Bowling for the South against the North at Lord's in July 1850, the Sussex fast-roundarm bowler John Wisden — the diminutive 'Little Wonder', barely 5'4" tall — clean-bowled all ten North batsmen in the second innings. It is the only first-class instance in cricket history of all ten wickets in an innings being taken bowled, and the bedrock of the reputation that would, fourteen years later, attach his name to cricket's most famous publication.
Roundarm bowling — the hand at or below shoulder height — had been legal since 1835. Wisden, born at Brighton in 1826, was one of the leading roundarm bowlers of the late 1840s, whippy, accurate and capable of long spells. North v South, played at Lord's most years, was the strongest professional fixture of the summer outside the Gentlemen v Players match.
Wisden had already enjoyed a strong start to the 1850 season; the Lord's pitch, then notoriously rough, suited a bowler of his stamp far more than the smoother ground at Brighton or the Oval.
John Wisden of Sussex was already established as one of the leading professional bowlers in England by 1850, but he was not yet the household name he would become. Bowling fast-medium roundarm — the law of the day permitted the hand only as high as the shoulder — Wisden relied on accuracy, pace off the pitch and a sharp off-cutter rather than on raw speed. The North v South match at Lord's in July 1850 was one of the showcase fixtures of the English summer, played between the strongest professionals from each half of the country. North batted twice on a rough Lord's strip; in the second innings Wisden, bowling unchanged from the pavilion end, dismissed every batsman bowled for a total of 76. North were beaten by an innings and 19 runs. The scorecard does not record overs or runs conceded — that level of bookkeeping was still a generation away — but the bare statistic of ten clean bowled in a single innings has never been equalled in first-class cricket since. It remains one of the unique freaks of the cricket record book, and the foundation of the legend Wisden built on his 340 wickets across 38 matches in the 1850 season.
Wisden opens the South attack from the pavilion end
First North batsman bowled; subsequent dismissals all bowled
Tenth wicket falls — every North batsman dismissed bowled by Wisden
North all out 76 in their second innings
South win by an innings and 19 runs
Jul 1850
Wisden bowls all ten North batsmen at Lord's
Season 1850
Wisden takes 340 wickets across 38 matches
1852
Wisden helps found the United All-England Eleven
“He was a small man, under 5ft 6in in height, but was for many years an excellent fast bowler, very accurate with an easy delivery.”
A bowling feat unmatched in 175 years of first-class cricket, achieved by the small Sussex roundarm who would later put his name on the sport's most enduring annual.
The ten-bowled record has never been equalled. Several bowlers have since taken all ten in a first-class innings, but none has dismissed every batsman bowled. The feat sits alongside Laker's 19-90 of 1956 as one of the unique items in the cricket record book; the difference is that Wisden's was the first.
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.