615:, Briggs formed a strong bowling combination for Lancashire from 1889 onwards: both bowlers took over 100 wickets every year from 1889 to 1896, frequently bowling almost unchanged through an innings and keeping Lancashire near the top of the Championship table despite poor performance from support bowlers. His batting remained useful until 1894, after which his impatience tended to get the better of him and, despite rapidly improving pitches, he played few significant innings in his later years. CB Fry described his trademark shot as a “whizzing uppercut that travels over third man’s head”, a thoroughly modern sounding stroke. Nonetheless, Briggs's superb bowling — though aided by a number of sticky wickets — won Lancashire their first official
584:
were asked to follow on. This time they batted well on a wearing pitch, Lancashire’s Albert Ward scored a hundred and Johnny Briggs made 42. Australia only needed 177 to win and made it to 117 for 2 by close of play. Some of the
England players had given the match up. Peel, the other spinner in the side got very drunk. Overnight however it rained and in the morning the sun was shining. A wet wicket drying under a hot sun would soon become a sticky wicket. Peel was put under a shower to sober up. He and Briggs were unplayable and the match was won by 10 runs. In the Second Test at
660:‘This little animal is round and smiles, it bowls and bowls and bowls and it always gets wickets.’ Of course no one would call Johnny a beast, not even a disappointed batsman. Why, he beams upon you before and after your innings. The shorter your innings the happier he is towards you. He passes you a cheery time of day. He inquires with feeling about your health and form. He rubs the ball in the dust, takes two steps and serves you a fast yorker instead of the high tossed slow you expected. You retire, he smiles. What could be pleasanter?
572:
38:
511:, the son of a professional club cricketer. He first played as a sub pro at the age of 13 (at Hornsea in Yorkshire). His father James played cricket and rugby for various teams and took his wife and five children around the north of England until he settled down as a pub landlord near Widnes. The 1881 census suggests James kept the Cross Keys at Appleton village.
640:
Briggs' sporting career was not limited to cricket. He also played hockey for
Manchester. Between 1878 and 1882 he played for Widnes Rugby Football Club, playing the position of fullback (standing at 5 ft 4 ins tall). Many people remarked on his sharp and athletic fielding in cricket and it was
494:
Briggs was a notably short man at about five feet five or 165 centimetres. Briggs's skill lay in his ability to vary the flight and pace of the ball as well as in achieving prodigious spin on the primitive nineteenth century pitches. As a batsman, Briggs was capable of hitting very effectively, but
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in 1894/95 he played a part in the first time a team won after following on. Australia scored a massive 586 on a relatively poor pitch – partly because of
England’s wicket keeper dropping some important chances. When England batted they struggled to 325 only because Briggs at No.8 scored 57. They
560:
For
Lancashire and England, Briggs shouldered an incredible burden. For Lancashire, as a professional or “player” in a team largely made up of “gentleman” amateurs he was expected to open the bowling and sometimes to bowl all day in tandem with the other professionals; Barlow, Crossland, Mold. He
528:
Briggs played five times for
Lancashire in 1879, and established himself as a regular player by 1882 despite hardly bowling at all and doing little of significance with the bat. He was however a famous fielder at cover. In 1883 and 1884 his batting improved so much that he was chosen to tour
536:
In 1885, Briggs developed greatly as a bowler: having scarcely bowled at all in previous seasons, he took 67 wickets for 13.74 each, and in 1886, his bowling helped
England achieve a 3–0 clean sweep of the series, their last whitewash victory in a series of three or more Tests in the
483:, Briggs‘ batting was considered careless, although still very useful. He was the first bowler in Test cricket to take 100 wickets, and held the record of most wickets in Test cricket on two occasions, the first in 1895 and again from 1898 until 1904, when he was succeeded by
561:
toured
Australia five times and went to South Africa, experiencing very high temperatures. Professional cricketers were expected to play through injuries – if they didn’t play, they would not be paid. His health suffered even before his major injury and last illness.
641:
probably due to the skills and fitness that he gained during his stint with Widnes. In 1882 a broken arm made him think about retirement from rugby. He carried on playing for Widnes occasionally until 1884 after which time his cricket career blossomed.
545:. In the exceptionally dry summer of 1887, Briggs took 100 wickets in a season for the first time, whilst in the summer of 1888 he was consistently deadly on the treacherous pitches. His 160 wickets cost only 10.49 each, and the following year he was a
630:. Though this injury was not thought severe, Briggs collapsed during the match and did not play for the rest of the season. He was one of the first patients to receive an X Ray examination and it was found that a rib had damaged his heart.
