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.

His father James played cricket and rugby for various teams and took his wife and five children around the north of England until he settled down as a pub landlord near Widnes.

He was retained by Northern for the 1879 season, during which he was called up by Lancashire to make his county debut against Nottinghamshire in late May.

Briggs played five times for Lancashire in 1879, and established himself as a regular player by 1882 despite hardly bowling at all and doing little of significance with the bat.

His batting did not suffer: Briggs hit a career-best 186 against Surrey at Liverpool – adding a then-record 173 for the tenth wicket with Dick Pilling.

Australia scored a massive 586 on a relatively poor pitch – partly because of England’s wicket keeper dropping some important chances.

This time they batted well on a wearing pitch, Lancashire’s Albert Ward scored a hundred and Johnny Briggs made 42.

The three men briefly held the record together, but Turner missed the Third Test at Adelaide and Briggs overtook them both.

[8] With the controversial speedster Arthur Mold, Briggs formed a strong bowling combination for Lancashire from 1889 onwards: both bowlers took over 100 wickets every year from 1889 to 1896, frequently bowling almost unchanged through an innings and keeping Lancashire near the top of the Championship table despite poor performance from support bowlers.

His batting remained useful until 1894, after which his impatience tended to get the better of him and, despite rapidly improving pitches, he played few significant innings in his later years.

CB Fry described his trademark shot as a “whizzing uppercut that travels over third man’s head”, a thoroughly modern sounding stroke.

In 1899, Briggs was still thought good enough to play for England at Headingley, but before that he had suffered a blow over the heart from Tom Hayward.

In 1900, he made a comeback, taking all ten wickets for 55 against Worcestershire and scoring over 800 runs, but soon afterwards it became clear he was suffering severely from mental illness.

Many people remarked on his sharp and athletic fielding in cricket and it was probably due to the skills and fitness that he gained during his stint with Widnes.

He rubs the ball in the dust, takes two steps and serves you a fast yorker instead of the high tossed slow you expected.