The rules around taking a break are hard to stomach at times, such as at Centurion, but they are for the good of the game
On the last day of July in 1884 the touring Australian side arrived at The Oval for a game against the Players of England, a team made up of representatives from across the English counties.
It was not much of a match, with the English – weakened by Nottinghamshire’s and Lancashire’s refusal to let their top players travel south – proving unable to deal with the pace of Fred Spofforth, the Australian seamer, who played fabulously, assisted by a helpful pitch. He took eight wickets in the first innings, in which only four players reached double figures and George Ulyett top-scored with 22, and another six in the second, when two batsmen reached double figures and again Ulyett stood out, scoring 33 of the meagre 71 in total.
Related: Two runs to get, nine wickets in hand, 31 overs left and … umpires call for lunch
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