A cricket ball used during Herbert Sutcliffe's innings of 161 v Australia at The Oval in 1926, mounted for presentation with a silver shield engraved

A cricket ball used during Herbert Sutcliffe's innings of 161 v Australia at The Oval in 1926, mounted for presentation with a silver shield engraved H.SUTCLIFFE, ENGLAND V AUSTRALIA, KENNINGTON OVAL, 14-18 AUGUST 1926, 161; together with a typescript article written by Sutcliffe for The Cricketer, 1966, being his reminiscences of 'The Oval Thriller of 1926'...the wicket was a real bitch right from the start and it continued to be so for hours. To play on such a brute of a wicket calls for courage, patience, skill, strategy and self control...; and related letters from The Cricketer, including one from E.W. Swanton (4) The Oval Test of 1926 was the Ashes decider, with the first four Tests all ending in draws. England trailed Australia by 22 runs after the first innings, but in the second, perhaps the greatest of all the Hobbs-Sutcliffe opening partnerships produced an historic stand of 172, with Sutcliffe going on to make 161, on a highly difficult, rain-affected pitch. The foundations were thereby laid for an England victory. Rhodes and Larwood tore through the Australian upper order to eventually dismiss the tourists for 125, with England regaining the Ashes for the first time since 1911-12. Provenance: The Herbert Sutcliffe Collection, Sotheby's, 9th July 1999, as lot 41.