Rewind to: The day a Test match saw 27 wickets fall at Lord's between England and Australia

In Test cricket, there are days when batsmen dominate on flat batting tracks. Bowlers have their moments but they rarely dominate. Unless it is a green top or a dustbowl, bowlers rarely have their day under the sun. But, in 1888, there was one day in which bowlers completely outplayed the batsmen. It was the 1888 Test between England and Australia at Lord’s.

The weather heading up to the Lord’s Test was bad. This was an era in which there were no covers on the pitch and the outfield was unprotected. A lot of rain plus the natural drying of the sun would result in an uneven pitch. This had a term in Test cricket in that time called ‘sticky dogs’. The wicket would provide uneven bounce and make it incredibly difficult for the players.

Australia vs England in a roller-coaster match

The match began in dry conditions but the wicket was a proper sticky dog. Australia struggled their way to be all out for 116. Bobby Peel took 4/36 while Johnny Briggs took 3/26. Percy McDonnell, the skipper of Australia at that time, was the joint top scorer with 22 along with Jack Blackham. Jack Edwards remained unbeaten on 21 but the total was severely under-par.

England also struggled as they ended the day on 18/3. WG Grace, England’s ultimate batsman in that era, was not out on 10. A total of 13 wickets had fallen on that day in Lord’s. No one knew that there would be even greater pandemonium on the second day.

A record on day 2

England was blown away for just 53. Johnny Briggs top-scored with 17 while Grace was dismissed for 10. Only two England batsmen managed to reach double digits. Charlie Turner took 5/27 in 25 overs and he was given good support by John Ferris who took three wickets. Australia had a lead of 64 runs as England was shot out for 53, at that time the lowest score.

But, Australia fared even worse in the second innings. George Lohmann and Peel took four wickets apiece as Australia were bowled out for 60. Ferris and Turner were the only players who got to double digits. Ferris made 20 while Turner contributed with 12. Australia was staring at ultimate humiliation at 18/7 and the 24-run partnership between Ferris and Turner spared them some blushes.

Any hopes of England fighting back into the contest were dealt a big blow. Ferris and Turner continued to exploit the conditions and took all 10 wickets between them. The duo took five wickets apiece as England was bowled out for 62. Australia had won by 61 runs. It was the lowest match aggregate at that time in Tests.

Seven plus 20 wickets on the day resulted in 27 wickets falling on the same day. It is a world record that has not been broken yet. In 2011, Australia and South Africa saw 23 wickets fall on one day in Cape Town as all four innings played out. In this case, three innings played out. When one looks at the scorecard, Grace hit 24 in the second innings and it remained the highest score in the match.

Legendary names after 1888

This was not the first time that Ferris had wrecked England. In 1886/87, he had bowled England out for 45 in Sydney. In eight Tests for Australia, he took 48 wickets at an average of 14.25. He also played for England and in one match, he took 13/91 against South Africa in Cape Town. Ferris later settled in England and ended up with 61 wickets at the amazing average of 12.70. During the Boer War where he was serving with the British army, Ferris died of enteric fever in Durban in 1900 at the age of 33.

Charlie Turner was one of the best bowlers to have emerged from Australia in that period. He took 101 wickets in 17 Tests and he terrorized England in his playing days. He was also one of the foremost all-rounders of the game at that time.

WG Grace is considered one of the greatest players in the history of cricket. Before Sir Don Bradman, the history of cricket was defined by the brilliance of WG Grace. In his 19-year international career, all before the 20^th century, Grace hit 1098 runs at an average of 32. But, in First-Class cricket, he scored over 50,000 runs and took 2809 wickets. ‘The Doctor’ was simply a one-of-a-kind cricketer.