All Ten: The Ultimate Bowling Feat

20 George Wootton All-England Eleven v Yorkshire, 1865 Bramall Lane, Sheffield on 17, 18, 19 July 1865 (3-day match) Toss won by All-England Eleven All-England Eleven won by an innings and 255 runs Umpires: W Slinn, GH Wright All-England Eleven 524 (T Hayward 112, RP Carpenter 134; I Hodgson 5-127); Yorkshire 125 and 144 (G Wootton 10-54) Yorkshire second innings A Walker b Wootton 6 C Appleton c Hayward b Wootton 18 T Darnton not out 81 W Smith b Wootton 0 L Greenwood c and b Wootton 3 +G Holgate b Wootton 5 J Thewlis b Wootton 21 J Berry c Carpenter b Wootton 4 W Cuttell b Wootton 0 J Dawes b Wootton 2 I Hodgson c Oscroft b Wootton 0 Extras (b 4) 4 Total (all out, 63.3 overs) 144 Fall of wickets 1-9, 2-50, 3-50, 4-56, 5-86, 6-116, 7-142, 8-142, 9-144, 10- 144 All-England Eleven bowling : RC Tinley 25-3-76-0, G Wootton 31.3-9-54- 10, J Jackson 7-4-10-0 All-England Eleven: WOscroft, J Smith, T Bignall, T Hayward, RP Carpenter, E Whittaker, G Parr (capt), J Jackson, G Wootton, S Biddulph (wk), RC Tinley Three days before V.E.Walker’s second all-ten George Wootton performed the feat on the other side of the Pennines. Wootton was one of England’s leading bowlers of the 1860s, taking over 100 wickets in four successive seasons. He wasn’t very tall and bowled left-arm medium-fast with a round-arm action. He was a rustic left-hand bat who usually batted down the order, averaging just over 10 in 301 first-class innings. However, he had his moments. In 1869 he and William McIntyre put on 165 against Kent, a Notts’ ninth wicket partnership record that stood until 1994. Born at Clifton, Nottinghamshire in 1834, before becoming a professional cricketer Wootton had been a butcher. He was nearly 27 when he made his first-class debut. It was suggested that his rather shy disposition might have dissuaded him from pushing himself forward earlier. In 1862 he secured a post on the Lord’s staff, a much sought after placement because it provided regular work during the summer and was reasonably well paid. As a consequence Wootton actually played more matches in his career for MCC (83) than he did for his county (52). The disparity in terms of wickets taken was even greater with 564 for MCC compared with only