Middlesex, Somerset
1907-05-22
Albert Trott is the only batsman to clear the Lord's pavilion (off Monty Noble, 31 July 1899) and one of only two men to take two hat-tricks in a single first-class innings — both in his benefit match v Somerset at Lord's on 22 May 1907. Penniless and ill, he killed himself on 30 July 1914, the day before the 15th anniversary of his Lord's six.
Australia
1905-08-15
Joe Darling led Australia in three separate Ashes series — 1899, 1902 and 1905 — and on the 1901-02 and 1902 tours commanded the Australian touring sides at the height of the country's Edwardian cricket. A left-handed batter from South Australia, he combined a measured tactical sense with the durability of the bush cricketer and was the first Australian captain to win an Ashes series in England since 1888.
England, Australia
1899-06-01
Wilfred Rhodes made his Test debut at Trent Bridge in June 1899 — the same match that proved to be W.G. Grace's last Test. Rhodes' Test career would span 30 years 313 days, the longest in history; he would also be the oldest Test player ever (52 years 165 days). Through the 1900s he was first England's slow left-arm spinner and then, by 1909, an opening batsman.
England v Australia
1899-06-15
On 15-17 June 1899, in only his second Test match, the 21-year-old Victor Trumper played a 135 not out at Lord's that announced him as the most original batsman in cricket. Coming in at 59 for 3, he batted across two days, drove and cut Bobby Peel's spiritual heir Wilfred Rhodes through every gap, and helped Australia to an innings victory and a 1-0 Ashes lead they would not surrender. Within a year he was Australia's most-photographed sportsman.
England v Australia
1899-06-01
On 1-3 June 1899, in the first Test ever played at Trent Bridge, the 50-year-old W.G. Grace captained England against Australia. He made 28 and 1, dropped catches at point, and was barracked by the Nottingham crowd over his fielding. Three days after the match he resigned the captaincy and his place. The same Test marked the debuts of Wilfred Rhodes (21) and Victor Trumper (21) — Rhodes would play with Bradman in his last Test; Trumper would become Australia's first cricketing icon.
England v Australia
1899-06-01
On 1 June 1899, the 21-year-old Yorkshire left-arm spinner Wilfred Rhodes opened England's bowling against Australia at Trent Bridge and took 4 for 58 in 35.1 overs on debut. The same Test marked W.G. Grace's last appearance. Rhodes would play another 57 Tests across the next 31 years, finishing with the longest Test career in cricket history — the only man to play with both W.G. Grace and Don Bradman.
Australia
1899-04-15
When Australia's selectors announced the squad for the 1899 tour of England, the inclusion of 21-year-old Sydney clerk Victor Trumper — who had played only one full Sheffield Shield season — caused a national row. Joe Darling, the new captain, had insisted on his selection over established state players. Trumper had to be lent the £200 tour fee to accept. Within ten weeks he was making 135* at Lord's. The selection is one of the great calls in Australian cricket history.
Surrey v Somerset
1899-05-29
From 29 to 31 May 1899, Surrey's 41-year-old opener Bobby Abel batted across most of two days at The Oval to score 357 not out against Somerset, carrying his bat through Surrey's innings of 811. It remains, more than 125 years later, Surrey's highest individual score and the highest by anyone carrying their bat in first-class cricket. Surrey won by an innings and 379.
MCC v Australians
1899-07-31
On 31 July 1899, in a tour match between MCC and the touring Australians at Lord's, Middlesex's Australian-born all-rounder Albert Trott — playing for MCC — hit Monty Noble for what is still the only six ever struck clean over the Lord's pavilion. The ball glanced a chimney stack and landed in pavilion attendant Philip Need's garden behind the building. The blow has not been matched in 125 years of cricket at Lord's.
Middlesex CCC
1899-09-15
In the 1899 first-class season Albert Trott scored 1,175 runs and took 239 wickets for Middlesex and the various invitational sides he played for. He became, and remains, the only cricketer to do a 1,000-run / 200-wicket double in a single first-class season — a feat he would repeat in 1900. The same summer he hit the only six ever to clear the Lord's pavilion. Wisden made him a Cricketer of the Year in 1899.
Sussex CCC and others
1899-08-31
In the 1899 first-class season K.S. Ranjitsinhji scored 3,159 runs at 63.18 — the first batsman ever to pass 3,000 first-class runs in a single season. Sussex, captained by him, finished fifth in the Championship for their highest-ever placing to that point. The 3,000-run mark was retro-engineered as a benchmark for the era; only ten more batsmen have ever passed it, and none in the last 65 years.
England v Australia
1899-06-29
On 29 June 1899, in the first Test ever played at Headingley, Middlesex's medium-pacer Jack Hearne took the wickets of Clem Hill, Syd Gregory and Monty Noble in three consecutive balls — England's first hat-trick against Australia in Test cricket. Australia were dismissed for 172. The match was drawn after Johnny Briggs collapsed in an epileptic fit overnight (see entry); the hat-trick lit one of the bleakest days in English cricket.
England v Australia
1899-06-30
On the night of 29-30 June 1899, after the first day of England's first Test at Headingley, Lancashire's left-arm spinner Johnny Briggs — already a 33-Test veteran with 118 wickets — suffered a violent epileptic fit at the team hotel. He was admitted to Cheadle Royal Hospital. He played one more season of county cricket in 1900 before relapses forced him to a sanatorium. He died in 1902 aged 39 — the first Test cricketer known to have died of an epilepsy-related illness.