Fred Spofforth facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Fred Spofforth

Spofforth in about 1897
Personal information
Full name	Frederick Robert Spofforth
Born	(1853-09-09)9 September 1853 Balmain, New South Wales, Australia
Died	4 June 1926(1926-06-04) (aged 72) Long Ditton, Surrey, England
Nickname	The Demon Bowler
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right arm fast-medium
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	Australia
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
Competition Test First-class Matches 18 155 Runs scored 217 1,928 Batting average 9.43 9.88 100s/50s 0/1 0/3 Top score 50 56 Balls bowled 4,185 30,593 Wickets 94 853 Bowling average 18.41 14.95 5 wickets in innings 7 84 10 wickets in match 4 32 Best bowling 7/44 9/18 Catches/stumpings 11/– 83/–
Source: Cricinfo, 25 March 2015

Frederick Robert Spofforth (born September 9, 1853 – died June 4, 1926) was an Australian cricket player. He was known as "The Demon Bowler" because of his amazing skills. He was a fast bowler who played for Australia between 1877 and 1887.

Spofforth made history in cricket. He was the first bowler to take 50 wickets in Test matches. He also achieved the first ever Test hat-trick in 1879. Later in his life, he moved to England and played for Derbyshire. In 2009, he was honored by being added to the ICC Hall of Fame.

Early Life and Beginnings

Spofforth was born in Balmain, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. His father, Edward Spofforth, worked at the Bank of New South Wales. Fred spent some of his early years in Hokianga, New Zealand. He went to private schools in Sydney.

After finishing school, Spofforth worked as a clerk at the Bank of New South Wales.

Cricket Career in Australia

Spofforth (back row, third from right) with the Australian Cricket Team (1882)

Fred Spofforth started bowling with an underarm style. But he changed his technique after watching English bowlers in 1863. He decided to master the overarm bowling action.

He first gained attention in 1874 while playing for New South Wales. He took two wickets against a strong English team led by W.G. Grace. Spofforth became a regular player for New South Wales.

First Test Match

Spofforth played his first Test match in 1877 in Melbourne. This was only the second Test match ever played. He took four wickets in the game against England. England won that match.

Becoming "The Demon Bowler"

"The Demon Bowler"
Spofforth as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, July 1878

Spofforth became famous on May 27, 1878. His Australian team played against the MCC at Lord's in England. The MCC team was very strong, but Spofforth's bowling was incredible. He helped dismiss them for very low scores of 33 and 19 runs.

The Australians won easily. Spofforth took 10 wickets for only 20 runs. After the game, he reportedly said, "Ain't I a demon?" This is how he got his famous nickname, "The Demon Bowler."

His performance showed the world how good Australian cricket was. Spofforth was known for staring at batsmen to try and scare them. This was a new tactic in the game.

The Ashes Series Begins

In 1882, Spofforth played a famous match at The Oval in England. England needed only 85 runs to win, but Spofforth told his team, "this thing can be done." He led his team to an amazing victory. Australia won by just seven runs. Spofforth took 14 wickets in that match.

This game was so important that it led to the creation of the legendary Ashes series. The Ashes is still a major cricket rivalry between Australia and England today.

Test Hat-Trick

In January 1879, Spofforth made history again. He became the first player to take a hat-trick in Test cricket. This means he took three wickets with three balls in a row. He dismissed three English batsmen in that match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He took 13 wickets in total during that game.

He also played in a game in Sydney in 1879 that led to a crowd disturbance, known as the Sydney riot of 1879.

Batting Skills

Even though he was famous for his bowling, Spofforth could bat too. In a Test match in 1884–85, he scored 50 runs. This was the highest score for Australia in that game, even though he batted at number eleven.

Fred Spofforth played his last Test match in Sydney in January 1887. He played for New South Wales from 1874 to 1885 and for Victoria from 1885 to 1887.

Life in England

Spofforth by Henry Scott Tuke, around 1898

In 1888, Spofforth moved to England and got married. He lived in Derbyshire. He wanted to play for the Derbyshire County Cricket Club. After waiting the required two years, he was able to play for them. In 1890, he even became the team captain.

Spofforth also played club cricket for Hampstead for many years. He continued to take many wickets for a low cost.

In England, he started a successful business as a tea-merchant. He became the managing director of the Star Tea Company, which belonged to his wife's family. He visited Australia several times and always kept an interest in cricket.

Spofforth passed away on June 4, 1926, in Long Ditton, England, due to an illness. He is buried in Brookwood Cemetery.

How He Bowled

Spofforth in later years

Spofforth was tall and strong, standing 6 feet 3 inches (190.5 cm) tall. He started as a fast bowler. But later, he learned to bowl at medium-pace and even slow speeds. He was very good at hiding the speed of his ball. Batsmen found it hard to tell if he was bowling fast, medium, or slow.

He also discovered that on softer English cricket fields, his "break from the off" (now called "off-break") was better when he bowled slower. He used this skill to bowl out many batsmen. Out of his 94 wickets in Test matches, 50 were bowled out.

Spofforth might have also been the first to invent "swing bowling" (then called "swerve"). This is when the ball moves sideways in the air. He could make the ball curve inwards towards right-handed batsmen.

Even though his bowling average wasn't the lowest for his time, he always attacked the batsmen. Many people thought he was the best bowler in the game. He was especially good at bowling against W.G. Grace, who was the best batsman of that era.

In 1996, Fred Spofforth was added to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. A sculpture of him was unveiled at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2008.

Images for kids

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  Spofforth's grave in Brookwood Cemetery