The Very First Test Innings: Bannerman’s Miracle.

by Charles Davis

The match now recognised as the inaugural Test match began at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Thursday 15^th March 1877. Won by the Australians by 45 runs, it has been a match of great interest to cricket historians ever since. This article will focus on one aspect of the match, the incredible 165 by Charles Bannerman, which set some significant batting records that stand to this day. The aim has been to reconstruct an over-by-over structure for the innings. Unfortunately, no scorebook of the match is known to survive; the analysis that follows was possible thanks to the highly detailed style of reporting which can be found in Australian accounts of the time. In particular, the Melbourne newspapers The Daily Telegraph (which ceased publication in the 1880s), The Age, and The Argus provide abundant detail. The sources are not in harmony in every respect, and are not free from error; the analysis should be regarded as a distillation of the sources, aiming to produce the most coherent sequence of events possible.

The status of what was called the “Combination Cricket Match” was less certain then than it is now. It was not by any means a fully representative Test match in the modern sense, although the professional bowling attack arrayed against Bannerman was top notch. The match was clearly regarded, in the Australian reports, as a match of great importance. On the other hand, it was not mentioned at all in Wisden, and some Australian players declined to take part for rather trivial reasons. Fred Spofforth from New South Wales, for example, refused to play because his favourite wicketkeeper, Bill Murdoch, was not selected. Jack Blackham, the Victorian selected, was actually a superior keeper, and Spofforth’s attitude may be taken as evidence of the inter-colonial rivalries of the day.

The match had been arranged at short notice, and the scheduling seems to be ad hoc. Play commenced at 1:05pm on the first day. Comment was made that this was an exceptionally late start time. It may be that the Englishmen, who had been delayed, and indisposed, by an exceptionally difficult crossing from New Zealand, were not enthusiastic about a full day’s play. The Englishmen, nevertheless, were able to bowl over 140 balls per hour on the first day, well over 50% faster than the modern standard.

Betting on the match had the Englishmen at odds of 3-1 on at the outset. The odds offered changed sharply in the Australians’ favour as the innings progressed.

Alfred Shaw, bowling round-arm, bowled the first four-ball over from the “stand” or eastern end, bowling into the wind. The pitch in those days had a different alignment to the (roughly) north/south pitch seen today, which was set up in the early 1880s. There were no sight screens (another 1880s innovation). The lateness of the match in the season, only a week befor equinox, combined with the lack of sightscreens, must have made sighting the ball very difficult at the eastern end late in the day, and probably accounts for the early finishing time of 5:00 pm.

Allen Hill was the other bowler. Charles Bannerman, facing, opened the batting with Nat Thomson. There were perhaps 1,500 people present at the outset.

The initial field setting was: Shaw, bowler; John Selby, wicketkeeper; Thomas Emmett, point; James Southerton, slip; Allen Hill, “forward cover”; James Lillywhite jnr, mid-off; Andrew Greenwood, long-off; George Ulyett, long-on; Henry Charlwood, square leg; Thomas Armitage, mid-wicket; Henry Jupp, short leg. The contrast with modern new-ball field settings is evident (see figure ), with heavy protection against the drive. There was reason for this: Bannerman was known to heavily favour the drive, and he would score relatively few runs behind the wicket. The reports state that numerous hard drives by Bannerman were stopped at mid-on.

In the analysis below, Bannerman’s scoring shots in each over are listed. In the scoring tables:

- The top row of each table show overs at the eastern end,

- The bottom row shows overs at the western end.

- “M” denotes a maiden over faced by Bannerman.

- “(W)” a wicket falling at the other end.

- “f” indicates a non-maiden over where Bannerman probably faced at least one ball, but did not score.

- “-” indicates an over where Bannerman did not face a ball.

While the events of every over can be discerned in the original accounts, the events of every ball often cannot be resolved. In many overs containing singles and threes, the balls faced by each batsman are uncertain, so balls faced figures are given as approximations only. For clarity, scoring shots by Bannerman’s partners are not shown.

1		f
	M		(W)

Thomson bowled by Hill for 1. Score: 2 for 1 wicket in 4^th over, Bannerman 1* in 7 minutes. New batsman Tom Horan.

M		1		M		2		-		-		M		22
	-		21		-		f		22		3		-		3

Hill, after bowling 10 overs, “crossed”, that is bowled 2 consecutive overs at opposite ends, while Shaw took up the bowling at the western end. Crossing was permitted under the Laws of the time. Bannerman 21*. Score 34 for 1.

