admitted to the County Championship and the inaugural Championship game at Leyton resulted in a loss to Middlesex by five wickets. In the following game Harry Pickett took all 10 wickets in Leicestershire’s innings, a performance which remains the best innings bowling figures for Essex as of 2021. In 1899 the Leyton ground was the venue for Essex’s first victory over an Australia touring team. The county led by 55 runs after the first innings and Australia had to chase a target of 200 to win on the final day of the game, but were bowled out for 73. Two years later, the county marked a less auspicious occasion at Leyton when they were bowled out by Yorkshire for 30, which remained their lowest first-class score until 2013. In June 1905 Essex recorded a second victory over Australia at Leyton. In a low-scoring game, Essex won by 19 runs with Claude Buckenham taking 12 wickets in the match, which was the only loss by the 1905 Australia team to a county team. In 1906 Leyton was the venue for another Essex victory over an international team, the 1906 West Indies touring side. Essex's next win over an international team at Leyton in took place 1927, when they beat the New Zealand tourists, but more significantly the game featured the first broadcast commentary of a cricket match. The BBC covered the first day with short periods of commentary during the afternoon and a summary at 6.45pm. The commentator was a former Essex player, Frank Gillingham, who sat on the pavilion balcony so that crowd noise could be picked up by his microphone. In June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe and Percy Holmes of Yorkshire made a world record first-class partnership for any wicket of 555 at Leyton. There was some controversy about the record, when Sutcliffe was dismissed with the total on 555, after which the Leyton scoreboard moved the total back to 554, meaning that the partnership had only equalled the previous record. After discussion between the Essex captain, Charles Bray, and the scorers Billy Ringrose and Charlie McGahey, the total was amended back to 555. Bray asked McGahey to ensure that a run was added to bring the total to the record-breaking figure, but later admitted that he was wrong and shouldn't have allowed the change. This remained the record for any wicket till 1945–46, and it was not until the