1907.
Trent Bridge.
Before the season began, the 22-year old began experimenting with an apparently impossible ball.
A true, finger-spun leg-break, bowled at fast medium pace.
He had practised it for hours in their orchard, with his father standing behind the wickets.

It took him years to get confident and he could finally bowl it in a first-class match in 1913.
It was successful.
He bamboozled batsmen till an umpire intervened.
He was told to stop bowling that.
He tried it next season and once again the same umpire had the same thing to say to him.
He never played another first-class match.

One of the earliest attempts at bowling that magic ball.
Unsuccessful and, rather sadly, forgotten.

But he had his moment of glory.
On May 20th 1911, he scored 189 in 90 minutes, the last 142 of those runs in 40 minutes!
In John Arlott's words, " the most remarkable sustained hitting innings ever played in first-class cricket".

Those 90 minutes defined Ted Alletson's entire career.
And intrigued trivia hunters all over the world.

Ted Alletson was born on March 7, 1884.