Famous Cricketers No 47 - John Wisden

a replacement for Tom Box, who had been seriously injured a few days prior to the game, is unknown, possibly not since Box was a wicket-keeper. In 1847 he continued to appear for Sussex and in mid-September made his debut for William Clarke’s All England Eleven at Leeds. 1848 saw what is believed to have been his first professional engagement with Capt. C. Alexander at The Auberies. The Auberies was a country house near Sudbury in Essex and for a number of seasons played high class cricket, entertaining strong M.C.C. and I Zingari sides, as well as such teams as Cambridge Town Club. Due to this engagement, Wisden played in only three of Clarke’s matches that summer. In 1849 Wisden went into partnership with George Parr, setting out a ground in Leamington Spa. They formed a new cricket club known as “Messrs. Parr and Wisden C.C.” The annual subscription was fixed at one guinea (£1.05). The ground was described as “a beautiful flat piece consisting of nine acres and kept in excellent condition”. It was situated south of the River Leam, due west of Adelaide Road and is now developed with housing. The first match of note probably took place on 6th August 1849 - I Zingari v Gentlemen of Warwickshire. At the end of August the pair staged a North v South game on their new ground. Wisden played in most of the major matches of 1849 and in eight All England games. 1850 and 1851 saw him fully engaged by Clarke - he appeared in 20 AEE games in 1850 and 30 in 1851. 1852 saw a complete change of direction. Did he have a row with Clarke? Did he simply find the constant travelling which all Clarke’s players had to endure just not worth the money? We don’t know. The start of that summer saw Wisden as the professional at Harrow School, where he was to remain for four seasons. At the same time he joined forces with his fellow Sussex cricketer, James Dean, to create a rival side to Clarke’s team. The new team, the United All England Eleven, was launched at Portsmouth on August 26, 1852 when the opponents were Twenty Gentlemen of Hampshire. Clarke was not amused and on September 7th, the fourteen professionals engaged by the new organisation made a declaration, stating they would never play in any match controlled by Clarke. The declaration had little or no effect on Clarke’s matches and as fixtures for the United Eleven grew in the next few summers, it was clear that there was plenty of scope for both teams. Finishing with his Harrow engagement in the summer of 1855, Wisden then went into partnership with Frederick Lillywhite, setting up a cricketing and cigar depot at 2 New Coventry Street, off Leicester Square. Fred Lillywhite was the publisher of the only major cricket annual of the day and the 1856 edition was published from the address of the new partnership. The firm however did not last long, Lillywhite moved to Kennington Oval and the 1860 edition appears from No. 15, Kenningon Oval, Surrey. The death of William Clarke in 1856 meant that the control of the All England Eleven was taken up by George Parr (who it will be remembered was Wisden’s partner in the Leamington Ground) and the relationship between the two rival professional teams became amicable. The annual match between the two was arranged at Lord’s and was for several seasons one of the most important fixtures. A note in Scores & Biographes under the UEE v Irnham Park match on June 21-23, 1858 states “Wisden began to bowl lobs at this time, as well as fast round-arm.” William Caffyn describes Wisden’s style in Seventy-One Not Out : “Wisden was the best fast bowler I ever saw for so small a man. His height was said to be 5 feet 4½ inches, but I should not think he stood even as high as that. ... He was a grand bowler, with, I 5