All Ten: The Ultimate Bowling Feat

25 William Hickton when he had performed with some success, scoring 20 and 25 against a good Sussex attack. Despite the many fine bowlers who have performed for the county since, Hickton’s ten for 46 is still a Lancashire record. No other county innings bowling record has stood so long. It is still also (just) the best against Hampshire, although if Ottis Gibson (ten for 47) had been slightly more frugal at Chester-le-Street in 2007 that record would have gone. The Hampshire Advertiser reported that Hickton ‘received the usual reward’, which according to the Manchester Guardian was the ‘Queen’s portrait’. A sovereign, perhaps? Most of the bowling at the other end had been done by the captain’s brother who sent down 40 overs of economical but unsuccessful slow left-arm spin. Hickton, who had hit the stumps six times, would finish his career with 284 first-class wickets, of which over half (153) would be bowled. And he was capable of piercing better defences than those presented by the feeble Hampshire batting. The first time he encountered W.G.Grace (for Lancashire against M.C.C. in 1869) he had bowled the great man for six, as well as having him caught for a duck in the second innings. According to The Chronicle of W.G. by J.R.Webber (quoting The Daily Telegraph as his source), shortly before dismissing WG in the second innings, Hickton had an appeal turned down and his ‘prolonged open display of dissatisfaction with the umpire’s decision on the lbw was out of place and evinced bad taste’. Clearly, like many bowlers, Hickton could be roused to anger when things weren’t going well! The following season Hickton played for both Derbyshire and Lancashire. The newly formed Derbyshire County Cricket Club played two matches, both against Lancashire. Hickton played for them in both matches. In the first, at Old Trafford, Derbyshire won by an innings and 11 runs, largely due to the bowling partnership of Hickton, seven for 74, and Dove Gregory, nine for 55. Lancashire’s first innings score of 25 is still their lowest ever in first-class cricket. The pairing perhaps paved the way for other more famous Derbyshire pace bowling partnerships to follow. Sadly they had little chance to further this success because Gregory (confusingly also known as Gregory Dove) died two years later having taken 25 wickets in a four-match career. After 1871 Hickton played solely for Derbyshire, and was a regular member of the team until 1878. Involved with the Manchester Broughton Club for over thirty years, two years later he was still good enough to take eight wickets for them in their match against the Australian tourists. His cricketing days over, Bill Hickton became a butcher. He died in February 1900 in Lower Broughton, Manchester. His son, also William, played briefly for Worcestershire in 1909.