The first Test match in history wasn't billed as a Test — it was the Grand Combination Match.
Melbourne, March 1877: a combined Australian XI against James Lillywhite's English professionals. The Argus advertised it as the Grand Combination Match. Alfred Shaw bowled the first ball; Charles Bannerman faced it.
Bannerman made 165 before a ball from George Ulyett split his finger and he retired hurt. Australia were all out for 245 — still the biggest share of a completed men's Test innings, nearly 150 years on.
THE RECORD, LATER — The phrase "test match" already existed, but no one had fixed which games counted until 1894, when journalist Clarence Moody published a list of 39 — and it began here.
Twelve Test-playing sides, thousands of Tests. At the 1977 Centenary Test, on the same ground, Australia beat England again — by 45 runs. In March 2027, England and Australia return to the MCG, 150 years on, under lights, with a pink ball.