Lives in Cricket No 17 - Fuller Pilch

and avoided the fast bowling of Redgate. He was dismissed by Lillywhite in both innings, but top-scored with 39 out of 90 in the second innings while sharing a long partnership with Redgate in a failed attempt to avoid defeat. Fuller was back at Lord’s on 29 and 30 June as a given man for the Gentlemen of England, joining both Mynn brothers to play in a never-to-be-repeated match against an Old Etonian eleven assisted by Lillywhite, Cobbett and Hillyer. This fixture ended as a surprising win for the Old Etonians despite efforts from Fuller, who scored 57 of the total of 135 runs compiled by the Gentlemen in their two innings and Mynn, who took 11 Etonian wickets. MCC decided to stage another Fast Bowlers v Slow Bowlers match the following week with Fuller once more in the Fast Bowlers side which reversed the earlier result. After that, Fuller appeared on the opposite side to Beverley, playing for Dover in a match in early July which featured, according to its publicity, ‘twelve of the most celebrated players in England’, including Lillywhite, Wenman and Hillyer for Beverley and Mynn, Box, Clifford, Cobbett and Pilch for Dover. The home side won by five wickets thanks to an unbeaten 41 from Fuller in the second innings. Fuller had left Dover to go up to Lord’s to play in the Gentlemen v Players annual fixture on 12 and 13 July, won by the Players as usual, but narrowly by three wickets, thanks to Fuller’s top score of 32 in the second innings. He returned to Canterbury to help Beverley beat Dover by six wickets in the return match on July 15, 16 and 17 July, where the Kentish Gazette noted ‘A large party of fashionables honoured the field with their company [and the] playing was considered exceedingly good, and gave the highest satisfaction to the numerous spectators.’ Then it was time for Fuller to rejoin the Kent ranks for a six-wicket victory over Sussex at Town Malling on 22, 23 and 24 July, followed by successive wins over England at Lord’s by 70 runs on 26 and 27 July and at Town Malling by two wickets at the end of the month. These successes inspired the Kent promoters to approach the Beverley Club with a request to stage a third match on their new ground at Canterbury on 10, 11 and 12 August thereby spreading interest in county cricket from West into East Kent. It was a huge success on all three days of the match, as the Kentish Gazette commented: ‘About 4,000 persons assembled on the beautiful ground of the Beverley Cricketers, which was in as fine order as attention could make it.’ Fuller top-scored for Kent in their first innings with 43 out of 114 and Mynn took 11 wickets but, to the surprise of everyone, England won by 74 runs, with Kent collapsing to 31 all out in their second innings. Redgate took seven wickets in the match but failed to dismiss Fuller who fell to Lillywhite in both innings. Some Kent supporters had lost money in wagers on this outcome and rumours of a ‘fix’ began to circulate. The accusation was strenuously denied in the Kent Herald some months later: To any knowing the parties thus accused, and possessing either principle or honour, this rumour will seem preposterous, but as there 70 The growing influence of the Beverley Club