Wilfred Rhodes Recalled at 48 — England Regain the Ashes, Oval 1926

Rhodes had begun his Test career in 1899 alongside W.G. Grace. By 1926 he had taken over 4,000 first-class wickets and played 56 Tests over the previous 27 years. Yorkshire still played him every week; the wider question was whether his accuracy and turn could survive a Test stage.

England's selectors faced the deciding fifth Test of the 1926 Ashes at the Oval with the series locked 0-0 after four draws. Percy Chapman, only 25, had replaced the cautious Arthur Carr as captain, and the selectors — chaired by Sir Pelham Warner — chose two veterans alongside him: George Geary, restored after a long absence, and Wilfred Rhodes, then 48 and 165 days old. Rhodes had not played a Test since 1921 and was widely thought of in 1926 as a Yorkshire elder statesman rather than a Test bowler.

Australia made 302 in their first innings; England replied with 280, Sutcliffe top-scoring with 76. The pivotal day was the third — overnight rain produced the famous 'sticky' wicket on which Hobbs and Sutcliffe added 172 in a partnership that has been mythologised since. England declared at 436 (Sutcliffe 161, Hobbs 100). Australia were left needing 415 to win, with two days and a treacherous pitch ahead.

Rhodes opened the bowling with Larwood. His left-arm orthodox spin began to grip the drying surface immediately. He took the wickets of Woodfull, Macartney (caught Geary), Andrews and Mailey, finishing with 4 for 44 in 20 overs. Australia were bowled out for 125; England won by 289 runs and the Ashes returned to England for the first time since the 1911-12 tour. Rhodes, 48 and 165 days old, had become the oldest man ever to play in a Test match — a record that has stood for almost a century.

“Once I had the ball in my hand I knew I could still make it talk. The wicket helped me, and the lads in the field made no errors.”

Rhodes played the West Indies in 1929-30 at the age of 52 — that tour produced his absolute final Test appearance, in April 1930, by which time he was 52 years and 165 days. The Ashes recovered in 1926 stayed with England through 1928-29 (Chapman's tour of Australia, won 4-1).