/2 in second innings; match drawn.
“I'll show them.”
“The way in which he punished Spofforth, Palmer, Giffen, and Boyle can never be forgotten by anyone who was so fortunate as to be present.”
Read's century shamed Lord Harris into restoring him to the upper order. Read went on to captain England in 1887-88, score over 6,000 runs in Tests for England in his career, and become one of the leading administrators at Surrey. He died in 1907.
Scotton's 90 — and the 340 minutes it took — became a byword for dour Victorian batting. Punch published a satirical poem about it.
The angriest Test hundred ever scored — Walter Read's protest 117 from number 10 saved England, set a record that has stood 142 years, and proved his batting order point with seven sixes' worth of statement.
Read's 117 is the unique number-10 Test century. It is regularly cited in Test trivia lists and remains a record that, given modern bowler-bats-at-9-or-10 trends, is technically still possible but extremely unlikely to be matched. The Read-Scotton stand of 151 was the highest 9th-wicket Test partnership for England until Holdsworth and Carter at Bridgetown in 2000.
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.