Lives in Cricket No 17 - Fuller Pilch

matches which would be considered first-class today, and many that would not but where the quality of the players rather than the names of the teams had been the guide. The figures show that there was a decline in batting averages from 1780 to 1798, but after 1799, as batsmen improved their technique, the figures showed a steady increase. From 1799 to 1815 there were 17 averages over 30, from 1816 until 1826 there were 25 averages over 30, including three over 50 and eleven over 40. It is clear that bowlers in the early years of the nineteenth century were finding it increasingly difficult to keep batsmen from scoring. A new bowling method was needed. Some adventurous bowlers realised that by extending the arm further away from their bodies, but still with the hand below the elbow, and then swinging the arm forward, they could significantly increase the speed of their deliveries. The next step was to raise the arm into a horizontal position, draw it further back and use a wide-sweeping motion to hurl it towards the wicket, thereby achieving real pace. To many this looked suspiciously like ‘throwing’ and the practice was frowned upon as it caused bad feelings between teams who had bowlers using the new method, called ‘straight-arm‘, and those that did not. It was banned at Lord’s but refused to go away and in 1816 MCC introduced a new Law intended to eliminate it from the game entirely: ‘The ball must be delivered underhand, not thrown or jerked, with the hand below the elbow at the time of delivering the ball. If the arm is extended straight from the body, or the back part of the hand be uppermost when the ball is delivered, or the arm extended horizontally, the umpire shall call no ball.’ Many umpires were puzzled by the wording of the new Law and disagreed on how it was to be applied. Practitioners of straight-arm bowling, or ‘round-arm’ as it soon became known, refused to admit defeat and abandon their methods despite MCC disapproval. In fact, the method gained in popularity and began to spread slowly around the counties, in particular at Brighton where Sussex, with William Lillywhite bowling slow-medium round-arm and James Broadbridge using the faster version, developed into the leading team of the 1820s. Reformers at Lord’s forced the diehards to reconsider their opposition and in 1827 three experimental matches were arranged between Sussex, who were allowed to bowl round-arm, and a team under the title ‘All England’ selected by MCC from the best players available, including the up-and-coming Fuller Pilch as an all-rounder. All the players were expected to abide by the latest numbered version of the Laws but only the ‘All England’ bowlers were to be bound by Law 10 which had been rewritten but was even more confusing than before: ‘The ball must be bowled (not thrown or jerked) and delivered underhand with the hand below the elbow. But if the ball be jerked or the arm extended from the body horizontally, and any part of the back of the hand be uppermost, or the hand horizontally extended when the ball shall be delivered, the umpire shall call “No Ball”.’ 12 Bowling revolution