Lives in Cricket No 17 - Fuller Pilch

An interval was taken for ‘dinner’. Fuller hit three runs from the first ball after play restarted at 4.25 pm, and one wonders what he had just eaten to give him the strength and energy to strike the ball far enough away from Marsden to be able to run six lengths of the pitch while the bowler pursued and returned the ball. But two balls later a ball struck Fuller on the leg and went on to his stumps. Marsden’s second innings started at 5 pm and he played seven balls without scoring before lifting the ball up into the hands of Fuller for an easy catch. Marsden’s efforts were summed up succinctly in the Norwich Mercury as: ‘it appeared to us that he was no match for Pilch; he could not get his balls away.’ The challenge had been expected to take at least two, if not three, days. The Mercury commented: ‘There is only one point that gives cause for regret; it is that Fuller Pilch, in spite of his victory, is likely to be a considerable loser, arising from the short time the game lasted. This however we hope will be in some way lightened, as at the moment we go to press a most capital double wicket match is going on upon the ground.’ The two teams included both Fuller and Marsden, plus the two umpires Caldecourt and Dark, the promoter of the return challenge at Sheffield, Woolhouse, and the Pilch brothers, Nathaniel and William. The scorecard for this impromptu game was not recorded. 38 Champion of England, Part One