Mounted cricket ball, used during final stages of England v Australia Test match at Kennington Oval, August 1882. The Blackham Ball sculpture consists of a used brown leather cricket ball with silver plaque attached to the front, mounted on a large carved wood hand, which sits atop a large, wood, octagonal, conical pedestal. The ball and hand sculpture are covered by a glass dome. Windows have been cut out of each of the eight sides of the pedestal, displaying an explanatory panel and the names of the subscribers who financed the creation of the structure that displays the ball. The scrolled, shield-shaped plaque affixed to the ball is surmounted by two small, silver, crossed cricket bats, above which a pin protrudes which probably once supported a silver cricket ball. The inscription on the plaque reads, "GRAND CRICKET MATCH / AUSTRALIA v. ALL ENGLAND. / PLAYED AT / KENNINGTON OVAL. / 28.th. & 29.th. August 1882. / Australia won by 7 Runs / WITH THIS BALL." The tips of each of the fingers of the carved wood hand are glued to the ball. The base of the wrist is glued to an octagonal base with a circular depression where a glass dome sits to protect the hand and ball. This base sits upon the larger conical, octagonal base. The inscription on the first panel reads, "THE / BLACKHAM / BALL / This / Cricket Ball / was used in / The / International / Test Match / between / England / and / Australia, / played at / Kennington / Oval, / England, / on / August 28.th. & 29.th. / 1882. / Australia / scored / 63 and 122; / and England / 101 and 77, / Australia won / by 7 runs. / This was the / first occasion / on which / Australia / defeated / England / on English soil / in a / Test Match. / The Ball / was donated by / Mr. J.M. Blackham / the Australian / Wicketkeeper / in the match, / to the / Victorian Cricket / Association / in the season / 1915 - 1916 / as a contribution / to the funds / raised for the / Sick and / Wounded Soldiers / and by subscriptions / from the / Cricketing Public / realised / £617, / a World's Record / Price / for a / Cricket Ball. / Victorian / Cricket Association / Office-Bearers / 1915-1916. / President, / Hon. D. Mackinnon M.L.A. / Hon Treas. / Mr. H.R. Rush. / Chairman Executive Com. / Mr. E.E. Bean. / Representatives, / Carlton: / F. Delves, J. Melville / Collingwood: / G. Phillips, J. Roberts. / East Melbourne: / C.W. Nodrum, P.A. McAlister / Essendon: / W. Griffiths, P.W. Steel. / Fitzroy: / M. Ellis, H. Bussell / Melbourne: E.J. Cordner, R. Mailer. / North Melbourne: / E.E. Bean, J.A. Howlett. / Northcote: / G.F. Major, W.S. Stott. / Prahran: / R.W. Eustace, H.R. Rush. / Richmond: / G.S. Bird, H. Broughton. / South Melbourne: / J. Baragwanath, W.H. Dow. / St. Kilda: / W.H. Hatch, G.H. Inskip. / University: / W. Moore, R.P. Mc.Meekin. / Sub. Dist. C.A.: / S.F. Hammond. / V.J.C.U.: / V. Miers, / Secretary: / John Healy." The other 7 panels list the names of all the subscribers, approx. 617 individuals. all the names are hand-written in black ink, with "SUBSCRIBERS." written at the top of each panel in red, and each panel is housed behind glass insets in the wood. This display is mounted on a circular platform, attached loosely through the centre with a long threaded bolt, which when placed on the pedestal, runs through the upper disc and is screwed on with bolt underneath. This larger pedestal which forms the lower half of the structure, is constructed of 4 types of native Australian wood: Queensland silky oak, Blackwood, Queensland rosewood, and Beanwood. Four brackets converge inwards at the top towards a flat 'disc' onto which the Blackham Ball display is screwed. At the four points where the brackets meet the underside of the 'disc' are affixed carved Blackwood designs of Australian flora: wattle, currajong, Eucalyptus rosla, and Eucalyptus globulus. A metal plaque is affixed to the front of one the brackets, with an engraved inscription reading "THE BLACKHAM BALL / PRESENTED TO THE TRUSTEES. / BY THE V.C.A. AND SUBSCRIBERS". There is a screw-hole in the centre of the disc for the attachment of the Blackham Ball piece, and two small depressions on either side where the dowling fixtures at the base of the Blackham Ball piece sit, for stability. On verso of the pedestal, letter reads, "MADE BY / H.F. DUNNE / 110 LITTLE COLLINS / ST MELB".