Fred Spofforth
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Frederick Robert Spofforth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
9 September 1853 Balmain, New South Wales, Australia |
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| Died | 4 June 1926 (aged 72) Long Ditton, Surrey, England |
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| Nickname | "The Demon Bowler" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting style | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Right arm fast-medium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 14) | 31 March 1877 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 31 January 1887 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1874–1885 | New South Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1885–1888 | Victoria | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1889–1891 | Derbyshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: Cricinfo, 25 March 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Frederick Robert "Fred" Spofforth (9 September 1853 – 4 June 1926), also known as "The Demon Bowler", was arguably the Australian cricket team's finest pace bowler of the nineteenth century and was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the first to take a Test hat-trick in 1879. He played in Test matches for Australia between 1877 and 1887, and then settled in England where he played for Derbyshire. In 2011, he was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.
Spofforth was born in the Sydney suburb of Balmain, the son of Yorkshire-born Edward Spofforth, a bank clerk, and his wife Anna, née McDonnell. Spofforth spent his early childhood in Hokianga, New Zealand and was later educated privately at the Reverend John Pendrill's Eglinton House on Glebe Road and, for a short time, at Sydney Grammar School.
Spofforth was thereafter employed by the Bank of New South Wales as a clerk.
He began his life as a bowler with underarm "lobs" but changed his style when he saw the great England quick bowlers on their tour of the colonies in 1863/64. He decided that he would pursue the overarm action and spent many years mastering it. Spofforth came to notice as a member of the New South Wales eighteen in January 1874 when he took two wickets for sixteen in a match against W.G. Grace's English eleven. He was a regular representative of the New South Wales team in intercolonial fixtures and, in the December 1877 game, went in second wicket down to make 25, the highest score in either innings in a low-scoring match. Although he batted reasonably well during the 1878 and 1880 Australian tours in England, from then he concentrated almost solely on his bowling and established a tremendous reputation.
Spofforth played his first Test match in 1877 in Melbourne. It was the second match of the first-ever Test series, against an English team led by James Lillywhite, Jr. Spofforth took three wickets in the first innings and another in the second, but England went on to win the match by four wickets. He had boycotted the First Test because of Jack Blackham's selection as wicket-keeper ahead of Spofforth's close friend and fellow New South Welshman Billy Murdoch.
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