Melbourne University score 1,094, the first senior cricket score in excess of 1,000

The story of the first four-digit team total in senior cricket, so Argus informs us, actually had its origins in a game of the Victoria Cricket Association Premiership 1895-96. These were club games, and not of First-Class status. Teams from Melbourne University also participated quite regularly in this League. These games were usually played over successive Saturdays, with 3 hours and 45 minutes of actual playing time per Saturday and the proceedings would normally get underway at about 3:00 PM. When Perrin hit 68 fours in an innings, still a FC record

Our narrative begins with a game between Carlton and Melbourne University, played over the Saturdays January 18, and February 1 and 8, and ending Monday, February 10, 1896. The venue for this game was The Triangle, Melbourne. Carlton batted first and put up a massive total of 922 in 228.4 overs. At stumps on Day 1, Carlton were 351 for 3, scored at a blistering pace, and with John Worrall batting on 155 and James Pullar batting on 85.

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The innings finished on the third Saturday. Worrall, the No. 4 batsman, remained not out till the end on a humongous 417. No one else scored a century, Pullar (95) and William Hannah (97) coming closest. For the weary undergrads, the heroic Daniel McLeod took 5 for 237 in 75.4 overs, and C Lewis had 4 for 208 from 58 overs.

At stumps on Day Three, the University team were in dire straits on 79 for 4, with Lionel Miller on 25. On the following Monday, the University were dismissed for a mere 136, the match being drawn and Carlton being declared winners on a first-innings lead of 786 runs. The young University students were left shaking their collective heads and smarting from the ignominy of the massive total they had conceded to the opposition and vowing to their immortal souls that they would avenge this indignity when the opportunity presented itself. When Keats dismissed Charles Dickens in cricket!

They had their chance in the spring of 1898. The personnel of the University team had changed somewhat over the interval, new faces had replaced them, but the rancour of the 922 total against them had, perhaps, still festered in their souls.

The whipping boys turned out to be the Essendon team that took on Melbourne University at University Oval, which was reported to be “bigger than most” other grounds, in a scheduled three-day single-innings match slated for the three Saturdays of March 5, 12, and 19, 1898.

The University batted first. The stumps score of Day One read Melbourne University 389 for 2, with the redoubtable Miller on 165 and Ernest Osbourne on 131. The local press were of the opinion that the score may well have been in excess of 400 on the first day had it not been for the fact that Miller appeared to be tiring as the day wore on, and that he had actually been on 73 by the time he was joined at the crease by Osbourne. Sidney Adams: The man who bowled a Nobel Laureate with his first ball

On Day Two, Miller retired not out on his personal score of 200, by which time the team had lost the third wicket, that of Osbourne (190). Miller was to return to the crease later, with the team on 746 for 5.

This was a rather unusual incident, made possible by the gracious permission of the Essendon captain, H Christian, fully justifying his name. It seems that Miller had been allowed a leave of absence till the following Saturday so that he could play for his University against Sydney University in the interim, and that he would be required to take an early express train to be able to present himself at Sydney in time for the match.

The long and weary day wore on for the Essendon team when play resumed on the next Saturday, the stumps score reading: Melbourne University 722 for 4, Joseph Quirk on 162 and Edward Feilchenfeld on 63.

From contemporary press reports, it seems that as early as the end of Day Two, there was an air of excited anticipation at the possibility of four-figure total and legend has it that one Mr C Henry, the University groundsman, had thought it prudent to hammer in one more nail on the scoreboard, should the magical mark be actually reached.

And what of Miller at Sydney, and what was the outcome of his inter-university clash? It seems, again from contemporary press reports, that Miller could score only 9 runs in the University game and that Melbourne University had been roundly thrashed in the encounter, possibly adding just that bit of an incentive to put it across the hapless Essendon team. All was not lost for Miller, however, and a benign Providence had deigned that he be invested with his LLB and his MA degrees in a graduation ceremony by his University prior to the start of play on the third Saturday.

The overnight batsmen extended their individual contributions on Day Three, Quirk being dismissed for 179 and Feilchenfeld for 176, making it 4 centuries already in the innings. In this plethora of runs, William O’Hara stood out as being the only man dismissed in single figures (7). Bobby Abel and his habit of carrying the bat

The wicket of Quirk at the team score of 746, brought Miller back to the crease, but not for long, as he was the sixth out at the total of 828, after adding only 5 to his score, Feilchenfeld following him as the seventh man out at 845. William Ross was the next man to fall, at 968. By now, there was an audible buzz around the ground at the delicious possibility of the four-figure mark being actually up on the board.