3		1		M		M		-
	1		1		-		(W)		(W)

Horan c Hill b Shaw – caught at slip off the gloves. 40 for 2 (28^th over), Bannerman 27* in 50 mins. Horan had hit the first boundary in Test cricket. New batsman Dave Gregory. Two overs later Gregory was run out for 1 by Jupp, attempting a quick single. Bannerman was the striker, and the batsmen crossed. 41 for 3 in 30^th over. Lunch was now called at 2:00 pm. Bannerman 27* in 55 minutes.

Lunch was scheduled for 30 minutes, but lasted until 2:40. Hill and Shaw continued the bowling after the interval. The new batsman was Bransby Cooper, batting without gloves. The attendance had grown to 4,500. Scoring was slow. Bannerman actually failed to score for a 14-over stretch on either side of lunch.

M		f		M		M		3		2		M		4
	f		-		-		-		M		-		-

Bannerman’s first boundary, off Hill, came after 80 minutes batting. Hill’s opening spell then ended after 23 overs. The new bowler (at 55 for 3) was Ulyett, who struck Cooper on the hand with his second ball, causing Cooper to belatedly call for gloves.

	1		3		M		M		M		M		1		-		M		-		-		M		M		4
-		2		3		-		-		-		-		M		1		f		M		Lbye		-		-

With a boundary off Ulyett, Bannerman reached 51* in 130 minutes off approx. 150 balls. It was only his third scoring stroke in 23 overs. The scoring rate now accelerates sharply, Bannerman hitting eight more boundaries in the next half an hour.

	3
-		44

Boundaries off Shaw. Double bowling change: Southerton replaced Shaw (38 overs) at 92 for 3 in 78 overs, Armitage replaced Ulyett. Bannerman 62*.

-		-		-		1
	424		wide, 4		wide, 1

Boundaries off Armitage, who is replaced, after just 3 overs, by Lillywhite (left-arm) at 110 for 3, Bannerman 78*. One of Armitage’s wides, an attempted lob, went out of reach over Bannerman’s head.

	1		41 (W)		4
1		1		1

Bannerman hit a boundary off Southerton, who then bowled Cooper for 15 with the last ball of the over. 118 for 4 in 87 overs, Bannerman 86* in 150 minutes. New batsman Bill Midwinter. In Southeron’s next over, at 87, Bannerman was dropped by Shaw at long-off, a low hit at ankle height. The shot went for 4.

	44		1
-		-

After two more boundaries off Southerton, Bannerman, with a single off the same bowler, reached the first Test century in 160 minutes, about 190 balls, 12 fours, out of a score of only 136 for 4, in the 93rd over. His second 50 came in 30-35 minutes off only 40 balls (approx.), and was quite different in character to his earlier, and subsequent, scoring.

	-		(W)
1		4		1(W)

Boundary off Lillywhite, then Midwinter c Ulyett b Southerton 5. Ulyett “backed across the path till pulled up by the fence, then carved his back into the form of a bow, and stretched up his hands.” (The Argus) The shot, caught in front of the grandstand, would otherwise have carried over for 5 runs. Score: 142 for 5 in 97 overs. Bannerman 105*. New batsman Ed Gregory. In the next over: Gregory c Greenwood b Lillywhite 0, a lofted shot caught on the on side. Score: 143 for 6, Bannerman 106*. New batsman Jack Blackham. After the loss of two wickets in two overs, Bannerman now reined in his scoring.

1		21		-		3		2		1		-		1		M
	1		M		21		1		-		M		1		3

Emmett (left-arm) replaced Lillywhite in the 112^th over at 161 for 5. Four overs later, stumps were called at 5:00. The last over was a maiden from Southerton to Bannerman. Score: 166 for 6 in 115 overs, Bannerman 126* in 195 minutes off about 235 balls, Blackham 8* in 25 minutes. Bannerman had scored over three-quarters of Australia’s runs on the first day.

Day Two. Play commenced at about 12:45 on a Friday. It might have commenced earlier, but the Englishmen had to be called in from their “hasty and valueless practice which all of them seemed to be anxious to indulge in” (The Argus). Emmett and Southerton continued bowling, Emmett commencing at the western end to Blackham. Both batsman played very cautiously, but the overnight showers did not seem to have affected the pitch.

