Lives in Cricket No 17 - Fuller Pilch

multitude hushed and expectant while the sun caught the glittering eyes of thousands of opera-glasses and binocles.’ Interest in the Gentlemen and Players game at Lord’s had been steadily declining as the gulf in standards between the two sides continued to be as wide as ever and the result never in question. The proprietor of Lord’s, James Dark, was unwilling to continue to lose money as paying customers stayed away and for the previous two years the matches had only taken place because Frederick Ponsonby, C.G.Taylor and Charles Bowdler had found ways to meet most of the expenses. But the 1841 game had been the closest for years and it seemed that the bad days were over and there would be no more talk of the fixture being abandoned. A big crowd turned up for the 1842 game. The Times reported that the ‘ground each day was crowded with spectators, but at the Pavilion we missed several sporting noblemen and gentlemen, who usually attend the enclosure to witness great matches, and who, it appeared, were at Goodwood. There was, however, a good sprinkling of fashionables and an immense number of the Marylebone and other fashionable clubs.’ The Gentlemen had not beaten the Players, when meeting on even terms, for 20 years, but at last the cycle was broken and they won by 95 runs. The Kent amateurs Felix and Mynn were the stars of the match, putting on 99 runs together in the Gentlemen’s second innings before Mynn fell to Lillywhite for 46 and Felix was eventually caught at cover for 88 with Bell’s Life noting ‘some of the finest hitting ever witnessed.’ Needing 163 runs to win the Players collapsed while only Fuller Pilch, ‘esteemed as one of the finest batsmen of the country’, could cope with the bowling of Mynn. As wickets fell around him, Fuller defended his stumps for as long as he could but was unlucky to be run out by some brilliant fielding after scoring six, and with him gone, all hope for the Players faded. Fuller just found time to fit in yet another game for Chalvington at Brighton on 29 and 30 July and then dash back to Town Malling to enjoy his Sunday day of rest before leaving for the start of the very first Canterbury ‘Cricket Week’. Canterbury was buzzing with excitement. All the hotels and lodging houses in the city were packed with visitors. The owners of estates nearby had taken the opportunity to fill their country houses with fashionable guests earlier than usual so that they could enjoy the novelty of ‘big-match’ cricket and its associated entertainments during the days before the established social activities of ‘Race Week’. It wasn’t long before everyone could see that the idea was a winner. The Kentish Observer was much impressed: Canterbury, during the last three days, has exhibited a scene of bustle and activity, quite unusual in this quiet region. Each day the Beverley Cricket Field has been crowded with spectators. At the theatre, the amateur performers, aided by the professional talents of Mrs Nisbett and Miss Jane Mordaunt, attracted fashionable and crowded audiences. ‘Othello Travestie’, with its broad humour, provoked peals of laughter The birth of Canterbury Cricket Week 76