652:
in 1893. There was a much remarked upon contrast between the two. Briggs was chirpy, hard working and much loved. Peel was a dissolute dipsomaniac who eventually left the game after embarrassing himself.
633:
In 1900, he made a comeback, taking all ten wickets for 55 against
Worcestershire and scoring over 800 runs, but soon afterwards it became clear he was suffering severely from
965:
525:
in 1878. He was retained by
Northern for the 1879 season, during which he was called up by Lancashire to make his county debut against Nottinghamshire in late May.
521:
Johnny remained with
Hornsea until the end of the 1877 season, when he was not retained, and migrated to Lancashire. His next professional appointment was at the
648:
for the left-arm spinner’s position in the England Test side, and accomplished more fine performances at Test level, notably at Adelaide in 1891/1892 and at
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until 1977. His batting did not suffer: Briggs hit a career-best 186 against Surrey at Liverpool – adding a then-record 173 for the tenth wicket with
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in 1897, but he was a disappointment in Australia the following winter and suffered a severe decline in his bowling the following year.
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but supported themselves through professional cricket. James became cricket professional at Widnes in 1877.
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and Briggs overtook them both. Briggs became the first man to claim 100 Test wickets in the Fourth Test at
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two days later. The three men briefly held the record together, but Turner missed the Third Test at
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in Test Cricket. It happened at Sydney in 1892 when he finished off the Australian second innings.
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between 1879 and 1900 and remains the second-highest wicket-taker in the county's history after
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637:. Confined to an asylum, Briggs never recovered and died early in 1902 at the age of 39.
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76:
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533:’s team and played in all the Test matches, scoring an impressive 121 in Melbourne.
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on 1 February 1895, Turner being the second on 4 February in his last Test match.
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Rugby was an amateur game at this time. James and later Johnny played rugby for
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515:
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as time went by an eagerness to punish every ball set in and led to a decline.
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In June 1899, Briggs had an epileptic seizure. He died on 11 January 1902 at
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In 1899, Briggs was still thought good enough to play for England at
549:. He played well in South Africa’s first two Test matches in 1888/9 (
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107:
750:
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487:. He toured Australia a record six times, a feat only equalled by
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626:, but before that he had suffered a blow over the heart from
877:"Giants of the Game" (1901) by Lyttleton, Ford, Fry, Giffen
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756:"First-class bowling in each season by Johnny Briggs"
708:
Players Holding Highest Aggregate Record 1877 – 2007
966:
Cricketers who have taken ten wickets in an innings
687:"The fewest runs in a day, and 96 successive Tests"
926:World Record – Most Career Wickets in Test cricket
467:(3 October 1862 – 11 January 1902) was an English
553:), taking 15 for 28 in the second Test, of which
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881:Howat, Gerald M. D. "Briggs, John (1862–1902)".
732:Profile of Johnny Briggs at Northern CC 1878–79
932:Held record 12 January 1895 to 2 January 1904
887:(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
831:The Guinness Book of Cricket Facts and Feats
684:
780:; p. 127. Published 1951 by Playfair Books.
36:
720:MCC in Australia and New Zealand, 1974–75
19:For other people with the same name, see
1051:Rugby union players from Nottinghamshire
874:"Johnny Briggs" (1902) by Herbert Turner
570:
884:Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
948:
815:: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
842:
778:The Playfair Book of Cricket Records
13:
1041:Lord Londesborough's XI cricketers
1016:Cricketers from Sutton-in-Ashfield
981:English cricketers of 1890 to 1918
833:, p. 44, Guinness Publishing, 1996
644:Briggs competed with Yorkshireman
14:
1062:
1006:Liverpool and District cricketers
996:Gentlemen of the North cricketers
880:
611:With the controversial speedster
551:only canonised as such much later
930:118 wickets (17.75) in 33 Tests
868:
860:. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
856:Dictionary of National Biography
991:Gentlemen of England cricketers
1046:A. E. Stoddart's XI cricketers
1036:C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers
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823:
783:
770:
725:
713:
701:
685:Steven Lynch (11 March 2008).
