Murdoch was born in Sandhurst (Bendigo), Victoria, in 1854 and was a NSW lawyer when he was selected for the inaugural 1877 Test, in which he kept wicket. By 1880 he was Australia's batting leader; the September 1880 153* at the Oval — on his 25th birthday, made in Australia's follow-on to save the match — set a Test record that stood for years.
In 1882 he was Australia's captain at the Oval Test that birthed the Ashes. His first-innings 13 and second-innings 6 were modest, but his strategic command of the field — and his tactical changes during Spofforth's 7/44 — were widely credited.
The 1884 Oval Test was his statistical masterpiece: 211 in 525 minutes, the first Test 200, made on a flat pitch with three dropped chances. He led Australia in the 1880, 1882, 1884, 1888 and 1890 tours of England, at a frequency no other Australian captain has matched in any era.
His 1890 tour of England, when he was already 36 and clearly past his best, was financially disastrous and led to his retirement from Australian cricket. He emigrated to England, qualified for Sussex, and in March 1892 played one Test for England against South Africa at Cape Town. He thus became the second man (after Billy Midwinter) to play Test cricket for two countries.
Murdoch died of a heart attack at the MCG on 18 February 1911, watching a Test between Australia and South Africa. He was 56.