May 24, 1877. Oxford University were bowled out for 12 against the MCC – which still stands as the lowest recorded first class total. Arunabha Sengupta relives the day at the Magdalene College Ground that remains one of the worst ever for batsmen.
010740000-0
Not a bank account number, not a complicated employee identification code, not an auto-generated file-name as you upload images from your brand new digital camera onto your laptop.
Each digit above stands for the number of runs made by the eleven batsmen representing Oxford University, in batting order, during the course of a completed innings. The ‘–’ stands there for the captain, Alexander Webbe, who arrived at lunch time to find his team getting ready to field. The trailing zero is for the extras who did not bother to open their account either.
Exactly 135 years ago, Oxford University faced the diluted might of the MCC at the Magdalene College Ground, Oxfordshire, and, after struggling through 43.2 four ball overs, were bowled out for a first innings total of 12. Bowled out pretty much sums it up. Apart from Charles Horner, who was caught, every other batsman departed due to disturbed timber.
To be fair, the wicket was a nightmare. Preparing surfaces was still an art in infancy and often the outfields were kept trim by flocks of grazing sheep. The playing square was often just another patch of grass in the ground that had been manually cut. Additionally, it had rained for the past fortnight putting the groundsman, and thereby the batsmen, on proverbial sticky wicket.
But, on that summer day, even as a large crowd gathered in excellent sunshine, the show of the University team defied all reason.
There were just seven scoring shots in the entire 80 minute innings.
Fred Morley, the Nottinghamshire fast bowler who later represented England, took seven wickets for 6 runs. The other two were scalped by professional left arm pacer Arnold Rylott, a versatile individual who also played football as a midfielder, wrote poetry and was a maker of snuff. The two bowlers operated unchanged.
It is perhaps possible that had Alexander Webbe arrived on time – he came at lunch time to find his team getting ready to field – could have made the score a wee bit more respectable. The MCC were after all playing with only three good bowlers, with a horde of semi-decent club cricketers making up the numbers. Webbe later played for England and two years earlier had helped WG Grace put on 203 for the first wicket for the Gentlemen at the same ground.
The problem that faced Oxford, however, was that the top order of the MCC did include three genuine batsmen.
These three men, AN ‘Monkey’ Hornby, Isaac Walker and Frederick Wyld, took the MCC to 93 for two before another string of single digit scores resulted in a total of 124. The anatomically named medium-pacer, Henry Grey Tylecote, who had started his career as a wicket-keeper, took eight for 51.
Oxford batted again after tea, and this time the captain himself opened the innings with his brother Herbert Webbe. The University men seemed to be coasting along in contrast to their first innings, reaching a fairly decent 17 for one, before things fell apart once again. This outing in the middle lasted 22.1 overs and amounted to a total of 35. Morley took six wickets for eight, finishing with match figures of 13 for 14. Robert Clayton, this time given the new ball, accounted for the other four.
Yet again, scoring strokes came seldom and scarce. Captain Webbe struck a boundary, his brother, Herbert, managed a five, and James Savory, swinging his bat in the end, hit a six.
MCC won by an innings and 77 runs, and the people who had flocked in to watch the first day ended up witnessing the entire match.
Scorecard
First-class match | 1877 season Played at Magdalen Ground, Oxford May 24, 1877 (3-day match)
Oxford University vs Marylebone Cricket Club.
Toss Oxford University, who chose to bat.
Result: Marylebone Cricket Club won by an innings and 77 runs.
Umpires G Howitt and H Nixon.
Oxford University (1st innings):
HG Tylecote b Rylott 0
HR Webbe b Morley 1
ET Hirst b Morley 0
EW Wallington not out 7
H Fowler† b Morley 4
AG Pearson b Morley 0
HJB Hollings b Morley 0
JH Savory b Morley 0
CE Horner c Walker b Morley 0
FGG Jellicoe b Rylott 0
AJ Webbe* absent hurt -
Extras: 0
Total (all out; 43.2 overs): 12
Fall of wickets 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 4-8, 5-8, 6-8, 7-8, 8-12, 9-12
Bowling:
F Morley 22-18-6-7
A Rylott 21.2-18-6-2
Marylebone Cricket Club (1st innings)
AN Hornby b Tylecote 30
ID Walker* st †Fowler b Tylecote 23
F Wyld† c †Fowler b Tylecote 36
RT Richardson c Tylecote b Jellicoe 8
TS Dury c & b Tylecote 0
W Evetts c AJ Webbe b Jellicoe 7
AS Barnes c & b Tylecote 6
H Tubb b Tylecote 8
RO Clayton b Tylecote 2
A Rylott c Pearson b Tylecote 0
F Morley not out 0
Extras (b 2, lb 1, nb 1): 4
Total (all out; 73.2 overs): 124
Fall of wickets 1-51, 2-56, 3-93, 4-93, 5-107, 6-107, 7-118, 8-120, 9-120, 10-124
Bowling
FGG Jellicoe 19-7-34-2
CE Horner 9-3-19-0
AG Pearson 18-10-16-0
HG Tylecote 27.2-10-51-8
Oxford University (2nd innings)
HR Webbe c Walker b Morley 10
AJ Webbe* c Barnes b Clayton 6
EW Wallington b Clayton 6
ET Hirst b Morley 0
HG Tylecote b Clayton 0
AG Pearson c Rylott b Morley 4
H Fowler† st †Wyld b Morley 0
HJB Hollings b Clayton 0
JH Savory not out 8
CE Horner b Morley 0
FGG Jellicoe b Morley 0
Extras (b 1): 1
Total (all out; 22.1 overs) 35.
Fall of wickets 1-8, 2-17, 3-17, 4-20, 5-27, 6-27, 7-27, 8-27, 9-27, 10-35
Bowling:
F Morley 11.1-9-8-6
RO Clayton 11-5-26-4
Close of play
Thu, May 24 – Day 1 – Oxford University 2nd innings 35 (22.1 overs)