hours at the match on the second day. And it would have been unlike Clarke to miss out on the financial aspects of a holiday game, such as Fourteen of MCC v AEE in 1851, with Arthur Haygarth of Scores and Biographies fame in the MCC team and the outgoing and incoming batting champions Pilch and Parr in the AEE side. Wisden and Parr had also excelled in the North v South match of 1855, a contemporary fixture then of greater importance than Gentlemen v Players. Whitsun, however, tended to miss out on the important single-wicket matches between 1800 and 1848. Three of Alton met Three of Winchester in Whit week 1833 and on Whit Saturday 1844 Pilch and Martingell opposed each other when The Lions met The Crowns in a three-a-side match at the Beverley Ground, Canterbury. But the great contests, such as Pilch and Marsden and Alfred Mynn and Nicholas Felix, took place at other times of the year. Glorious weather greeted this making of history between the rival elevens on Whit Monday 1 June 1857, the first of three days. Spectators began arriving at 9.30am for the noon start and the crowd was estimated at 10,000, tavern staff doing a brisk trade as they sold pots of ale around the ground. Parr used a two-shilling piece for the toss and Wisden, calling correctly, chose to bat. By 3.25 United were all out for 143, Caffyn top-scoring with 38 and Jackson, 6ft and 14 stone, taking six for 31. The teams then dined on roast beef and plum pudding at Mr Dark’s residence and play did not resume until 4.45pm. By the close AEE had lost seven wickets for 136, Stephenson making 51 before being caught and bowled by his Surrey colleague Caffyn. Parr, 20, at close of play, remained undefeated with 56 on the second morning when AEE were dismissed for 206. Caffyn took seven for 69 but Wisden, handicapped by a thigh injury, could only deliver nine overs. AEE led by 63 and United began their second innings disastrously, losing three wickets for 19, including Caffyn who suffered a blow in the ribs from the fearsome bowling of Jackson. Bell made 33 but the innings closed for 140, Willsher five for 45. AEE were seven without loss at the close and they reached their target of 78 for the loss of five wickets on a shower-interrupted final day. Parr, who was missed twice, finished on 19 not out and thus had the distinction of being unbeaten in both innings. Although the game did not quite live up to the hype and expectations it proved to be absorbing – more than 20,000 attended over the three days - and produced £140 for the Cricketers’ Fund. Thus the annual fixture was established, although it was 1860 before the teams met again at Whitsuntide, AEE winning a low-scoring match in which Parr made 55 and George Tarrant, who rivalled Jackson for pace, took six for 28 in United’s first innings. Between 1862 and 1866 it settled as a Lord’s holiday event. Robert Carpenter was presented with a new bat following his unbeaten 63 which formed half of United’s first innings total in 1862 and a year later their batsmen had a torrid time against Jackson on a hard, fiery pitch parched by a lengthy drought. George ‘Ben’ Griffith lacked Jackson’s speed but the AEE found the Surrey man’s left-arm bowling a handful and his match analysis of ten for 73 had much to do with United’s 70-run victory. This game was significant for the Press. Until then journalists attempted to position themselves near to the scorers and were frequently jostled by the crowd but in 1863 a room was made available exclusively for them at the St John’s Wood Tavern. One of the best matches took place in 1864. United needed 204 in the fourth innings – an immense task on the Lord’s pitch notorious for its poor quality. On a final day of sweltering heat they lost two wickets for 10 and a third fell before Mortlock, the Surrey Stonewall and Yorkshire’s Roger Iddison staged an aggressive fightback. They carried the score to 126 before Mortlock was out for 65, including an all-run seven after hitting the The Best v The Best 15