A vintage illustration, featuring Australian cricketers George (Joey) Palmer (left) and Hugh Massie, from the contemporary journal Sporting Mirror published in London, circa 1882. A right-arm medium-pace spinner, with exceptional control, Joey Palmer was considered a must-have on pitches which favoured batsmen and almost unplayable on ones which favoured bowlers. He made a sensational first-class debut when, one month after his 20th birthday, he took match figures of 9 for 94 against Lord Harris's touring side at Melbourne. He toured England four times - 1880, 1882, 1884 and 1886 - almost achieving the double on his last visit, ending with 972 runs and 106 wickets. His best series was against England in 1881-82 where he took 24 wickets at 21.75, including 11 for 165 and 9 for 90, both at Sydney. Shortly after returning to Australia in 1886 he fractured his kneecap and was never a force in the first-class game thereafter. He was no slouch with the bat either, and Wisden commented that as his bowling declined, he developed into an excellent batsman, ending his career opening both batting and bowling for Victoria. For the early part of his career, Hugh Massie would much rather have worked as a banker than travel to England as a part-time cricketer. He passed up on the 1880 tour to focus on his new job in the banking sector, and it wasnt until 1882 that he finally accepted a spot on the boat. By the lunch interval on the first morning in England, Massie had already raced to 100. He added another 106 in the second session before falling for a whirlwind 206. The little-known opening batsman forged an unlikely partnership with Charles Bannerman, whose patience complemented Massies more attacking approach. During the voyage to England in 1881/82, Massies teammates predicted he would be the weakest performer on tour. The public humiliation spurred Massie on, who followed up his 206 with an equally valuable 55 at the Oval in just 57 minutes. (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty I
