Nottinghamshire Cricket In The 1850s

As the 1850s slid into the next decade, more and more bowlers contravened the Law by raising their bowling arm above shoulder height. The majority of umpires simply ignored the height of the bowler’s arm, but when England played Surrey at the Oval in August 1862, John Lillywhite, as umpire, first warned Edgar Willsher that his arm was too high and then proceeded to call no-ball.

When Willsher ignored the warning, nine of the England team, including Willsher, walked off the field in protest. A meeting was held with the Surrey Committee. Lillywhite was withdrawn as umpire and replaced by George Street, who allowed Willsher’s bowling action for the remainder of the game.

As a result in 1863 MCC met to debate a change in the Law, but the majority voted not to make an alteration. This ostrich-like attitude could not be sustained and in 1864 it was debated a second time and the Law was changed to legalise over-arm bowling. For once, the Nottinghamshire cricketers were not directly concerned with the change - Willsher was a Kent cricketer and though John Jackson bowled in partnership with Willsher in this 1862 game, he did not bowl illegally. The year 1864 therefore provides a landmark in cricket’s history and is by many considered the starting point for the game as we know it today. Part Six therefore ends at the close of 1863, though it must be emphasised that all bowling did not abruptly change to over-arm with the alteration to the Law.

Since Notts cricket had reached ‘top-class’ level in 1826, it is instructive at this point in the narrative to glance at the career records of the principal Notts cricketers whose time in top-class cricket was more or less confined to the ‘round-arm’ (1827-1863) era of the game.

Some of those given in the table below drift into ‘over-arm’ but the great portion of their careers were prior to 1864. The list is confined to those playing at least 10 major matches for Nottingham/Notts:


The very rough pitches and the poorly maintained outfields in the round-arm period prevented any high scoring - this was gradually being changed by the introduction of the lawn-mower, which came into general use around 1860. George Parr demonstrates his standing among his contemporaries being the only batsman to average above 20 - Brampton comes second, but his career began nine years later than Parr.

Jackson’s high average is greatly helped by his 100 v Kent - he and Parr are the only two Notts players to score 100s before 1864 and only Tom Marsden (Sheffield) scored a hundred against Nottingham and his two centuries were right at the start of the round-arm period. Considering he began in 1826, George Jarvis holds a high position in the batting table.

William Clarke’s under-arm dominates the bowling table and shows why he was such a force on the cricket field. Cris Tinley was another, most of whose wickets were taken by under-arm deliveries. One might have expected John Jackson to have a lower average.

The one point on the figures in general is that there are no amateurs (or Gentlemen) in either table. Similar tables drawn up covering Sussex, Kent or Surrey would contain a good sprinkling of amateurs, at least among the batsmen - such names as N.Felix, R.Kynaston, A.Mynn, W.S.Norton, F.G.B.Ponsonby, C.G.Taylor and William Ward, amateurs all, would have high enough averages to feature in the Notts list of the round-arm period, but all were basically Southerners.

The professional England travelling XIs - Parr’s All England and its rival, the United All England - still ruled the domestic cricket scene of the 1856 to 1863 period, though inter-county cricket was slowly re-emerging, for obvious reasons, Nottinghamshire slower than the Southern counties of Sussex, Surrey and Kent. Between 1857 and 1863 Notts took to the field just 15 times against top opposition and eight of those matches were in the final two years.

It was in 1859-60 that John Johnson decided that Notts needed a proper structure to promote its county cricket. About this time the first brick pavilion was erected on the Trent Bridge Ground and in Easter 1861, Johnson created the annual Colts Trial on the ground, whereby 22 promising young players, nominated by their clubs, opposed the Notts XI in a two day game.

This was to remain the principal conduit through which Notts found fresh blood, that is until the Club decided to sign a ‘groundstaff’ of young players in 1897. No less than seven of that first 22 trialists went on to play first-class cricket for the County – S.Biddulph, T.Bignall, C.F.Daft, Walter Price, Alf Shaw, Wm Shaw and V.Tinley.

The 1857 to 1863 years saw Surrey and Notts fight for the title of Champion County. Notts old opponents, Kent and Sussex had fallen on hard times. Hampshire were completely in the doldrums. It is unfortunate therefore that George Parr, Notts captain through those years, was at loggerheads with the Surrey Committee and in 1863 things got so bad that the counties refused to play each other - for several years, Parr himself declined to appear in any matches at The Oval.

The one good development of the refusal of the counties to meet in 1863, is that, in its place, Notts arranged their first ever bona fide county game with Yorkshire (rather than Sheffield). The various warring factions in Yorkshire had closed ranks and formed a County Club. The other new Notts opponents were Cambridgeshire, developed out of the old Cambridge Town Club; the County Club had a nucleus of very talented professional cricketers, notably Carpenter, Hayward and Tarrant. Unfortunately the County did not have a John Johnson to meld the talent into a strong adhesive Club and the whole fell apart within a few years.

Nottinghamshire were acclaimed County Champions once in the seasons under review - in 1862 when three county games were won and the other one drawn.

Although Nottinghamshire had no direct influence on the change to over-arm bowling, the county’s players were heavily involved in another major cricketing revolution, the overseas tour. In 1856 cricket enthusiasts in the United States and Canada wrote to England to try and arrange for an English Team to cross the Atlantic. However the American stock market then plunged and it was not until 1859 that William Pickering of Canada agreed terms with George Parr and John Wisden to play four matches in September and October in Canada and the United States.

The players were to receive £50 plus all expenses. Parr captained this first touring side, Jemmy Grundy and John Jackson being the other Notts members of the 12 man squad. An additional match was played, the tourists facing a combined United States and Canada Twenty-Two. The England Team overwhelmed the opposition in all five matches, but the public both in the States and England followed the results with enormous interest. Like Clarke’s creation of the All-England XI in 1846, this vogue for overseas tours was an instant hit.

Two years later a catering firm in Melbourne decided to sponsor an England Team to tour Australia. George Parr was offered £150 per player, but stated that the sum was insufficient. The firm then approached H.H.Stephenson of Surrey, who accepted and agreed to collect a team. No Notts players were willing to make the trip. Two years later, Stephenson’s visit being most successful, George Parr agreed to terms with Melbourne Cricket Club and selected a much stronger side. This second visit to the Antipodes was expanded to include matches in New Zealand. Of the 12 players, Parr, Cris Tinley and John Jackson and Alfred Clarke were the Notts contingent. 19 matches were played in all, none were lost. Each player made about £250 after expenses.