Johnny Briggs (3 October 1862 – 11 January 1902) was an English left arm spin bowler who played for

Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in English cricket. The club has held first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's home is Old Trafford Cricket Ground, although the team also play ...

between 1879 and 1900 and remains the second-highest wicket-taker in the county's history after

Brian Statham John Brian Statham, (17 June 1930 – 10 June 2000) was an English professional cricketer from Gorton, in Manchester, who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club from 1950 to 1968 and for England from 1951 to 1965.Test cricket, 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

Hugh Trumble Hugh Trumble (19 May 1867 – 14 August 1938) was an Australian cricketer who played 32 Test matches as a bowling all-rounder between 1890 and 1904. He captained the Australian team in two Tests, winning both. Trumble took 141 wi ...

. He toured Australia a record six times, a feat only equalled by

Colin Cowdrey Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, (24 December 19324 December 2000) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Oxford University (1952–1954), Kent County Cricket Club (1950–1976) and England (1954–1975). Univer ...

. 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 pitches of the nineteenth century. As a batsman, Briggs was capable of hitting very effectively, but as time went by an eagerness to punish every ball set in and led to a decline.

Life

Briggs was born in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, the son of a professional club cricketer and 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. Rugby was an amateur game at this time. James and later Johnny played rugby for Widnes but supported themselves through professional cricket. James became cricket professional at Widnes in 1877. 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 Northern Cricket Club 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. 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 Australia with

Alfred Shaw Alfred Shaw (29 August 1842 – 16 January 1907) was an eminent Victorian cricketer and rugby footballer, who bowled the first ball in Test cricket and was the first to take five wickets in a Test innings (5/35). He made two trips to North Amer ...

’s team and played in all the Test matches, scoring an impressive 121 in Melbourne. 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 cleansweep of the series, their last whitewash victory in a series of three or more Tests in the

Ashes Ashes may refer to: * Ash, the solid remnants of fires. Media and entertainment Art * ''Ashes'' (Munch), an 1894 painting by Edvard Munch Film * ''The Ashes'' (film), a 1965 Polish film by director Andrzej Wajda * ''Ashes'' (1922 film), ...

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

Dick Pilling Richard Pilling (11 August 1855 – 28 March 1891) was an English professional cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club from 1877 to 1889, and in eight Test matches for England from 1881 to 1888. He was born at Old Warden, Bedf ...

. 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

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

. He played well in South Africa’s first two Test matches in 1888/9 (''only canonised as such much later''), taking 15 for 28 in the second Test, of which ''fourteen were clean bowled''. 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 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. Briggs bowled the third ever

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in Test Cricket. It happened at Sydney in 1892 when he finished off the Australian second innings. Ranji 1897 page 085 Briggs bowling

In the First Test at Sydney 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 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 another 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 Melbourne Briggs equalled

Fred Spofforth Frederick Robert 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. He was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the f ...

’s record of 94 Test wickets on 29 December 1894, as did Charles Turner two days later. The three men briefly held the record together, but Turner missed the Third Test at

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and Briggs overtook them both. Briggs became the first man to claim 100 Test wickets in the Fourth Test at Sydney on 1 February 1895, Turner being the second on 4 February in his last Test match. With the controversial speedster

Arthur Mold Arthur Webb Mold (27 May 1863 – 29 April 1921) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Lancashire as a fast bowler between 1889 and 1901. A ''Wisden'' Cricketer of the Year in 1892, he was selected for ...

, 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 County Championship in 1897, but he was a disappointment in Australia the following winter and suffered a severe decline in his bowling the following year. In 1899, Briggs was still thought good enough to play for England at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headin ...

, but before that he had suffered a blow over the heart from

Tom Hayward Thomas Walter Hayward (29 March 1871 – 19 July 1939) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Surrey and England between the 1890s and the outbreak of World War I. He was primarily an opening batsman, noted especially for the qu ...

. 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. 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

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

. Confined to an asylum, Briggs never recovered and died early in 1902 at the age of 39. 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 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. Briggs competed with Yorkshireman

Bobby Peel Robert Peel (12 February 1857 – 12 August 1941) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire between 1883 and 1897. Primarily a left-arm spin bowler, Peel was also an effective left-handed batsman ...

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 The Oval 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. CB Fry wrote of Briggs, In June 1899, he had an epileptic seizure. He died on 11 January 1902 in

Cheadle Royal Hospital Cheadle Royal Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Heald Green, Greater Manchester, England, built between 1848 and 1849. The main building is Grade II listed. History The hospital was founded at a time when only two other similar institutions ...

References

Other sources

* "Johnny Briggs" (1902) by Herbert Turner * "Giants of the Game" (1901) by Lyttleton, Ford, Fry, Giffen * {{DEFAULTSORT:Briggs, Johnny 1862 births 1902 deaths Cricketers who have taken ten wickets in an innings England Test cricketers English cricketers English cricketers of 1890 to 1918 English rugby union players Gentlemen of England cricketers Gentlemen of the North cricketers Lancashire cricketers Liverpool and District cricketers North v South cricketers Cricketers from Sutton-in-Ashfield Players cricketers Test cricket hat-trick takers Wisden Cricketers of the Year C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers Lord Londesborough's XI cricketers A. E. Stoddart's XI cricketers Rugby union players from Nottinghamshire