Things were getting quite desperate for poor Essendon and it was showing on their captain, who, despite the outrageous assault on his bowlers, kept exhorting and encouraging them. Given the tense situation of the match, it was decided to extend the game by a day so that some sort of decision could be reached. The teams repaired to their separate camps for a well-deserved rest. As per extant rule of the tournament, if a decision was not reached over three consecutive Saturdays, there was the provision for the game to be completed mid-week.

Unfortunately, this presented a logistical and tactical problem for H Christian, the Essendon skipper, because his team comprised working men who would not be able to take the field on a working day, although the team was very keen to play the game to its logical conclusion. Yorkshire vs Kent 1904: The match stripped of First-Class status

It was here that the University authorities stepped in, and, remembering the kindness of the opposing captain in allowing Miller to absent himself from the present game to represent his University in an ‘away’ match, decided to reciprocate by offering the services of four young University undergrads who would field for the Essendon team. Fortunately for H Christian, his four main bowlers were able to take the field even on the Wednesday, so that he had his main bowling attack intact.

The main point of interest on the third Saturday was whether the University would be able to post the magical figure of 1,000 runs against their name or not. The Melbourne University total reached 999 for 8 wickets down with about half an hour of play left in the day.

At this point, to add an extra soupcon of drama to the proceedings, Essendon bowled 4 maidens in a row. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when the magical figure went up on the board and the figure 1 could be hung on the extra nail that the prescient Mr Henry had so thoughtfully hammered on to the scoreboard. Day Three ended with the University on 1,016 for 8, with Hugh Bullivant on 92 and #10, AB Gray on 19.

When the battle was joined on the Wednesday, Gray was the ninth man out at the team score of 1024, and it began to feel that Bullivant would miss becoming the fifth centurion of the innings. However, a 10th-wicket stand of 69 allowed Bullivant to extend his individual score to 139 not out.

Curiously, the innings ended when No. 11 T Lewers was caught by substitute fielder C Miller, who had batted at No. 3 and was filling in as substitute for one of the three missing Essendon fielders. The innings finally ended at 1,094 — the first 1,000 or more team total in the history of senior cricket, and a historical landmark.

Argus reported that the crowd felt disappointed that the total had fallen the 6 runs short that would have given the team a round average of 100 runs per player. It may be mentioned here that all 11 Essendon players were required to bowl during this record-setting innings.

The weary Essendon team came out to bat with three men absent. Fortunately for them, the end was swift, and what remained of their team was skittled out for a 76 in 133 deliveries. C Miller, impossible to keep out of the game, took 3 for 34 — including a catch off his own bowling. In other words, he scored 57, took 3 wickets, and held a catch in each innings.

The University won the game by a record 1018 runs.

When all the euphoria of the stupendous events of the game had died down, the assiduous reporters of Argus published a list of the 800+ team scores from all over the world till that point of time, as follows:

It may not be out of place to reproduce here the score card of the Melbourne University innings for the sake of completeness:

Fall of Wickets: 1-38 (Stewart), 2-156 (C Miller), 3-459 (Osbourne), 4-542 (O’Hara), 5-746 (Quirk), 6-828 (LF Miller), 7-845 (Feilchenfeld), 8-968 (Ross), 9-1025 (Gray), 10-1094 (Lewers).

The two other 1,000+ team totals till date have, of course, come in First-Class matches, Bill Ponsford of Victoria having a major role to play in both, as follows:

– 1,107 (in 633 minutes, 190.7 overs) by Victoria against New South Wales at MCG, in December 1926. Ponsford top-scored with 352.

– 1,059 (in 641 minutes, 186 overs) by Victoria against Tasmania at MCG, in February 1923. Ponsford scored 429.

Brief scores:

Melbourne University 1,094 (Lionel Miller 205, C Miller 57, Ernest Osbourne 190, Joseph Quirk 179, Edward Feilchenfeld 176, Hugh Bullivant 139; G Washington 3 for 119) beat Essendon 76 (C Miller 3 for 34) by first-innings lead of 1,018 runs.

(Pradip Dhole is a retired medical practitioner with a life-long interest in cricket history and statistics)