Controversies in 1879

7 incidents documented

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

⭐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

Charles Bannerman's Later Life — Player to Umpire, 1879-1930

Australia

1879-02-08

Charles Bannerman, the man who had scored Test cricket's first century in March 1877, played his last Test in February 1879. He continued for NSW until 1888 but his career declined sharply. He coached in Melbourne, Sydney and New Zealand, and stood as umpire in twelve Tests between 1887 and 1902. He died in poverty in Sydney in 1930.

#charles-bannerman#umpire#later-career

🔥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

⭐Serious

Spofforth's First Test Hat-Trick — Melbourne, 1879

Australia v England

1879-01-02

On 2 January 1879, in only the third Test ever played, Fred Spofforth took the first hat-trick in Test cricket — Vernon Royle bowled, Francis MacKinnon bowled, Tom Emmett lbw — at the MCG. He finished the innings with 6 for 48 and the match with 13 wickets for 110 runs, an Australian win by 10 wickets, and an early sketch of the Demon Bowler legend that would mature at The Oval three years later.

#spofforth#first-test-hat-trick#1879