Lives in Cricket No 17 - Fuller Pilch

Chapter Twenty-Four Umpire, coach, groundsman, bat-maker and mine host Fuller remained groundsman at the St Lawrence Ground for which he received £20 a year, but without the regular payments coming in from match appearances, apart from occasional engagements to stand as umpire at only £1 a match and irregular requests for the manufacture of cricket bats and other accessories, 18 he needed to find some new employment to provide a steady income. He was still in partnership with nephew William as tailors in Canterbury but there may not have been enough custom for them to work together full-time, even if Fuller did have more time available. They considered the options very carefully and came up with the perfect solution. Although Fuller had many years experience as landlord of an inn or tavern, taking on such a responsibility again on his own at his age might have been too much for him. But if William joined him to share the workload they would be taking over an established business with a clientele of regular customers which could be increased by exploiting Fuller’s celebrity status while he continued to make and supply cricket equipment. There was the added advantage of free accommodation for Hephzibah and little Alfred as well, and when the opportunity came to move into the Saracen’s Head on Burgate Street, near the centre of Canterbury, just outside the city wall, they didn’t hesitate. The exact date of their move is not clear but an announcement appeared in a Canterbury Business Directory for 1855: F. & W.PILCH (Successors to J.E.Bassenden) SARACEN’S HEAD INN, 73 Burgate Street, Canterbury. F. and W. P. respectfully inform their Friends and the Public generally, that they have taken the above OLD ESTABLISHED INN, where it will be their duty to accommodate their friends, and all who may honour them with a visit, in a manner that shall ensure their comfort and satisfaction. Genuine Superior Liquors of all kinds, choice old Wines, Scotch ales, bottled Porter, etc, etc. Excellent well-aired beds. Capital Stall Stabling and Coach House. N.B. Cricket Bats, Balls, Leggings, and every requisite for Cricketing 117 18 The development of the cane-handled bat, turned using machinery, by Thomas Nixon in 1853, ensured that bat-making became a largely ‘workshop’ activity carried out by several men working together. This gradually brought to an end the business of individual bat-makers working at home which Fuller had sometimes practised in the past. Later on the trade became even more specialised and ‘workshop-bound’ when makers started to insert strips of rubber or whalebone into handles to reduce jarring.