The Wisden Trophy
The Test of a champion
Jonny Bairstow is all pumped up after scoring his century • Getty Images
1877 C. Bannerman Australia v England at Melbourne An innings of 165 (retired hurt) in the first Test of all amounted to 67.34% of the total, still a record. 1878 There was no Test cricket. 1879 F. R. Spofforth Australia v England at Melbourne Match figures of 13-110 included the first hat-trick in a Test. 1880 W. G. Grace England v Australia at The Oval WG made 152, the first Test century in England, in the first match there. 1881 There was only one day of Test cricket. 1882 F. R. Spofforth Australia v England at The Oval England needed 85, but "The Demon" (7-46 and 7-44) skittled them for 77 - and the Ashes were born. 1883 W. Bates England v Australia at Melbourne Match figures of 14-102, which included a hat-trick, set up the first innings victory in a Test. 1884 W. L. Murdoch Australia v England at The Oval Australia's captain hit 211, the first double-century in a Test. 1885 G. J. Bonnor Australia v England at Melbourne No. 8 Bonnor spanked a 100-minute century on his way to a match-changing 128. 1886 A. Shrewsbury England v Australia at Lord's Shrewsbury's 164, in a match where no Australian made 50, clinched the Ashes. 1887 G. A. Lohmann England v Australia at Sydney Figures of 27.1-12-35-8 (and 40-16-52-2 in the second innings) ensured England took the series. 1888 W. Barnes England v Australia at The Oval England squared the series, with Barnes scoring 62 and taking 5-32. 1889 J. Briggs England v South Africa at Cape Town Briggs's left-arm spin (7-17 and 8-11) routed South Africa in only their second Test. 1890 F. Martin England v Australia at The Oval Kent left-armer "Nutty" Martin took 12-102 in his first Test (and played only one more). 1891 There was no Test cricket. 1892 J. J. Lyons Australia v England at Sydney An innings of 134 out of 174 in 185 minutes swung the series Australia's way. 1893 W. H. Lockwood England v Australia at The Oval Four wickets in each innings, all top-seven batsmen, set up the series' only decisive result. 1894 R. Peel England v Australia at Sydney Peel's 6-67 helped achieve the first Test victory after following on. 1895 A. E. Trott Australia v England at Adelaide On debut, scored 38* and 72* from No. 10, then polished England off with 8-43. 1896 K. S. Ranjitsinhji England v Australia at Manchester Marked his Test debut with 154*, including 113 before lunch on the third morning. 1897 A. C. MacLaren England v Australia at Sydney In his first Test as captain, hit 109 and 50* as England won by nine wickets. 1898 C. Hill Australia v England at Melbourne Aged only 20, scored 188 (including 182 on the first day) as Australia clinched an exciting series. 1899 V. T. Trumper Australia v England at Lord's Trumper's superb 135* swung the only positive result of a wet summer. 1900 There was no Test cricket. 1901 A. F. A. Lilley England v Australia at Sydney After hitting 84, England's wicketkeeper made five dismissals. 1902 G. L. Jessop England v Australia at The Oval A legendary century - in 75 minutes, from 76 balls - steered England towards a one-wicket win. 1903 R. E. Foster England v Australia at Sydney A remarkable debut innings of 287 included a last-wicket stand of 130 with Wilfred Rhodes. 1904 W. Rhodes England v Australia at Melbourne Figures of 7-56 and 8-68, despite having eight catches dropped, as England went 2-0 up. 1905 B. J. T. Bosanquet England v Australia at Nottingham The inventor of the googly sealed England's 213-run victory with 8-107. 1906 S. J. Snooke South Africa v England at Johannesburg Snooke claimed 4-57 and 8-70 as South Africa went 3-0 up. 1907 C. Blythe England v South Africa at Leeds Bowling unchanged throughout on a helpful pitch, slow left-armer Blythe took 8-59 and 7-40. 1908 C. Hill Australia v England at Adelaide Down at No. 9 because of illness, Hill cracked 160 and put on 243 with debutant Roger Hartigan. 1909 W. Bardsley Australia v England at The Oval The first instance of two centuries in the same Test: 136 and 130. 1910 G. A. Faulkner South Africa v England at Johannesburg Scored 78 and 123, and took 5-120 and 3-40, in a 19-run victory; was "carried round the ground". 1911 V. T. Trumper Australia v South Africa at Adelaide "A display that even he has never surpassed," thought Wisden of Trumper's 214*. 1912 T. J. Matthews Australia v South Africa at Manchester A hat-trick in each innings - still unmatched in Tests. 1913 S. F. Barnes England v South Africa at Johannesburg Followed 8-56 with 9-103 as England sailed to an innings victory. 1914 S. F. Barnes England v South Africa at Durban In the last of his 27 Tests, Barnes took 7-56 and 7-88, lifting his series tally to a record 49. 1915-19 There was no Test cricket in the war years. 1920 W. W. Armstrong Australia v England at Sydney In his first match as captain, scored 158 to put Australia in an impregnable position. 1921 J. M. Gregory Australia v England at Melbourne Batting at No. 9 on New Year's Day, hit 100 - then took 7-69 to make England follow on. 1922 H. W. Taylor South Africa v England at Johannesburg A second-innings 176 set up South Africa's only victory of the series. 1923 C. A. G. Russell England v South Africa at Durban A double of 140 and 111 (despite illness) in his final Test helped England to a 2-1 win. 1924 A. E. R. Gilligan England v South Africa at Birmingham In his first Test as captain, followed 6-7 in a total of 30 with 5-83. 1925 J. Ryder Australia v England at Adelaide His 201* from No. 7 helped Australia recover from 119-6 to 489; they won by 11 runs. 1926 C. G. Macartney Australia v England at Leeds Dropped fourth ball, he reached 112* at lunch on the first day, out of 153-1. 1927 G. Geary England v South Africa at Johannesburg Geary took 7-70 and 5-60 as England won by ten wickets. 1928 H. Larwood England v Australia at Brisbane Set the tone for the series with 70 and 6-32 as Australia - facing a total of 521 - subsided for 122. 1929 W. R. Hammond England v Australia at Adelaide After double-centuries in both previous Tests, hit 119* and 177 as England won by 12 runs. 1930 D. G. Bradman Australia v England at Lord's The Don's 254 was, he thought, his best innings; he added 334 at Leeds and 232 at The Oval. 1931 H. Ironmonger Australia v West Indies at Melbourne A 48-year-old slow left-armer, Ironmonger took advantage of a sticky wicket with 7-23 and 4-56. 1932 S. J. McCabe Australia v England at Sydney Defied the Bodyline attack with a memorable four-hour 187*. 1933 C. S. Marriott England v West Indies at The Oval In his only Test, the 37-year-old Kent leg-spinner "Father" Marriott took 5-37 and 6-59. 1934 D. G. Bradman Australia v England at Leeds Despite illness, Bradman hit 304 (and added 244 at The Oval). 1935 G. A. Headley West Indies v England at Kingston An innings of 270* set up victory - and West Indies' first series win. 1936 C. V. Grimmett Australia v South Africa at Durban Figures of 7-100 and 6-73 - after ten-fors in the previous two Tests - paved the way for a 4-0 win. 1937 D. G. Bradman Australia v England at Melbourne Entering at 97-5, Bradman hit 270 (he added 212 and 169 in the last two Tests). 1938 L. Hutton England v Australia at The Oval Broke the Test record with 364 of England's 903-7. 1939 E. Paynter England v South Africa at Durban His 243 lifted England to 469-4, enough for an innings win - the only result of the series.