Johnny Briggs (cricketer)

Johnny Briggs

Briggs in about 1895
Personal information
Full name	Johnny Briggs
Born	(1862-10-03)3 October 1862 Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England
Died	11 January 1902(1902-01-11) (aged 39) Heald Green, Cheadle, Cheshire, England
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Slow left-arm orthodox
Role	Bowler
Relations	Joseph Briggs (brother)
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 47)	12 December 1884 v Australia
Last Test	29 June 1899 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1879–1900	Lancashire
1882–1884	Liverpool and District
1883–1898	The Rest
1884–1900	North of England
1884–1896	Players
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class Matches 33 535 Runs scored 815 14,092 Batting average 18.11 18.27 100s/50s 1/2 10/58 Top score 121 186 Balls bowled 5,332 100,144 Wickets 118 2,221 Bowling average 17.75 15.95 5 wickets in innings 9 200 10 wickets in match 4 52 Best bowling 8/11 10/55 Catches/stumpings 12/– 258/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 17 May 2017

Johnny Briggs (3 October 1862 – 11 January 1902) was an English left arm spin bowler who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club between 1879 and 1900 and remains the second-highest wicket-taker in the county's history after Brian Statham. In the early days of Test cricket, Briggs‘ batting was considered careless, although still very useful. He was the first bowler in Test cricket to take 100 wickets,^[1] and held the record of most wickets in Test cricket on two occasions, the first in 1895 and again from 1898 until 1904, when he was succeeded by Hugh Trumble.^[2] He toured Australia a record six times, a feat only equalled by Colin Cowdrey.^[3]

Briggs was a notably short man at about five feet five or 165 centimetres. Briggs's skill lay in his ability to vary the flight and pace of the ball as well as in achieving prodigious spin on the primitive nineteenth century pitches. As a batsman, Briggs was capable of hitting very effectively, but as time went by an eagerness to punish every ball set in and led to a decline.