All Ten: The Ultimate Bowling Feat

74 Arthur Fielder Players v Gentlemen, 1906 Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood on 9, 10, 11 July 1906 (3-day match) Toss won by Gentlemen Gentlemen won by 45 runs Umpires: J Moss, JE West Gentlemen 167 (A Fielder 10-90) and 321 (RH Spooner 114, WS Lees 6-92); Players 199 (NA Knox 5-73) and 244 (NA Knox 7-110) Gentlemen first innings RH Spooner b Fielder 5 HK Foster b Fielder 10 PA Perrin lbw b Fielder 2 *FS Jackson c Lilley b Fielder 40 BJT Bosanquet c Lilley b Fielder 56 KL Hutchings c Lilley b Fielder 2 JN Crawford b Fielder 0 GL Jessop b Fielder 12 +H Martyn c Haigh b Fielder 26 NA Knox not out 6 W Brearley b Fielder 0 Extras (b 6, nb 1, w 1) 8 Total (all out, 58.5 overs) 167 Fall of wickets 1-13, 2-15, 3-28, 4-107, 5-109, 6-109, 7-127, 8-161, 9-167, 10-167 Players bowling : A Fielder 24.5-1-90-10, JR Gunn 13-5-15-0, S Haig 5-2- 11-0, WS Lees 5-1-15-0, W Rhodes 11-3-28-0 Players: TW Hayward, FL Bowley, JT Tyldesley, D Denton, EG Hayes, W Rhodes, JR Gunn, AFA Lilley (capt, wk), WS Lees, S Haigh, A Fielder Arthur Fielder is the only bowler to have taken an all-ten in the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord’s, one of the great matches of the year, and in years when there were no Tests (such as 1906), the great match. Fielder was a strong, hardworking fast bowler, able to move the ball away and occasionally bring it back. He only played for England six times, but on his second tour to Australia took 25 wickets in four Tests and must be considered unlucky never to have been capped again. Born near Tonbridge in 1877, he became a regular member of the Kent team at the advanced age of 26. In the wet summer of 1903 seventy wickets was a good performance for a fast bowler, and with England short of pace he was selected to tour Australia with Pelham Warner’s MCC side the following winter. Back in England, Fielder had a good season in 1904 but struggled in 1905 and his quantum leap in performance in 1906 must have come as some surprise. The 172 wickets he took for Kent, at the time a county record, were largely instrumental in them winning the Championship for the first time.