George Giffen's 475 Runs and 34 Wickets — Best All-Round Series Ever, 1894-95

Giffen had been part of Australia's first Test sides in the 1880s but had never captained a full series. The 1894-95 Ashes was his moment: he was 35, fully matured as an off-spinner who could open with medium pace, and a calm if undemonstrative leader. Australia held the Ashes from the previous home series.

Giffen won the toss in three of the five Tests, two of which Australia lost. He bowled himself extensively — averaging 60 overs a Test — and batted top three in every innings.

Giffen, then 35 and Adelaide-born, was Australia's first true cricketing all-rounder. He had captained South Australia for a decade and was the first man to score 10,000 first-class runs and take 500 first-class wickets in Australian cricket. The 1894-95 Ashes was the only series in which he led his country across a full schedule.

His output across the five Tests reads: bat 161, 41, 32*, 25, 78, 71, 82, 0, 24, 7, 51 — five fifties, one hundred. Bowling: 4/75 and 4/164 at Sydney; 6/155 and 2/72 at Melbourne; 3/65 and 5/76 at Adelaide; 1/47 and 0/40 at Sydney; 4/130 and 4/164 at Melbourne. His 161 in the First Test at Sydney was, with Syd Gregory's 201, the platform for Australia's record 586 — a total only beaten by themselves.

The Giffen all-round series mark of 475 + 34 has never been seriously challenged. The next best is Aubrey Faulkner (1910-11, 732 runs and 16 wickets) and, by another measure, Ian Botham at Headingley 1981 (399 runs and 34 wickets in six Tests). Giffen's average across the series, when calculated by the standard runs-per-wicket method, comes out at 28.66 — better than Bradman's series average against bowlers across his career.

“Giffen was Australia.”

Giffen captained South Australia for many more years but did not lead Australia again. He played his last Test in 1896 in England. His brother Walter also played Test cricket. George never married and lived in modest circumstances in Adelaide, working as a postal clerk; the South Australian Cricket Association eventually granted him a small pension.