#fred spofforth

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

⭐Mild

Spofforth's Hat-trick — Test Cricket's First, Melbourne, 2 January 1879

Australia vs England

1879-01-02

On 2 January 1879 Fred Spofforth took the first hat-trick in Test cricket — dismissing Vernon Royle bowled, Francis MacKinnon bowled (first ball of his Test career) and Tom Emmett caught — at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. England were 26 for some when the hat-trick fell. Spofforth went on to take 13 for 110 in the match, and Australia won by 10 wickets.

#fred-spofforth#hat-trick#first-test-hat-trick

⭐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

Harry Boyle — Spofforth's Partner, 1878-1888

Australia

1878-05-27

Harry Boyle of Bendigo was the medium-pacer who shared the new ball with Fred Spofforth on Australia's first six tours of England. At Lord's on 27 May 1878 he took 3/14 and 6/3 against MCC; he played 12 Tests, took 32 wickets, and was Spofforth's accuracy-and-cunning foil for a decade.

#harry-boyle#fred-spofforth#1878

⭐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

🥊Moderate

Spofforth Boycotts the First Test — March 1877

Australia vs England

1877-03-15

Fred Spofforth, the leading fast bowler in the Australian colonies, refused to play in the first Test in March 1877. His protest was over the selectors' decision to pick Victorian Jack Blackham as wicketkeeper rather than the New South Welshman Billy Murdoch, the keeper Spofforth had bowled to all his career. Australia won without him.

#fred-spofforth#billy-murdoch#jack-blackham