The Reverend Vernon Royle — Greatest Cover Point, Bowled by Spofforth's Hat-trick, 1879

Royle was educated at Rossall School and Brasenose College, Oxford. He won Blues at cricket in 1875 and 1876 and played for Lancashire from 1873.

Lord Harris had picked Royle on the 1878-79 tour explicitly for his fielding. The Test at Melbourne was his only international appearance.

Royle was 24 in 1879, an Oxford Blue (1875, 1876) and Lancashire amateur, on Lord Harris's tour as one of the strongest amateur fielders in England. His cover point fielding was famous: ambidextrous, quick across the ground, with a deadly accurate throw. Tom Emmett, calling his partner back for a single during a tour match, said 'Woa, mate, there's a policeman' — meaning Royle in the covers, as immovable as a constable. At Melbourne in January 1879, Royle came in at first wicket down for England's first innings and was bowled by Spofforth — the first wicket of the first Test hat-trick. He scored 3 in the second innings and never played another Test. He returned to England, was ordained, and became headmaster of Stanmore Park school, where he served until his death in 1929. His one-Test legacy is the combination of two extreme firsts: greatest fielder of his era, and first victim of a Test hat-trick.

“Woa, mate, there's a policeman.”

Royle's fielding reputation outlived his international career. After ordination he became briefly a master and then, from 1901 until his death, headmaster of Stanmore Park school. He died on 21 May 1929 aged 75.