Frederick Robert Spofforth, also known as "The Demon Bowler", was an Australian cricket team pace bowler of the nineteenth century. He was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the first to take a Test hat-trick, in 1879. He played in Test matches for Australia between 1877 and 1887, and then settled in England where he played for Derbyshire. In 2009, he was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.
Spofforth in about 1897
Spofforth (back row, third from right) with the Australian Cricket Team (1882)
"The Demon Bowler" Spofforth as caricatured by Spy (Leslie Ward) in Vanity Fair, July 1878
Spofforth by Henry Scott Tuke, c. 1898
Australia national cricket team
The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in men's international cricket. As the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing in the first ever Test match in 1877, the team also plays One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) cricket, participating in both the first ODI, against England in the 1970–71 season and the first T20I, against New Zealand in the 2004–05 season, winning both games. The team draws its players from teams playing in the Australian domestic competitions – the Sheffield Shield, the Australian domestic limited-overs cricket tournament and the Big Bash League. Australia are the current ICC World Test Championship and ICC Cricket World Cup champions. They are regarded as most successful cricket teams in the history of Cricket.
The Australian team that toured England in 1878