Lives in Cricket No 17 - Fuller Pilch

The match at Sheffield on 8, 9 and 10 September had originated in a challenge to the rest of England from William Woolhouse, proprietor of the Darnall ground. To make the affair even more attractive to paying customers, the Sheffield side was converted into ‘Three Counties’ and incorporated players from Nottingham, Leicester as well as Sheffield, so that it became an early version of North v South. As expected, large crowds gathered to watch and it was reported in the Sheffield Chronicle that, on the second day, ‘several ladies also contributed by their presence to enliven the scene’, perhaps the nineteenth century equivalent of the T20 cheerleaders of today. Despite his previous outings for Leicester, Fuller was engaged to play for England and the cocky northerners were put in their place by the cream of southern England’s cricketers who won by an enormous 242 runs, thanks to the round-arm bowling of Lillywhite taking twelve wickets and Broadbridge taking seven, with one run out. On the batting side Fuller excelled by top scoring in both innings with 49 and 56, his second innings described by the Chronicle as: ‘Pilch again made a tremendous innings, several bowlers were tried but all to no purpose. Rawlins bowled a few overs. In one of them, Pilch got three four strokes, which excited a murmur against Rawlins, while all admired the ease which the batsman displayed.’ Seeking to cash in on the South’s victory in the north, Charles Leech gave an indication of how much the Bury Club valued the services of Fuller Pilch by issuing a challenge on his behalf to Thomas Marsden of Sheffield to a single wicket contest, for £50 or £100 a game. Naturally the Yorkshireman was interested but Fuller did not feel ready for the challenge and it would be another five years before the contest took place when, due to further successes of both batsmen, it would be for the title ‘Champion of England’. Bury St Edmunds defeat MCC 28