Controversies in 1877

12 incidents documented

The First Test Match — Australia vs England, Melbourne, March 1877

Australia vs England

1877-03-15

Cricket's first Test match was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from 15 to 19 March 1877. A combined Australian XI captained by Dave Gregory beat James Lillywhite's touring English professionals by 45 runs. Charles Bannerman scored 165 retired hurt — the first Test century — and Tom Kendall took 7 for 55 in the second innings to clinch the win. The match was not officially designated a Test until decades later, but it has stood ever since as the start point of international Test cricket.

#first-test#melbourne#1877

⭐Mild

Charles Bannerman's 165 Retired Hurt — First Test Century, March 1877

Australia vs England

1877-03-15

Charles Bannerman, a 25-year-old Sydney professional born in Kent, scored 165 before retiring hurt with a split finger in the first innings of the first Test at Melbourne in March 1877. It was the first century in Test cricket and represented 67.34% of Australia's total of 245 — a proportion no other Test centurion has ever matched.

#charles-bannerman#first-test-century#melbourne

⭐Mild

Alfred Shaw Bowls the First Ball in Test Cricket — Melbourne, 15 March 1877

Australia vs England

1877-03-15

Alfred Shaw of Nottinghamshire, the most accurate slow-medium bowler in England, delivered the first ball in Test cricket — to Charles Bannerman at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on the morning of 15 March 1877. Bannerman took a single off the fourth ball of the over to register the first Test run.

#alfred-shaw#first-ball#melbourne

⭐Mild

Tom Kendall's 7 for 55 — Tasmanian Wins the First Test, March 1877

Australia vs England

1877-03-19

Tom Kendall, a Tasmanian-born left-arm medium-pacer and the only Tasmanian in the side, took 7 for 55 to bowl Australia to a 45-run win in the first Test at Melbourne. England, set 154 to win, were dismissed for 108 on the fourth day, leaving Kendall with the first match-winning bowling figures in Test history.

#tom-kendall#first-test#1877

⭐Mild

Dave Gregory — Australia's First Test Captain, March 1877

Australia vs England

1877-03-15

Dave Gregory, a NSW public servant and the eldest cricketing brother of a long-running Australian dynasty, captained the All-Australian XI to a 45-run victory over James Lillywhite's England side at Melbourne in March 1877. He thus became the first Test captain in cricket history.

#dave-gregory#first-australian-captain#1877

⭐Mild

James Lillywhite — First England Test Captain and Tour Promoter, 1877

Australia vs England

1877-03-15

James Lillywhite junior of Sussex, captain and promoter of the touring English professionals, became the first England Test captain when his side took the field at Melbourne on 15 March 1877. England lost the match by 45 runs but won the rematch a fortnight later, levelling the unofficial series.

#james-lillywhite#first-england-captain#1877

😂Serious

Ted Pooley in a Christchurch Jail — England's Wicketkeeper Misses the First Test, 1877

England in New Zealand

1877-02-13

Ted Pooley, the Surrey wicketkeeper and acknowledged best gloveman in England, missed the first Test in March 1877 because he was sitting in a Christchurch jail. He had been arrested after a betting dispute at the Carlton Hotel turned into an assault charge. By the time he was acquitted, the tour had sailed for Sydney and the first Test had been lost.

#ted-pooley#christchurch#1877

⭐Mild

England's Revenge — Second Test at Melbourne, 31 March 1877

Australia vs England

1877-03-31

A fortnight after losing the first Test, Lillywhite's England side won the rematch on the same Melbourne pitch by 4 wickets. Alfred Shaw took 5/40 and 4/41, George Ulyett scored 52 in the second innings, and the unofficial 1877 series was tied 1-1.

#second-test#1877#melbourne

⭐Mild

Billy Midwinter's 5/78 — Australia's First Test Five-for, March 1877

Australia vs England

1877-03-16

Billy Midwinter, the Gloucestershire-born Australian all-rounder, took 5 for 78 in England's first innings of the inaugural Test at Melbourne — the first five-wicket haul in Test cricket. He went on to become the only man to play Test cricket for both England and Australia.

#billy-midwinter#1877#first-test

🥊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

⭐Mild

Tom Garrett — Youngest Australia Test Debutant, 18 in March 1877

Australia vs England

1877-03-15

Tom Garrett of NSW was 18 years and 232 days old when he opened the bowling for Australia in the first Test in March 1877. He remains the youngest player ever to represent Australia against England — a record that has stood for nearly 150 years. Garrett took 2/22 and 2/9 in the match and went on to play 19 Tests over the next decade.

#tom-garrett#youngest-debut#1877

😂Moderate

Frank Allan — 'Bowler of the Century' Misses the First Test, 1877

Australia vs England

1877-03-13

Frank Allan of Victoria, hailed by W.G. Grace and others as 'the bowler of the century', sent a telegram two days before the first Test telling the selectors he could not play because it was carnival week in Warrnambool and his friends were in town. He never played in the inaugural Test and ended up with a single Test cap two years later.

#frank-allan#1877#first-test