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473:Lancashire County Cricket Club
1:
1031:Wisden Cricketers of the Year
1026:Test cricket hat-trick takers
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564:Briggs bowled the third ever
179:12 December 1884 v
16:English cricketer (1862–1902)
901:UK public library membership
596:on 29 December 1894, as did
547:Wisden Cricketer of the Year
21:John Briggs (disambiguation)
7:
986:English rugby union players
10:
1067:
555:fourteen were clean bowled
202:Domestic team information
151:International information
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737:28 September 2013 at the
656:CB Fry wrote of Briggs,
594:record of 94 Test wickets
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190:29 June 1899 v
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172:Test debut (cap
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1011:North v South cricketers
971:England Test cricketers
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479:. In the early days of
893:10.1093/ref:odnb/32070
666:Cheadle Royal Hospital
662:
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231:Liverpool and District
127:Slow left-arm orthodox
1001:Lancashire cricketers
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579:In the First Test at
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523:Northern Cricket Club
846:"Briggs, John"
843:Owen, W. B. (1912).
758:. Cricketarchive.com
469:left arm spin bowler
393:5 wickets in innings
48:Personal information
42:Briggs in about 1895
797:on 21 November 2004
617:County Championship
503:Briggs was born in
405:10 wickets in match
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1021:Players cricketers
976:English cricketers
722:. espncricinfo.com
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505:Sutton-in-Ashfield
77:Sutton-in-Ashfield
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935:Succeeded by
899:(Subscription or
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271:Career statistics
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916:Preceded by
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858:(2nd supplement)
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793:. Archived from
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588:Briggs equalled
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251:North of England
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829:Bill Frindall,
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791:"Archived copy"
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739:Wayback Machine
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529:Australia with
509:Nottinghamshire
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471:who played for
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380:Bowling average
318:Batting average
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92:11 January 1902
81:Nottinghamshire
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689:. Cricinfo.com
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635:mental illness
598:Charles Turner
590:Fred Spofforth
575:Briggs bowling
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96:(aged 39)
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869:Other sources
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489:Colin Cowdrey
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477:Brian Statham
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465:Johnny Briggs
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156:National side
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144:Joseph Briggs
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57:Johnny Briggs
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34:
30:Johnny Briggs
26:
22:
938:Hugh Trumble
924:
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799:. Retrieved
795:the original
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760:. Retrieved
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691:. Retrieved
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663:
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621:
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578:
563:
559:
554:
550:
543:Dick Pilling
535:
527:
520:
513:
502:
493:
485:Hugh Trumble
481:Test cricket
464:
463:
452:ESPNcricinfo
416:Best bowling
119:Right-handed
94:(1902-01-11)
25:
961:1902 deaths
956:1862 births
851:Lee, Sidney
628:Tom Hayward
613:Arthur Mold
531:Alfred Shaw
456:17 May 2017
306:Runs scored
289:First-class
280:Competition
100:Heald Green
950:Categories
903:required.)
672:References
646:Bobby Peel
624:Headingley
221:Lancashire
69:1862-10-03
710:, HowStat
586:Melbourne
566:hat-trick
429:stumpings
341:Top score
257:1884–1896
247:1884–1900
237:1883–1898
227:1882–1884
216:1879–1900
192:Australia
187:Last Test
181:Australia
146:(brother)
140:Relations
110:, England
83:, England
911:Records
811:cite web
801:30 March
762:11 March
735:Archived
693:11 March
650:The Oval
602:Adelaide
450:Source:
427:Catches/
330:100s/50s
241:The Rest
108:Cheshire
853:(ed.).
367:Wickets
361:100,144
295:Matches
261:Players
163:England
124:Bowling
116:Batting
104:Cheadle
897:
606:Sydney
581:Sydney
516:Widnes
355:bowled
312:14,092
135:Bowler
849:. In
539:Ashes
436:258/–
422:10/55
387:15.95
384:17.75
374:2,221
358:5,332
353:Balls
336:10/58
325:18.27
322:18.11
207:Years
817:link
803:2005
764:2008
695:2008
499:Life
433:12/–
419:8/11
284:Test
210:Team
132:Role
89:Died
63:Born
889:doi
592:’s
400:200
371:118
347:186
344:121
333:1/2
309:815
301:535
952::
813:}}
809:{{
745:^
668:.
557:.
507:,
491:.
454:,
411:52
298:33
174:47
106:,
102:,
79:,
895:.
891::
819:)
805:.
766:.
697:.
408:4
397:9
176:)
71:)
67:(
23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
