Wilfred Rhodes had begun his Test career in 1899 batting at number eleven for England; through 1910-12 he was promoted up the order until, on the 1911-12 tour of Australia, he was opening with Jack Hobbs. The transformation produced one of cricket's great opening pairs and culminated in the 323-run stand at Melbourne.
Rhodes had been picked initially for his bowling. By 1907-08 he had developed a careful, defensive batting technique built on a high left elbow and watchful defence.
On the 1911-12 voyage to Australia, the management discussed who should open with Hobbs. Rhodes was eventually given the job for the second Test.
Rhodes was originally selected for England as a slow left-arm bowler — he made his Test debut in W.G. Grace's last Test at Trent Bridge in 1899, batting at eleven. Over the next decade his batting improved steadily for Yorkshire; he scored his maiden first-class century in 1907. By 1909 he was batting at six for England. The decisive promotion came on the 1911-12 tour of Australia, when Plum Warner (or, after Warner fell ill, Johnny Douglas) opened with him alongside Hobbs. The decision was brave — Rhodes was 34 and had never opened in a Test — but the pair averaged 61 runs per opening partnership in their 36 Test innings together over the next decade. The 323 at Melbourne in February 1912 was the high point but was no fluke. Rhodes' shift from tailender to opener is one of the most extreme position changes in Test history.
1899: Test debut at number eleven
1907-08: First-class hundreds for Yorkshire
1909: Batting at six for England
1911-12: Opens with Hobbs in Australia
Feb 1912: 323-run partnership at Melbourne
1899
Test debut at no. 11
1909
Batting at six for England
Dec 1911
Opens with Hobbs in second Test at Melbourne
Feb 1912
323 partnership with Hobbs
“He climbed the order on his own. We just made room for him.”
Rhodes opened for England intermittently until 1921. He returned as a bowler for the 1926 Ashes at the age of 48 — the oldest Test cricketer of all time at that point.
From batting eleven in 1899 to opening for England in 1911-12 — the most extreme positional shift in Test history.
Rhodes' transformation set the template for England's opening pair for the next decade. His combined first-class career — 39,969 runs, 4,204 wickets — remains the greatest all-round record in cricket history.
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.