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First Cricket Test Match:
Australia beat England by 45 runs
One hundred years
later. The scoreboard of the First Test match did not appear in Wisden
Cricketers’ Almenac until 1977. When it accompanied Coverage of the
Centenary Test Oddly, Australia won that Match by 45 runs as well....
By A. C. De Silva
Test cricket is now spread throughout the world these days and it
will surely interest readers about the origin of Test cricket. The first
Test match between Australia and England was played at Melbourne on
Thursday, March 15 in 1877.
The captain of Australia-Dave Gregory tossed the coin and England
skipper James Lillywhite called incorrectly. So, Gregory decided to bat
first and thus the first Test match began.
It was a sunny day-that’s March 15 a Thursday in 1877, the 34
year-old Afred Shaw of Nottinghamshire bowled the first ball to Aussie
batsman Charles Bannermann – the 25-year-old Kentish man playing his
tenth First Class innings. The first run in Test cricket was scored by
Bannerman off the second delivery bowled by Shaw. A 40-minute lunch
interval was taken at 2 p.m.
Nat Thompson first out
The first wicket to fall in Test was that of Not Thompson for one and
the wicket was taken by Allen Hill of England. Hill had another ‘first’
catch in Test history when he held Tom Horan off Shaw’s bowling.
Bannerman of Australia scored the first Test century for Australia
(taking 160 minutes) on the first day at 5 p.m. with Australia on 166
for 6 wickets with Bannermann 126 not out and his partner Blackham 3 not
out.
Edward Gregory of Australia was the first player out for a ‘duck’ in
a Test when Andrew Greenwood of England took the catch off Lillywhite’s
bowling.
Aussie Charles Bannerman 165
The second day’s play started at 1.45 p.m. and Aussie Charles
Bannerman retired hurt after lunch on 165, having been at the crease for
4 hours and 45 minutes, hitting 18 fours. It was his only First Class
century. Australia were finally bowled out for 245 with Bannerman
contributing 67 per cent of the runs, the highest individual
contribution to any Test innings. No other Australian made more than 20.
Billy Midwinter 5/78
England made 196 in their first innings, with Australia’s Billy
Midwinter becoming the first Australian player to take five Test wickets
in an innings – 5 for 78 before England Skelted out Australia for 104.
Despite needing just 154 for victory, England’s second innings collapsed
and they were all out for 114 runs in the second innings which gave
Australia the win by 45 runs.
Many ‘firsts’ in match
There were many ‘firsts’ in this match... It was the First coin toss
in a Test match. The First Test delivery. The First Test run.
First Test wicket. The First Test catch. The First Test ‘duck’. The
First Test century. The First batsman to retire hurt in Test cricket.
The First player to take five Test wickets in an innings.
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