	M		1		f		-		M		-		-		f		1
3byes		-		11		M		f		-		M		4		-

Boundary off Emmett. Three overs later, a near chance to Charlwood off Southerton at 133 results in a single.

	41		(W)
-		f

Boundary off Southerton. Next over, Shaw replaced Emmett, 197 for 6. One over later, Blackham b Southeron 17, in 60 minutes. 197 for 7 in 137^th over, Bannerman 139* in 240 minutes. New batsman Tom Garrett.

	M		1		f		M		3		-
1		-		M		-		-		4		1

Boundary off Shaw. Ulyett replaces Southerton (37 over spell) at 222 for 7, 150 overs. Bannerman 149*.

M		42		M		M		4
	-		-		-		-		-

A boundary off Ulyett brought Bannerman to 153 in 265 minutes, off about 315 balls. Six overs later, a boundary off Ulyett was Bannerman’s only four off the edge. Lunch is now called at 2:00 pm after 160 overs. Score: 232 for 7, Bannerman 159* in about 275 minutes, Garrett 15*.

Ulyett and Shaw continued bowling after lunch.

M		-		4		RH
	f		2		-

Boundary off Ulyett. Bannerman retired hurt in the 167^th over at about 2:50 pm. The first ball of Ulyett’s 24th over was short of a length and struck Bannerman on the right hand, splitting the second finger and forcing the retirement after a delay of 10 minutes. Stitches were required. Bannerman had been wearing gloves, but the glove in question was heavily worn at the point of the injury.

Bannerman 165 (retired hurt) in about 295 minutes off about 330 balls, 18 fours. 240 for 7, Garrett 16*. Tom Kendall was out in the next over, and John Hodges two overs later. The innings ended at about 3:05, all out for 245 off 169.3 overs in about 300 minutes.

The England innings did not commence until 3:30.

Bannerman’s scoring, when broken down according to bowler, shows that he scored without difficulty off all bowlers, preferring the bowling of Southerton, Hill, and, briefly, Armitage. Shaw and Ulyett were more economical.

	Balls	Runs	4s
A Shaw	82	32	3
A Hill	51	26	1
G Ulyett	65	26	4
J Southerton	66	43	5
T Armitage	12	15	3
J Lillywhite	30	14	1
T Emmett	24	9	1

The whole Australian innings, in modern layout, reads:

AUSTRALIA	1st Innings	R	M	4s	BF
C Bannerman	retired hurt	165	295	18	330
NFD Thomson	b Hill	1	7	0	6
TP Horan	c Hill b Shaw	12	40	1	50
DW Gregory	Run out (Jupp)	1	4	0	5
BB Cooper	b Southerton	15	100	1	115
WE Midwinter	c Ulyett b Southerton	5	15	1	20
EJ Gregory	c Greenwood b Lillywhite	0	2	0	5
JM Blackham	b Southerton	17	60	1	75
TW Garrett	not out	18	65	1	65
TK Kendall	c Southerton b Shaw	3	2	0	5
JR Hodges	b Shaw	0	4	0	5
Extras	b 4, lb 2, nb 0, w 2	8
Total	169.3 overs All out	245

Balls faced are estimates. Minutes batted, in most cases, are calculated from the number of overs spent at the crease.

A striking feature of Bannerman’s batting is his rapid progress from 50 to 100, in about 40 balls, scoring that would be regarded as exceptional in any era. By contrast, he had faced about 100 balls getting from 25 to 50. Another feature is the heavy emphasis on scoring forward of the wicket, especially in the mid-off /mid-on arc. Bannerman hit 99 runs in a session, albeit an extended one lasting 85 four-ball overs. There appears to have been no tea break.

Apart from the various firsts, Bannerman’s innings still holds a number of records that have resisted all challenges. His percentage of the team total, 67.3%, is still the all-Test record (although if extras are ignored, it has been shaded by Asanka Gurusinha’s 52 out of 82 for Sri Lanka against India in 1990, 70.3% to Bannerman’s 69.9%). He scored 9.17 times more runs than the next best batsman, also a record for all Tests. Bannerman also hit 78% of the team boundary strokes. His 165, surprisingly, remains the highest score by an Australian on Test debut. No fewer than five players – Archie Jackson, Doug Walters, Kepler Wessels, Wayne Phillips, and Michael Clarke – have come within 10 runs of this record.

Curiously, the oldest Test record still on the books is not held by Bannerman. The honour goes to James Southerton, still the oldest player on Test debut, set when he took the field on the first day at the age of 49 years, 119 days.