#demon bowler

8 incidents tagged

Spofforth's Emigration — The Demon Settles in Derbyshire, 1886-1890

Australia / Derbyshire (later)

1888-06-01

In September 1886, on his fifth tour of England, Fred 'The Demon' Spofforth married Phillis Marsh Cadman at Breadsall, Derbyshire. By 1888 the couple had returned to England permanently; Spofforth took a position in his father-in-law's tea importing business and began a second life as a Derbyshire-domiciled cricketer. He played for Derbyshire from 1889, captained them in 1890, and lived out the rest of his life in England, dying at Long Ditton in 1926 — the most famous Australian cricketer ever to settle in the country he had so often demolished.

#fred-spofforth#demon-bowler#derbyshire

⭐Explosive

The Birth of the Ashes — Oval Test, 1882

England v Australia

1882-08-29

Across two August days in 1882, Australia beat England by seven runs at The Oval in the only Test of the tour. Fred 'The Demon' Spofforth took 14 for 90 in the match — 7/46 in the first innings and 7/44 in the second — to bowl England out for 77 chasing only 85. Within hours The Sporting Times printed a mock obituary declaring that English cricket was dead and that 'the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia.' The most famous trophy in the game was born from a satirical paragraph.

#the-ashes#ashes-origin#spofforth

⭐Serious

Spofforth's 14 for 90 — The Demon at The Oval, 1882

England v Australia

1882-08-29

Fred 'The Demon' Spofforth took 7 for 46 and 7 for 44 at The Oval in August 1882, match figures of 14 for 90 that bowled Australia to a 7-run win and gave birth to the Ashes legend. The second-innings spell — bowled in tandem with Harry Boyle — broke an England chase of just 85 and stood as the best match analysis in Test cricket for 31 years.

#spofforth#demon-bowler#1882

⭐Mild

Australia Bowl MCC Out Twice in a Day — Lord's, 27 May 1878

Australia vs MCC

1878-05-27

On 27 May 1878 the touring Australians, on their first visit to England, bowled MCC out twice in a single day at Lord's. MCC made 33 and 19; Australia made 41 and 12 for 1 to win by 9 wickets. Fred Spofforth took 6/4 (including a hat-trick) and 4/16; Harry Boyle 3/14 and 6/3. W.G. Grace was clean-bowled by Spofforth for 4. The match made Australian cricket's reputation in a single afternoon.

#fred-spofforth#demon-bowler#lords

⭐Mild

'The Demon' — How Spofforth Got His Nickname, 1878

Australia vs MCC

1878-05-27

Fred Spofforth's nickname 'The Demon' was coined on the afternoon of 27 May 1878. After clean-bowling W.G. Grace for 4 at Lord's, Spofforth — according to teammate Tom Horan — leapt two feet in the air at the wicket and in the dressing-room afterwards repeated the phrase 'Ain't I a demon?' A Vanity Fair cartoon by 'Spy' fixed the name in print within months.

#fred-spofforth#demon-bowler#nickname

⭐Mild

Spofforth's Action — How the Demon Bowled, 1878

Australia

1878-06-01

Fred Spofforth was 6ft 3in tall, lean, and bowled with what contemporaries called 'all legs, arms and nose'. After his initial fast spells in 1878 he developed an extraordinary capacity to bowl medium and slow with the same action — concealing pace changes invisibly. He stared at batsmen during his run-up. He was the first bowler treated as a deliberate intimidator.

#fred-spofforth#1878#bowling-action

⭐Mild

W.G. Grace Bowled by Spofforth for 4 — Lord's, 27 May 1878

MCC vs Australia

1878-05-27

W.G. Grace, the most famous batsman in the world, was clean-bowled by Fred Spofforth for 4 at Lord's on 27 May 1878. The dismissal — among the most famous of the 19th century — fixed Spofforth's reputation and shocked the English cricket establishment, which had assumed the touring Australians would be no match for MCC's strongest XI.

#wg-grace#fred-spofforth#1878

⭐Mild

John 'Foghorn' Jackson — 8 for 20 for North v South, 1857

North vs South

1857-07-13

The Nottinghamshire fast bowler John Jackson, nicknamed 'Foghorn' for the loud nose-blow with which he marked every wicket, took eight for 20 for the North against the South in 1857 and confirmed his reputation as the most prominent fast bowler in England. Jackson would become the dominant pace bowler of the late 1850s and early 1860s and the foremost roundarm 'demon' before overarm was legalised.

#john-jackson#foghorn#north-v-south