With Bat and Ball

George Giffen was a successful South Australian batsman, the first from his State to represent Australia. So successful that he got berths on the 1882, 1884 and 1886 tours of England because of his run-scoring prowess. Cricket history, however, has considered the latter tour an abject failure due to their 3-nil loss in the Test series. But there were plenty of positives to take from the tour.

Australia lost their prime fast bowler Fred Spofforth for several weeks when he suffered a badly dislocated finger, and it was in his absence – as it became apparent that Joey Palmer had lost his impact as a bowler – that Giffen emerged as a frontline bowler. In fact, he took so many wickets everyone agreed he had equally earned his place in the side as a bowler.

In his thirtieth Test match he became the first Test cricketer to score a thousand runs and take a hundred wickets. An accomplishment which, with historical retrospect, placed him in the same bracket as Ray Lindwall, Keith Miller and Richie Benaud.

He played eleven consecutive Test matches between 1882 and 1884, as they numbered No.7 to No.17 in the history of the game. His last Test was No.52 in 1896 at The Oval, his thirty-first Test. His highest score was 161, his best figures were 7/177 and his best Test match bowling was 10/160. He toured England five times, declining only the tours of 1888 and 1890 due to their arduous nature.