W. G. Grace them against Australia, and was an automatic selection for England at home, but his only Test-playing tour of Australia was that of 1891–92. Grace's most significant Test was England v Australia in 1882 at The Oval. Thanks to Spofforth who took 14 wickets in the match, Australia won by 7 runs and the legend of The Ashes was born immediately afterwards. Grace scored only 4 and 32 but he has been held responsible for "firing up" Spofforth. This came about through a typical piece of gamesmanship by Grace when he effected an unsporting, albeit legal, run out of Sammy Jones.
Australian cricket team in England in 1882 5, but he then had his middle-stump dramatically uprooted by Spofforth. Steel was caught and bowled by Spofforth for a third-ball duck, and Read was clean bowled for a second-ball duck in the same over. When Lucas was likewise bowled by Spofforth for 5, England were 75 for 8, needing just 10 more runs for victory, but with just two wickets remaining. The tension was unbearable; contemporary accounts famously report that one spectator dropped dead and another gnawed through the handle of his umbrella. The very next over from the other end, Harry Boyle removed Barnes for 2 and then,