England, Australia
1904-03-05
Pelham 'Plum' Warner captained the first MCC-organised tour to Australia in 1903-04, regaining the Ashes 3-2 — England's first Ashes series win since 1896. Warner's selection was controversial (Archie MacLaren refused to tour because of it), but the campaign produced R.E. Foster's 287, Bosanquet's googly debut and Warner's own bestselling book 'How We Recovered The Ashes'.
Australia, England
1904-03-07
Hugh Trumble took 7 for 28 in his last Test innings, including a hat-trick of Bosanquet, Plum Warner and Dick Lilley, as Australia beat England by 218 runs at the MCG in March 1904. The hat-trick was Trumble's second in Tests (the first being against England at the same ground in 1902); he was the first man to take two Test hat-tricks. Australia won the dead rubber but lost the series 3-2.
Surrey, England
1904-08-31
Bobby Abel — the small, severely short-sighted Surrey opener known throughout the south of England as 'the Guv'nor' — was the most prolific professional batter of the late 1890s and continued as Surrey's senior batter through the first four seasons of the new century. He had carried his bat for 357 not out against Somerset at the Oval in 1899, then the highest first-class score on an English ground, and remained Surrey's leading run-getter until cataracts forced his retirement in 1904.