Lives in Cricket No 24 - Edgar Willsher

22 the word ‘cadaverous’. Caffyn, on the other hand, while agreeing that ‘when in ordinary clothes he had not at all the appearance of an athlete’, said that he had ‘a very dark complexion’! This could perhaps be down to the then fashionable Abe Lincoln-style beard he sported for much of the second half of his career. However that may be, the fact that he pretty much walked up to the crease when bowling would have saved a lot of energy, and enabled him to keep going for long spells. There are certainly no records of injuries through his whole career, although there are occasional illnesses. He may of course have been stronger and more durable than he looked due to working on the family farm as a young man. W.G.Grace, in his book Cricket published in 1891, says that Willsher was ‘past his best’ when he first played against him; but he noted that ‘he walked quietly up to the crease when delivering the ball, and yet was able to bowl fast.’ His deliveries, in Grace’s description, ‘twisted in from the leg’. Lord Harris is also very disparaging about Edgar’s supposed lack of cricketing nous, claiming that: I do not think he had much idea of the science of the game, and beyond his own bowling never struck me as taking much interest in it … he had a curious, far-away look in his eyes, and used to look up at the sky as one talked to him. While photographs do tend to suggest a ‘far-away’ look, there is the possibility that Willsher may have been cross-eyed, explaining the fact that he appeared to be looking elsewhere when addressed. An alternative reason may be simply that, when listening to someone who could be as autocratic and overbearing as Lord Harris, the best policy was to avoid eye contact! Edgar must have had more between his ears than his Lordship suggests, as he held many positions of responsibility throughout his life, including the coveted England captaincy in 1868. He also mounted an eloquent defence of his bowling action when push came to shove at the end of the 1850s. At least Harris conceded that Willsher could bat, 7 and indeed 5,089 first-class runs at an average of 12.41 put him in the allrounder category for his times. Just as he was a wicket-taker who could bowl defensively, so he was also ‘a fine hitter’ who ‘had an excellent defence as well.’ Indeed Caffyn puts him among the great ‘stonewallers’, recalling his innings of 20 in nearly four hours playing for Kent and Surrey against England in 1855. Trevor Bailey himself would have been proud, and several times in his 7 Like his bowling, left-handed. Methods