Thomas Armitage, who was born at Walkley, near Sheffield, on April 25, 1848, died at Pullman, near Chicago, where he had long resided, on September 21. Scores and Biographies (xii-656) said of him : " Is an excellent bat and field anywhere, and a straight round-armed middle-paced bowler, combined with underhand lobs, which at times have been very successful." For Keighley v. Wakefield on June 15, 1872, he took eight wickets in the first innings and all ten in the second. Between 1872 and 1878 he assisted Yorkshire in 53 matches, making 1,074 runs with an average of 13.59, and taking 119 wickets for 14.08 runs each. His highest score for the county was 95 v. Middlesex at Sheffield in 1876, and his chief success as a bowler to take with lobs 13 wickets for 46 runs - 6 for 20 and 7 for 26--against Surrey at Sheffield in June, 1876. His bowling in that match made a great impression on James Southerton who thought he had never seen lobs that were so good. In the whole season of 1876 Armitage took 45 wickets for Yorkshire at a cost of 669 runs. Daring 1876-77 he visited Australia as a member of James Lilly white's team and took part in both Test matches played during the tour. He was a failure in Australia, falling far below his form at home. Of the English players in the tour of 1876-7, when an England side was for the first time beaten in even terms, James Lillywhite is now the only survivor.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

In the system of giving players numbers based on their Test debut, Armitage is England No. 1

• A question of numbers (Mar 28, 2007)