spare. The Players, captained by Tom Emmett, won the toss and batted first but were bowled out by Fred Spofforth (8/62) for 107. Hunter was number 11 and scored 9 not out. Australia replied with 151 and Hunter completed three stumpings to dismiss Percy McDonnell, George Giffen and Tup Scott, who were all top-order batsmen. In the Players' second innings, Spofforth again destroyed the batting with 6/34 (a match return of 14/96). Hunter was again the not out batsman but this time without scoring. Australia quickly accounted for the 28 runs needed to win. Hunter had made a good impression in the Players v Australians match and, when neither Pilling nor Sherwin accepted invitations for the tour of Australia in 1884–85, Hunter travelled instead. He played in all five Test matches. His first match on the tour was on 2 October during a stopover in Suez Port (at the southern end of the Suez Canal) against a 22-man team of British Army, Navy and civilian residents. Shaw's XI made 117 (Hunter 9*) and the 22 scored 40/11; the result was a draw. The team's ship docked in Port Adelaide on 29 October. Their first match in Australia began on the 31st against a South Australian XV at the Adelaide Oval. It was a five-day match which Shaw's XI won by 3 wickets. Hunter claimed six victims with three catches and three stumpings. Ill-health and early death Hunter was dogged by ill-health and was forced to retire from cricket during the 1888 season. He was succeeded as Yorkshire's wicket-keeper by his brother, David (1860–1927), who went on to play in 552 first-class matches until 1909. Joe Hunter's final match was at Lord's on 24–25 May 1888. Yorkshire led Middlesex by 15 runs after the first innings but were bowled out for 43 in their second, George Burton taking 7/18 (10/71 in the match). Middlesex won by 9 wickets. Hunter batted last in both innings and was out for 0 and 1. He did not dismiss any batsmen in the match. Hunter was originally a stonemason in Scarborough. He later became a pub landlord, first in Scarborough, then in Doncaster and finally at the Wheatsheaf in Rotherham where he died, suddenly, in January 1891, aged 35. Wisden said Hunter at his best "was good enough for any county team", although he was not a top rank keeper like Dick Pilling or Mordecai