John James Ferris (21 May 1867 – 17 November 1900), a left-arm swing bowler, was one of the few

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

ers to play

Test cricket Test cricket is a Forms of cricket, format of the sport of cricket, considered the game’s most prestigious and traditional form. Often referred to as the "ultimate test" of a cricketer's skill, endurance, and temperament, it is a format of i ...

for more than one country. Born in Sydney,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Ferris made his first-class debut for

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

against

Alfred Shaw Alfred Shaw (29 August 1842 – 16 January 1907) was a 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 America and fo ...

's touring English team on his home ground in 1886/87. He took seven wickets in the match, including five in the second innings, and after several more good displays was selected for the first Test, also at Sydney. The England first innings was a disaster as they collapsed to what remains their lowest Test total of 45 all out, Ferris bowling unchanged with Charlie Turner. But despite his nine wickets in the game England, inspired by Billy Barnes' second-innings 6–28, scraped to a 13-run win. Ferris took another nine-wicket haul in the second Test, but again England was victorious, though in the only Test of the 1887/88 tour he could manage "only" six as the Englishmen came out on top yet again. He went with the Australians to England in 1888, and at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

for the first time in his career playing in a winning Test side, his partnership with Turner accounting for no less than eighteen England wickets as Australia recorded a 61-run win (

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...

wrote later that the tourists had "brought with them the finest pair of bowlers Australia could ever boast").

The Ashes The Ashes is a Test cricket series played biennially between England and Australia. The term originated in a satirical obituary published in a British newspaper, '' The Sporting Times'', immediately after Australia's 1882 victory at The Oval, ...

remained in England, however, as the home side won the other two Tests. In 1889, Ferris was named as one of the first

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

. He went to England again in 1890, taking 13 wickets in another series defeat and no less than 186 in the season as a whole, but then moved there permanently, playing a single Test for his adopted country against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in 1891/92. Coincidentally, his former Australian teammate Billy Murdoch also made his first England appearance in this match, which was not given Test status until some time later. Ferris' performance helped crush the home side by an innings and 189 runs, but it was to prove his final international appearance. He had taken 61 Test wickets at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of just 12.70; only

George Lohmann George Alfred Lohmann (2 June 1865 – 1 December 1901) was an English cricketer, regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Statistically, he holds the lowest lifetime Test bowling average among bowlers with more than fifteen wickets ...

had a better career average. Ferris played several seasons of

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Two county championship competitions have existed since the late 19th century at ...

(1892–1895) with

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, for whom he scored his only hundred in 1893 but was otherwise something of a failure. At the end of his career, he appeared in a single

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...

match for

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

in 1895/96, opening the batting but making nought, then finally in 1897/98 in two more games for New South Wales. In his last match, he made a half-century but did not bowl a single ball. Ferris enlisted in the British Army for the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, but died at Durban,

at the age of 33. It was reported, and for many years believed, that Ferris died from “enteric fever” (

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...

), but recent research by

Max Bonnell Maxwell Thomas Bennett Bonnell (born 3 February 1962) is an Australian lawyer and cricket historian. Career Max Bonnell attended Trinity Grammar School in Sydney (winning the Lawrence Campbell Oratory Competition in 1979) before studying Arts a ...

established that he died suddenly after a seizure while travelling on a tram, shortly after his dishonourable discharge from the army. The reasons for his discharge, and the precise cause of his death, are not known.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferris, John 1867 births 1900 deaths British Army soldiers Australia Test cricketers Dual international cricketers England Test cricketers English cricketers Gloucestershire cricketers New South Wales cricketers Cricketers from Sydney South Australia cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Australian cricketers British Army personnel killed in the Second Boer War Cricketers who have taken five wickets on Test debut People educated at St Aloysius' College (Sydney) West of England cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers North v South cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers A. J. Webbe's XI cricketers English cricketers of 1864 to 1889 English cricketers of 1890 to 1918 Australian emigrants to the United Kingdom Military personnel from Sydney

See also

References

External links