* 1883-84 Fred Spofforth Demon Bowler Baines rookie card LEGEND HOF All-Time GREAT only 1 known!

Australian cricket Hall of Famer, Fred Spofforth was one of the first 10 inductees! This is believed to be the rookie card of Fred Spofforth, dating from 1883-84 it's surely that very thing. This card was made by Baines of Bradford.

This card, like other 1st-series Baines cricket players cards, has the "Bains" misspelling to the front, just like the WG Grace Union Jack card and the Jack Blackham 'octagon', another in the series of hexadecagon Baines cards, of which only 2 are known! Believed to be the only remaining example in the world

In the wake of his "Demon Bowling" demolition of England in autumn 1882, at The Oval, Spofforth came back to GB on subsequent tours, meanwhile, in Oz he played for Victoria CC and New South Wales CC.

NOTE: the similar 1883-84 card of Jack Blackham sold for 20,000! Yes, Blackham is gone, sold in summertime 2025. Spofforth is going nowhere!

EXTRA: the 2nd image shows a postcard by London Stereoscopic of the Australian team to tour GB in summer 1884. As with the Spofforth image, the Blackham image is that used for the Baines card. Whether Baines took the images from this or from a publication is not known.