#lancashire

14 incidents tagged

Old Trafford Bombed — Manchester Blitz, December 1940

n/a (ground incident)

1940-12-23

On the nights of 22-23 and 23-24 December 1940 — the Manchester Blitz — Old Trafford cricket ground was hit by Luftwaffe high-explosive bombs aimed at the Trafford Park industrial complex nearby. The members' dining room and the groundsman's quarters were destroyed; most of the pavilion needed rebuilding. The ground had been requisitioned earlier as a Dunkirk transit camp and a supply depot, and Lancashire CCC effectively closed for the war, redirecting members' subscriptions to a war relief fund.

#old-trafford#manchester#wwii

⭐Mild

Lancashire's Three Consecutive Championships — 1926-28

Lancashire and English County Championship

1928-08-31

From 1926 to 1928 Lancashire won three consecutive County Championships — the only three-in-a-row by any non-Yorkshire county between the wars — built around the Australian fast bowler Ted McDonald, captain Leonard Green, and a settled batting order led by the Tyldesleys.

#lancashire#county-championship#1926

⭐Mild

J.T. Tyldesley — Lancashire's Senior Batter of the Edwardian Era

Lancashire, England

1907-08-30

John Thomas Tyldesley — known throughout Lancashire as 'J.T.' to distinguish him from his younger brother Ernest — was the leading professional batter of Edwardian England. Between 1900 and 1909 he scored over 19,000 first-class runs at an average above 40 and represented England in 31 Tests. He combined a back-foot strength against fast bowling with a hooking technique that contemporaries — including Trumper — singled out for praise.

#jt-tyldesley#lancashire#old-trafford

⭐Mild

Reggie Spooner — Lancashire Stylist, Test Debut 1905

England, Australia

1905-07-24

Reginald Herbert Spooner made his Test debut for England v Australia at Old Trafford on 24 July 1905, having been one of the most-talked-about batsmen of the unbeaten Lancashire side of 1903-04. A stylist in the Trumper mould, he played 10 Tests, made 247 v Notts in 1903 (a Lancashire record), and shared a 368-run opening stand with Archie MacLaren the same year.

#reggie-spooner#lancashire#england

⭐Moderate

Johnny Tyldesley's 138 — The Other Story of Edgbaston 1902

England, Australia

1902-05-29

Before Wilfred Rhodes and George Hirst rolled Australia for 36 at Edgbaston on 29 May 1902, the day's foundation had been laid by Johnny Tyldesley's 138 in four and a half hours — an innings that took England to 376 for 9 declared. Tyldesley, the Lancashire professional, was at the height of his powers; the innings is sometimes overlooked because of what followed in the afternoon.

#johnny-tyldesley#lancashire#england

⭐Moderate

Sydney Barnes — Test Debut 1901, the Freelance Bowler's Career

England, Australia

1901-12-13

Sydney Barnes, then a Lancashire League professional with seven first-class matches to his name, made his Test debut at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 13 December 1901, taking 5 for 65. He went on to take 19 wickets in his first two Tests before injury ended his tour. Barnes' career was unique: 27 Tests, 189 wickets at 16.43, but only 47 first-class County Championship matches, his preference being the better-paid Minor Counties and Lancashire League.

#sydney-barnes#england#australia

🥊Serious

Johnny Briggs's Epileptic Fit at Headingley — The End of a Test Career, 1899

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.

#johnny-briggs#1899#headingley

⭐Moderate

Lancashire's First Title — 1897 County Championship

Lancashire CCC

1897-08-30

Lancashire won their first official County Championship in 1897, narrowly edging Surrey, with a bowling attack of Briggs, Cuttell, Mold and Hallam taking 420 wickets between them. Captain Archie MacLaren — the same MacLaren of the 424 at Taunton in 1895 — averaged 41 with the bat. The 1897 title broke Surrey's hold on the early Championship and is the only one of Lancashire's nine official Championships from the 19th century.

#lancashire#1897#county-championship

⭐Moderate

Archie MacLaren — 424 at Taunton (1895) and the Lancashire Captaincy

Lancashire, Somerset

1895-07-16

Archibald Campbell MacLaren scored 424 for Lancashire v Somerset at Taunton on 15-16 July 1895 — the first quadruple-century in first-class cricket and the highest individual innings until Bill Ponsford's 429 in 1923. The score remained the English first-class record until Brian Lara's 501 not out in 1994. MacLaren went on to captain Lancashire and England across the 1900s.

#archie-maclaren#lancashire#1895

⭐Serious

Archie MacLaren's 424 — First Quadruple Century in First-Class Cricket, 1895

Lancashire v Somerset

1895-07-15

On 15-16 July 1895, the 23-year-old Archie MacLaren batted across two days at Taunton to score 424 — the first quadruple century in first-class cricket history and the highest individual first-class score the game had seen. He surpassed W.G. Grace's 1876 mark of 344, batted 470 minutes, hit 62 fours and a six, and held the world record for 28 years until Bill Ponsford's 429 in 1923. The score remained the highest in English first-class cricket until 1994.

#archie-maclaren#1895#taunton

⭐Serious

Johnny Briggs — Lancashire's Spinner-Batsman, 1879-1900

Lancashire / England

1888-08-31

Johnny Briggs of Lancashire was the most engaging all-round cricketer of the 1880s — a popular fielder, a left-arm slow bowler who could turn the ball sharply, and a hard-hitting middle-order batsman with one Test century to his name (121 at Melbourne in 1885). He became the first bowler in Test cricket to take 100 wickets, in February 1895, and finished his career with 118 wickets at 17.75. He suffered an epileptic seizure during the Headingley Test of 1899, returned to play one further season, and died in Cheadle Royal Asylum in January 1902 aged 39.

#johnny-briggs#lancashire#left-arm-spin

😂Serious

Monkey Hornby Drags the Rioter Off — Sydney, 8 February 1879

NSW vs England

1879-02-08

When Lord Harris was struck across the back by a stick during the Sydney Riot of 8 February 1879, his Lancashire team-mate A.N. 'Monkey' Hornby — five foot six but indomitable — seized the assailant in the crowd and frog-marched him through the throng to the pavilion, taking blows the whole way. The incident is one of cricket's most famous physical interventions by a player.

#monkey-hornby#1879#sydney-riot

⭐Mild

The Reverend Vernon Royle — Greatest Cover Point, Bowled by Spofforth's Hat-trick, 1879

Australia vs England

1879-01-02

The Reverend Vernon Royle — Lancashire amateur, future schoolmaster and one of the greatest cover-point fielders in cricket history — was the first wicket of Spofforth's hat-trick at Melbourne in January 1879. He played one Test, scored 18 runs, but lived in cricket folklore for his fielding. Tom Emmett's quip when his partner called for a single while Royle was at cover — 'Woa, mate, there's a policeman' — became a 19th-century cricket catchphrase.

#vernon-royle#1879#lancashire

⭐Mild

Old Trafford Becomes Lancashire's Home — First-Class Debut, 1865

Lancashire vs Middlesex

1865-07-20

Old Trafford had been laid out in 1857 as the home of Manchester Cricket Club. Lancashire CCC, formed in 1864, played its first first-class match at the ground in July 1865 against Middlesex and won by 62 runs. Old Trafford has been the home of Lancashire ever since — the second-oldest continuously used first-class venue after Lord's, host of more than 100 Test matches, and the indispensable counterweight to the southern grounds in English cricket geography.

#old-trafford#lancashire#1865