History of Bucks CCC

O M R W Average 1895 Nash 186.4 67 374 47 7.96 Wright 174.3 83 273 25 10.92 1896 Nash 405.1 148 716 65 11.02 Wright 402.4 214 492 42 11.71 1897 Nash 408.1 120 913 62 14.73 Wright 452.2 238 618 55 11.24 If Nash was the bigger wicket taker Wright’s economy rate is especially notable, and across the three seasons more than half his five-ball overs were maidens. George Nash had made his mark with Lancashire before coming to Bucks. His career had not been an entirely happy one. Short in stature, he was a slow left-arm bowler who spun the ball sharply, but he had a distinctive action that aroused comment as to its legality. In 1879, after earlier engagements with Worcester CC, Barrow-in-Furness and Accrington, he signed for Lancashire, for whom he made 54 appearances, returning career figures of 232 wickets at an average of 12.35. It was Nash’s misfortune that his time with the county coincided with that of John Crossland, whose action caused much greater furore, not least because he was one of the fastest bowlers in England. Controversy raged and Nash was swept up in it. Matters reached a head in 1885 when Lord Harris, as captain of Kent and with the support of his committee, refused to allow his county to play Lancashire at Tonbridge. Crossland was soon hounded out of the game on the technicality that living in Nottingham in the winter infringed his residential qualification for Lancashire, and Nash’s career likewise came to an end in 1885 under a cloud of suspicion that he was a chucker, Lancashire by this time having less need of his services as another left-arm bowler, Johnny Briggs, was just embarking on his illustrious career. After a time working as a publican in Darwen, Nash, who had been born at Oving near Aylesbury, found his way back south. His appointment as a coach at Eton College enabled him to secure a playing contract for Bucks as all the county’s matches were then played in the school holidays. So, already well into his forties, he began a minor counties career that became more intermittent after 1900 as he struggled with ill health. George Nash’s last season for Bucks was 1903, when he played in three of the eight matches. He died in November of that year at the age of only 53. George Nash was the first bowler from all the minor counties to capture 100 championship wickets, a feat he achieved in only his ninth match. It came with the disputed boundary catch against Oxfordshire. Nash’s career record for Bucks - 259 wickets at 13.25 - bears comparison with any bowler who has succeeded him. Frank Edwards alone could claim superiority, and even he must yield to Nash the record for 24 The first professionals George Nash