Lives in Cricket No 2 - Johnny Briggs

claiming 6 for 48 in the first innings and 7 for 62 in the second as the Aussies won by 10 wickets. Spofforth was an uncompromising character and refused to play in Australia’s first ever Test match because his New South Wales colleague, wicket-keeper Billy Murdoch, had been overlooked by the selectors. It was only when Murdoch was picked for the second Test that Spofforth agreed to make his international debut. In 1996, Spofforth was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame when the original ten members were chosen. Left-arm pace bowler Pathan exploded on to the Indian Test scene at the age of 19 and at one time was considered a successor to the great Kapil Dev, but not long after his hat-trick – the first achieved in the first over of a Test – his bowling form nosedived despite an improvement in his prowess with the bat and he became the first Indian player to be sent home from a tour (South Africa) to concentrate on domestic cricket. Pathan dismissed Salman Butt (caught low down at first slip), Younis Khan (lbw) and Mohammad Yousuf (clean bowled) with the fourth, fifth and sixth deliveries of the match, and at close of play he told the media: ‘There was some moisture in the wicket this morning. It was doing a lot off the seam but there was not much movement in the air.’ Asked what was going through his mind ahead of his third ball, Pathan added: ‘I’ve been on a hat-trick twice in international cricket and I told myself that if it didn’t happen before, it may not happen today. I just told myself to try to bowl stump to stump. I didn’t realise it would actually happen. It’s a dream for anyone and it’s wonderful for me to get a hat-trick in the first over.’ In those considerably less media-friendly days of the latter stages of the nineteenth century, it isn’t recorded what Briggs’ thought process was as he skipped in off his two-pace run in a bid to complete his hat-trick. Nevertheless, his achievement must have given him immense satisfaction even though it failed to turn the match England’s way. In his hat-trick match, Briggs had made little impression with the ball in the first innings of the Australia-England Test, which began at the Sydney Cricket Ground on 29 January, 1892, taking 0 for 24 in his ten overs. Lohmann was the star of the show with figures of 8 for 58 as the hosts were dismissed for only 144 after Australia’s wicket-keeper captain Jack Blackham had won the toss and elected to take first knock. England were 38 for 0 at the close with W.G.Grace and Abel making a confident start and the visitors continued in much the same vein A Test hat-trick 53