Among the select bunch of cricketers to have represented multiple countries, JJ Ferris was a riot with the ball. His left-arm angle and the ability to swing the ball both ways as well as generate seam movement made him a real threat, especially considering the bowler-friendly pitches of his era. Unfortunately, health issues meant that he couldn't perform for long in international cricket though he had shown enough of his potential in his brief Test career. In First-Class cricket, he had a mind-boggling wickets tally of over 800 and those came at a stupefying average to boot. England's record-breaking low total of 45 in 1886-87 was conjured up due to his heroics coupled with Charles Turner, both of whom ripped apart the English batting unit. After having had excellent success in the eight Tests for Australia, Ferris shifted base to England and later on played a solitary game for the country, returning a whopping 13-wicket match haul.

In his nine-match Test career, Ferris returned with 6 five-wicket hauls and 4 four-wicket hauls - proof of how destructive he was. Apart from being a terrific cricketer, he was also extremely patriotic and loved to serve the Army whenever the need arose. His settlement in England saw him enrolling for the British Army with whom he travelled around during the several crisis situations, notably the Boer War in South Africa. Sudden and extreme deterioration in health due to fever eventually became so drastic that Ferris passed away at a tender age of 33. Only a couple of years ago, he had given up cricket totally in a bid to focus entirely on his social commitments. Potentially and even in terms of numbers generated, JJ Ferris is right up there among the most raved cricketers to have graced the sport. For the record, he has the second best bowling average of all times for those with at least 50 Test wickets to their name.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan