All Ten: The Ultimate Bowling Feat

22 George Wootton By mid-afternoon Yorkshire were following on. This time Wootton got more of a chance, bowling unchanged for 31 overs. Charles Appleton, not out in the first innings, consequently opened in the second (apparently an ancient custom which hadn’t yet quite died out). Yorkshire made a decent start but then two wickets fell at 50, including first-class debutant William Smith. Smith had taken four catches in England’s innings, but unfortunately he then supplemented this promising start with a pair. He had a curious career. Two years later he made 60 and 90 in successive innings, both against Lancashire, but in his other 17 first-class innings made just 110 runs. After Smith’s departure wickets fell steadily until the score reached 142 for six, at which point the tail capitulated rapidly, the last wicket, Hodgson again, falling at ten to seven. It had been an exciting finish, with the visitors’ hopes nearly frustrated by a 20-minute break for rain at 6 o’clock. After two innings in the match in which the stumps had been hit just twice Wootton had disturbed them a further six times. The only batsman that Wootton had failed to dismiss in the match was Thomas Darnton, who did his best to hold the Yorkshire innings together, making over half his side’s runs. (Bowling medium pace he had also taken three wickets in the England innings.) Surprisingly this was his only score of over 30 in a 20-match first-class career. County Durham- born like Smith, Darnton was another cricketer who did not survive to see his 40th birthday. As at The Oval in 1859 John Jackson again bowled unsuccessfully while a colleague took an all-ten, albeit that this time he only bowled seven overs. Wootton played in three more first-class matches in 1865, bowling 59 overs. Surprisingly he took no more wickets, but still finished with 84 in the season, a total only exceeded by James Lillywhite’s 87. Most of those playing at Bramall Lane would be past their best when the opportunity to play Test cricket arose, but two of the Yorkshire side had an indirect connection: Luke Greenwood was the uncle of Andrew Greenwood who played in the first Australia-England Test in March 1877, and William Cuttell’s son Willis made his name with Lancashire and appeared twice for England in South Africa in 1898/99. Wootton retired from county cricket in 1871 having decided that he was no longer good enough, although neither his captain nor the Nottinghamshire committee agreed. He remained on the MCC groundstaff for two more years, finishing his career with 983 wickets at 13 apiece. Wootton was clearly a well-respected figure. To mark his retirement MCC granted him as benefit the Whit Monday match between North and South. Over 10,000 paid at the turnstiles over the two days. He was not totally lost to the first- class game as he did some umpiring, standing in 30 matches between 1871 and 1883. Apparently he didn’t enjoy it very much, his quiet personality not suited to the kind of criticism directed at umpires when they make a mistake. Unlike some of his contemporaries George Wootton lived to a ripe old age, dying in 1924 in his 90th year. His Wisden obituary commented that he maintained an interest in the game and attended the 1921 Trent Bridge Test match, watching the play without wearing glasses!