Lives in Cricket No 17 - Fuller Pilch

Fuller Pilch A Straightforward Man brian rendell lives in cricket acs Publications £12.00 Almost two hundred years after he first played at Lord’s, his distinctive name can still summon up images of batsmen who wore top hats and no pads, and bowlers who wore braces. Fuller Pilch was the leading batsman in England ‒ the world even ‒ for about a dozen years in the 1830s and 1840s, at the time of the great Reform Act, the young Queen Victoria and the expansion of the railways. Using his height, he was among the first batsmen to develop forward play into an effective means of countering the new art of round-arm bowling. Born in Norfolk, he developed his batting skills in East Anglia, but was eventually attracted to Kent where, at West Malling and in Canterbury, he was the cornerstone of that county’s first great elevens. County cricket was then limited in its scale and so, to make a living he travelled widely, taking part ‒ like a modern practitioner ‒ in matches in all kinds of formats. Naturally he played regularly for and against the gentlemen at Lord’s. But he also appeared in single-wicket games, village cricket, in the All- England Eleven against eighteens and twenty-twos under the gangmaster William Clarke, even in ‘three-a-sides’. Brian Rendell traces out the life of a quiet, dignified man, unaffected by and almost innocent of his celebrity, from his country beginnings to his poverty after the financial crisis of 1866. £12 l t ig tf i iv in c ic P ic io .0 lm t tw h re y rs after h first pla at L rd’s, his distin tiv c sti l s m u im of b ts w w re to h ts a n , a b lers w w re bra . F ler Pilc w th le in b ts in E la ‒ th w rld e ‒ for a t a d y rs in th 1 a , at th tim of th gre t R form A t, th y Q e Victoria a th e io of th railw . U in his h ig t, h w a th first ts to d lo forw rd pla into a e fe tiv m of c terin th art of ro -arm b lin . rn in N rfolk, h d lo his b tin s i ls in E t A lia, b t w tu ly a tra te to K t w re, at W t M lin a in C terb ry, h th c rn rsto of th t c ty’s first gre t ele . C ty cric t th limite in its s le a s , to m a livin h tra le wid ly, ta in p rt ‒ lik a m rn pra titio r ‒ in m tc in a l kin of form ts. tura ly h pla re larly for a a in t th g tle at L rd’s. t h als a p re in sin le-wic t g , vi la cric t, in th A l- la Ele a in t eig te a tw ty-tw u r th g ter i lia Clark , e in ‘thre -a-sid ’. ria R l tra o t th life of a q iet, dig ifi m , u fe te b alm t in t of his c le rity, fro his c try b in in to his rty after th fi ial crisis of 1 6. il r i r r li i i t a s bli ati s £12. 0 Al ost t o undr d ear ft r e r t l yed t or ’ , i i ti cti e name an till u on p i ages f at men ho or t p at nd o pads, nd owl r ho or r ces. ull r il h as t e l adi g at man i ngl nd t e orl ven f r bout ozen ear i t e 830s nd 1840s, t t e ti e f t e r at ef r ct, t e oung u n i t ri nd t e xpansi n f t e r il ays. si g i ei ht, e as mong t e r t bat men t evel p f r ar l y i t n f cti e eans f ount ri g t e new rt f r und- r owli g. Bor i orf l , e evel ped i a ti g kill i ast ngli , ut as event all tr ct d t ent her , t est alli g nd i ant r ur , e was t e or er t ne f t at ount ’ r t r at l vens. ount ri ket was t en li it d i it cal nd o, t ake li i g e tr vell d i el , t ki g art li e oder r c iti ner i at hes i ll i ds f f r at . Nat r ll e l yed r gul rl f r nd gai st t e entl men t or ’ . But e l o ear d i i gl - i ket ames, ill ge ri ket, i t e ll- Engl nd l ven gai st i ht ens nd t ent -t os nder t e angmast r illi m l r e, ven i ‘t r e- - i es’. Bri n endell tr ces ut t e lif f ui t, i ni ed an, na f ct d y and l ost i nocent f i el brit , fr m i ountr egi ni gs t i povert ft r t e nanci l ri i f 8 . £12