Jupp also managed to develop a very strong cut and drive as time went by,[6] and was also a fine outfield who frequently served as a long stop[5] and occasionally kept wicket when Pooley was absent.

In the first-ever Test series that took place from March to April 1877 Harry Jupp was England's opening batsman.

After toiling in the field for a day and a half he became England's first Test batsman as he faced a first ball from Australian opening bowler John Hodges.

Jupp went on to make only the second test fifty (Charles Bannerman of Australia had made 165 in the first innings) and finished on 63, the second-best individual score of the match.

(Wisden Book of Test Cricket) In 1881, he was given a benefit match between the North and South at The Oval, but declined so badly that year that his best score in fourteen innings was 20 and he dropped out of the Surrey team after the August Bank Holiday.