Trumper's 185* — A Losing Cause at Sydney, 1903

Trumper had reached England already known as the leading batsman of his generation, but the home Australian context of 1903-04 confirmed it. He had averaged 70 across the previous English summer; he was carrying the Australian batting through both home and away series.

The first Test at Sydney had been disastrous for Australia: Foster's 287, the failure of every Australian batsman in the first innings, and the follow-on imposed early on day three. The fourth innings began with the match all but lost.

Trumper had made 13 in the first innings — bowled by Bosanquet with the new googly, in what Bosanquet later said was the first true googly bowled in Australia. The challenge in the second innings was psychological as much as cricketing.

Plum Warner's MCC side had already taken a commanding position by the third day of the first Test of the 1903-04 Ashes. R.E. Foster's 287 had given England a total of 577. Australia, replying, had been bowled out for 285 (Trumper 13). Following on, they were 173 for 5 in the fourth innings — the equation 404 to make the chase, on a wearing pitch, seemed beyond hope.

Then Victor Trumper changed the direction of the match. Joining Clem Hill at five down, he played one of the most dazzling rearguard innings in Test cricket. He reached his hundred in 94 minutes, scoring all round the wicket against Wilfred Rhodes, Bernard Bosanquet and Len Braund. Hill was controversially given run out for 51 — the umpire's decision was bitterly disputed by both batsmen, and contemporary reports describe the Sydney crowd's anger.

With Hill gone, Trumper continued. He reached 150 in 138 minutes and was 185 not out when the last wicket fell at 485. England had won by five wickets — but the abiding memory of the match was Trumper's batting, not Foster's. Wisden the following year wrote that 'no batsman in any country could have done more to save a hopeless cause'.

“No batsman in any country could have done more to save a hopeless cause.”

Australia lost the series 3-2, with Trumper finishing as their leading batsman (574 runs at 63.77). Foster's 287 won the headlines but Trumper's 185* was the abiding memory for many who watched. Plum Warner's tour book 'How We Recovered The Ashes' devotes more pages to Trumper's innings than to Foster's.

The Hill run-out incident was rumoured to have led to the dismissal of the umpire concerned, though there is no formal record of this. The incident was the subject of correspondence in Sydney newspapers for weeks.