#lord harris

9 incidents tagged

Ranjitsinhji's Selection Battle — Lord Harris Blocks Him at Lord's, Old Trafford Selectors Pick Him Anyway, 1896

England v Australia

1896-06-22

In June 1896, despite Ranjitsinhji topping the English first-class averages, Lord Harris — president of MCC and effectively the selector for the Lord's Test — refused to pick him for the first Test against Australia, arguing only 'native-born' Englishmen should represent the side. England lost. The Lancashire selectors who chose the Old Trafford Test simply ignored Harris and picked Ranji, who marked his debut with 62 and 154 not out, and the precedent of an English-born-only Test team was broken forever.

#ranjitsinhji#1896#lord-harris

⭐Moderate

First First-Class Match in India — Parsis v Europeans at Bombay, 1892

Parsis v Europeans

1892-08-26

On 26 August 1892, the annual Parsis v Europeans fixture at Bombay Gymkhana was played as a two-innings match — the first first-class match on Indian soil. The match was drawn, but it formalised what would become the Bombay Tournament: the first organised cricket competition in India, founded with the encouragement of Bombay Governor Lord Harris and run continuously until 1946. Mehellasha Pavri, the Parsi fast bowler who had toured England in 1888, took several wickets.

#india#1892#bombay

⭐Serious

The County Championship is Born — Surrey First Official Champions, 1890

Eight first-class counties

1890-05-12

On 10 December 1889, secretaries of eight first-class counties met at Lord's and agreed to settle the championship by wins and losses, ignoring drawn games. The 1890 season that followed is the one Wisden and the counties themselves recognise as the first official County Championship. Surrey, captained by John Shuter and powered by George Lohmann and Bobby Abel, won nine of fourteen matches and were declared the inaugural champions — the start of the unbroken competition that still runs today.

#county-championship#1890#surrey

🔥Serious

Gentlemen vs Players — The Class Divide in 1880s Cricket

Amateurs v Professionals

1880-07-05

Through the 1880s, English cricket maintained the strict separation of Gentlemen (amateurs, with initials before the surname) from Players (professionals, with initials after). The annual Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's drew vast crowds; behind it lay separate dressing rooms, separate gates, and the awkward fact that some 'amateurs' (notably WG Grace) earned more from cricket than any professional. The Notts strike of 1881 was the era's most public eruption of this contradiction.

#gentlemen-v-players#amateur#professional

⭐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

🔥Explosive

The Sydney Riot — Lord Harris vs NSW, 8 February 1879

Australia (NSW) vs England

1879-02-08

On 8 February 1879 a crowd at the Association Ground in Sydney invaded the pitch after Victorian umpire George Coulthard gave Billy Murdoch run out. Lord Harris was struck across the back by a stick or whip, his teammate Monkey Hornby seized the assailant and frog-marched him to the pavilion, and 2,000 of the 10,000 spectators joined the disorder. It is cricket's first international riot.

#sydney-riot#1879#lord-harris

😂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

🔥Explosive

The Sydney Cricket Riot — Lord Harris Attacked, 1879

New South Wales v England

1879-02-08

On 8 February 1879 — strictly outside the 1880s but the curtain-raiser to the decade — about 2,000 Sydney spectators invaded the pitch after Australian batsman Billy Murdoch was given run out by the English-engaged Victorian umpire George Coulthard. Lord Harris, the English captain, was struck with a stick; AN Hornby's shirt was torn off; play was suspended. The riot poisoned Anglo-Australian cricket relations for years and explains why no Test was scheduled in England before September 1880.

#1879#sydney#riot

⭐Mild

Lord Harris Captains England in Australia — 1878-79 Tour

England in Australia

1878-12-01

Lord Harris's 1878-79 tour of Australia was the first England touring side led by an amateur captain to play what would later be recognised as a Test match. The trip produced the third Test in history — the Spofforth hat-trick match at Melbourne — and the Sydney Riot at the Association Ground in February 1879.

#lord-harris#1878#1879