Lives in Cricket No 17 - Fuller Pilch

tutorship of so able and brilliant an expositor and illustrator of the object of his adoration.’ There is no record of Fuller’s residence in Canterbury at this time and it would be another eight years before the Census of 1851 pins him down. What is certain is that he would no longer have time to augment his earnings by serving as a landlord at a local inn. That was an occupation to which he would not return until retirement in 1855. Spring 1843 arrived and the duo of Fuller Pilch and William Martingell concentrated on coaching the members for Beverley Club matches during May and June. Then it was time for them to play in the Club and Ground games at Leeds on 12 June and Swingate the following day against teams that included both Mynn brothers. Then Fuller went off alone to play for MCC at Lord’s against Midland Counties on 19 and 20 June where he found himself facing given-man Alfred Mynn for the third time in a week. Then Fuller, Martingell and Mynn had to join forces for three games for Kent at Brighton, Lord’s and Canterbury. To everyone’s amazement Kent lost the first one in the last week of June, a victory for Sussex after ten consecutive defeats. Chasing 162 runs to win, the resolute batting of Fuller had almost turned the tide until he ran out of partners and finished on 34 not out, with Kent just 20 runs short. Fuller and Mynn faced each other for a fourth time at Canterbury on 6 and 7 July when an East Kent team met West Kent. At Lord’s on 10 and 11 July, Kent struggled to beat England by three wickets, although Fuller top-scored with 37 out of 113 in the first innings. In the return match with Sussex, at Canterbury on 13, 14 and 15 July, order was restored and Kent won by 116 runs. Fuller was soon back at Lord’s for MCC against England on 17, 18 and 19 July, where he top-scored in MCC’s second innings with 43 out of 160. Then it was back to Canterbury for a Club and Ground match against Leeds Park on 24 and 25 July, when an unbeaten 89 for Fuller, ‘amid tremendous plaudits’, saw Beverley home to an innings victory despite some fine bowling from Mynn. The Kentish Gazette said ‘Pilch, the Kentish hero, defied all the efforts of that excellent bowler.’ This was followed by the Gentlemen v Players match that began on July 31 and won again by the Gentlemen, this time by an innings and 20 runs, despite Fuller’s top score of 43 out of 99 in the Players’ second innings. At last it was time for the second Canterbury Cricket Week where the Gazette reported ‘premises adjoining the ground have been obtained as dressing-rooms, and arrangements made for enclosing the ground on all match days of public interest, and admission tickets free issued only to the members and subscribers.’ Refreshments were organised by the landlord of the Globe Tavern, which was also used as the club house. Enjoying these new facilities, Kent beat England by nine wickets on 7 and 8 August, thanks to another unbeaten innings from Fuller with 57 out of Kent’s first innings of 152 and Mynn and Hillyer sharing 17 wickets. On 11 and 12 August Fuller was in Sussex to play for Lord Winterton’s Shillinglee side against the Brighton Club in Brighton. Then it was back to 82 William Martingell joins Fuller at Canterbury