Do you know why England and Australia go to war in Test cricket in the Ashes series? To win an urn. The story behind the oldest rivalry in cricket is a unique one. What if we could hear the story behind its origin from the ones who sparked the rivalry! In reality, that’s impossible. But nothing is impossible in the world of imagination. What would be like if Fred Spofforth, whose fiery bowling sowed the seeds of the rivalry, told us how it all happened from the heavens!
Prologue: Cricketing legends are having a discussion in heaven. Upon Sir Don Bradman’s insistence, Fred Spofforth has been invited. Spofforth’s nickname on the cricket field was ‘The Demon’ because of his destructive bowling. It was ‘The Demon’ whose ferocious bowling didn’t allow England to chase down a mere 85-run target, and suffer a defeat that ignited the most famous rivalry in cricket history, the Ashes. Right before another Ashes series begins, this is a look back at how the Ashes originated, in the guise of a fiction.
Fred Spofforth was supposed to tell the story of how the Ashes began. That’s why Sir Don Bradman had invited him. But when has the train of discussion ever followed its set route! In the midst of other topics, the Ashes was not coming up in the discussion.
Alfred Shaw, the man who bowled the first ever ball in Test cricket, brought the discussion back on track, “Hey, Don is eagerly waiting to hear stories of the Ashes. And you guys are just jumping around from one topic to the other! We can talk about those things later. But first, let Fred tell the story of the Ashes.”
“Alright, I’ll begin the story,” said Spofforth. He took a glance at the sky before throwing a question to Bradman, “Have you ever heard the name Reginald Brooks?”
Bradman was surprised, “No, I don’t recall a cricketer with that name.”
Spofforth smiled, “Did I say he was a cricketer? The Ashes, the thing you are obsessed with, started because of Brooks.”
WG Grace thought he had heard the name before. He paid close attention to what Spofforth said next, “In that 1882 Oval Test, we, the Australians, won by seven runs. Chasing a target of just 85 runs, England got all out for 77. Doctor (WG Grace) alone score 32 of those runs. Just like the previous innings, I again got seven wickets. But this wasn’t enough to turn that Test into a famous match. That happened only because of Reginald Brooks. Otherwise, beating England was nothing special. We had won four out of the previous eight Tests, England had won just two.”
The three Englishmen in the discussion– WG, Shaw and George Lohmann– quietly swallowed the insult, as Spofforth was correct.
After not getting a rebuttal, Spofforth let out a faint smile before continuing, “But yes, that win was extra sweet. Never before had a team won a Test with such a close margin. Moreover, we were all really agitated before taking the field to bowl. Before England’s second innings, I said in the dressing room, ‘This thing can be done’. The person who angered us was WG.”
Now everyone turned towards WG, who turned his attention skywards to see the birds flying over his head while running his fingers through his beard.
The incident that once enraged Spofforth, was now bringing a smile to his face. Spofforth continued, “You know what he did Don? Our captain Billy Murdoch played a ball towards fine leg and ran for a single. By the time England’s wicketkeeper Alfred Lyttelton got to the ball, the run was already completed. Non-striker Sammy Jones had already reached the crease. Lyttelton took off his gloves and threw the ball to WG. He had come up to the stumps from the slip cordon. Jones thought, the run was already completed, so the ball is now dead. So he took a few steps down the pitch and started tapping his bat on the pitch, which in cricket is known as gardening. The Doctor dislodged the bails and appealed. The umpire had no other choice but to signal it out. I was the next batsman in. I got to the crease enraged with what had just happened. Maybe that’s why I got out for a duck.”
Finally, WG got a chance to give a counter, “Don’t give excuses. Even if I hadn’t done anything, you would’ve been out for a duck. You didn’t know how to bat, did you?”
Spofforth isn’t someone who holds back! He responded, “What did you say? Do you know that I have a fifty in Tests? It was the first fifty for a no.11 batsman in Test history. It remained the only fifty for a no.11 batsman for the next 21 years.”
No one else in the discussion were a part of that Melbourne Test in 1885. But they had heard stories of that match from Alick Bannerman, the younger brother of the first Test centurion in history Charles Bannerman. Alick was part of that Test where Spofforth scored the fifty. Charles wanted to verify a story he had heard from his brother about that Test, “Fred, was there really seven umpires in that match?”
“You’ve heard it right. That was an interesting story. Not all of the seven umpires officiated the game. Two umpires were supposed to officiate, but one of them suddenly died before the Test. The other umpire, for whatever reason, refused to officiate. As their replacements, George Hodges and Jim Philips were chosen. The English players were abusing the umpires a lot, so in protest, Hodges left the field. But Philips stayed back. Three more people were selected to work as umpires alongside Philips. At different points of the match, the three umpires accompanied Philips. It was a strange incident, I don’t think it had ever happened before nor has it happened since. As the matter of umpires have come up, let me tell you another strange incident. ‘Paddy’ McShane, who worked as an umpire in the earlier Test in Sydney, made his Test debut in that game.”
As Bradman heard these stories, he couldn’t help but think about how bizarre the history of cricket really is! If one wants, he can hear new stories about it every day. To get Spofforth back on the Ashes, Bradman said, “You were saying something about Reginald Brooks.”
“Oh yes, I was saying that the all the fanfare, excitement surrounding the Ashes is squarely because of Reginald Brooks. After winning the Test, we partied all night and then went to sleep in the early hours of the morning. The next day, there was huge commotion. Apparently, a sports weekly called Sporting Times had printed the obituary of English cricket. It read, English cricket will be burnt and its ashes will be taken to Australia. I had kept that paper cutting. I often used to look at that. I’ve seen it so many times that I remember it by heart. Give me a pen and a paper, I will draw an exact copy and show you all.”
WG said, “I still remember it vividly. Before that Test, I had decided that I will no longer play cricket. I will return to my village and focus on being a physician. After seeing that obituary, I was incensed. I decided, I won’t bid good bye to the game before taking revenge.”
Lohmann always carries pen and paper in his pocket. Often, he doodles on paper. He handed it to Spofforth. WG looked on amazed as Spofforth recreated what was published that day on that paper.
Bradman bent over and looked at the piece of paper, but how Reginald Brooks was connected with all of this was still a mystery to him.
It was as if Spofforth had read Bradman’s mind. Spofforth said, “This satirical obituary was written by Reginald Brooks. He was a journalist and a writer. He used to work in Sporting Times. He is the son of Shirley Brooks, who was the editor of the famous satirical magazine Punch. He had also written for Punch. Just six years after writing the obituary, Reginald died at just 33 years of age.” Bradman quietly whispered, “But he managed leave his mark before passing away.”
*This report appeared in the online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten for the English edition by Ashfaq-Ul-Alam Niloy