Beginning

Giffen, only 22 years old, made his Test debut in Melbourne against England in 1881–82. Having just joined the postal service, Giffen was almost hesitant to ask for leave.^[5] Giffen made 30 runs before being bowled by Tom Emmett but was unable to take a wicket.^[6] Left out of the side for the Second Test in Sydney, he returned for the Third Test. Australia won the match by five wickets by Giffen made only two runs and was not given a chance to bowl.^[7] In the final Test of the series, Giffen captured his first Test wicket—William Scotton stumped by Jack Blackham for 27. He took 2/17 and, with the bat, made 14 in a drawn match.^[8] Australia won the series two Tests to nil.

Giffen was selected to tour England with the Australian team in 1882. He was moderately successful, taking 32 wickets at an average of 21.84 and making 699 runs averaging 19.02.^[9][10] In the celebrated match against England—later designated a Test match—Giffen made 2 runs in the first innings but was dismissed by Ted Peate for a "duck" in the second.^[11] Australia, through a magnificent bowling effort from Fred Spofforth and Harry Boyle, won the match by seven runs. The match was the origin of the term "The Ashes" for Test series between the two nations. A mock obituary placed in The Sporting Times lamented "the death of English cricket" and noted that "The body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia."^[12]

Ivo Bligh and his English team arrived in Australia in 1882–83 determined to win back "the Ashes".^[2] In the First Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Giffen made 36 runs, his highest Test score to date. He followed this with his best figures with the ball, capturing 4/38 in the England second innings, helping Australia to a nine wicket victory.^[13] In the Second Test, Giffen made a "golden duck", dismissed first ball without scoring but took 4/89 in England's only innings; the English won the Test by an innings and 27 runs.^[14] Giffen was promoted to open the batting for the Third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where he made 41 and 7 England won the Test by 69 runs, winning the first Ashes series 2–1.^[15][16]

Giffen in his later years

In February 1884, Giffen became the first Australian to take all ten wickets in a first-class innings, taking 10/66 for an Australian XI against the Rest.^[5] Later that year, he was once again included in the Australian team to tour England, led by Billy Murdoch. The Australians lost the three Test series one Test to nil, but had the best of the two drawn matches.^[17] In the Second Test at Lord's, Giffen top-scored in the first innings, making 63 runs;. England won the Test by an innings and 5 runs.^[18] Giffen took 81 wickets in England at an average of 19.60,^[19] however he "tended to be expensive".^[17] His best batting performance for the tour was 118 against Lancashire; a match in which he also took a "hat-trick".^[20]

An English team led by Alfred Shaw toured Australia in 1884–85 to contest the Ashes. England won the First Test by eight wickets but the match was overshadowed by a dispute between the teams; the Australian team wished a larger share of the match profits.^[21] As a result, most of the Australian team, including Giffen, made themselves unavailable for the next two Tests. This action was unpopular with the Australian public. Charles Kingston, then South Australian Attorney-General, said "the Australian eleven would have the reputation of having sacrificed the cricketing honour of their nation to monetary considerations".^[21] Giffen and the others returned for the Fourth Test in Sydney where Australia won by eight wickets; Giffen taking 7/117 in the England first innings.^[22] England won the Fifth Test by an innings and 98 runs,^[23] retaining the Ashes in a 3–2 series victory.^[21]

Record breaker

Giffen, in a sign of things to come, made a remarkable double for South Australia against Victoria in March 1886. He captured 17 wickets for the match—including 9/91 in the first innings—and made over 100 runs.^[24] Five years later, against Victoria in November 1891, he repeated the feat even more impressively, scoring 271 runs in South Australia's innings and taking 9/96 and 7/70 in Victoria's two innings.^[25][26]

The Australian team touring England in 1886 did not meet with much success, losing all three Tests. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack remarked that "there is nothing to place the [Australians] on any higher standard than would have been attained by any good county team that went playing about the country".^[27] Giffen made only 60 runs for in the Tests and took only four wickets.^[28][29] In the other matches, however, Giffen was more successful. He made 1424 runs for the tour—only Sammy Jones scored more for the Australians—and took 154 wickets, including five wickets in an innings no less than 13 times.^[30][31]

Giffen was emphatically the success of the tour, and the fact that he came out first in both batting and bowling speaks volumes for his excellence. Indeed it would be impossible at the present day to name his superior as an all-round cricketer.

— Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, ^[27]

Giffen became the first player in Test history to complete the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets.^[32]