Lives in Cricket No 24 - Edgar Willsher

27 Chapter Six At Enville Hall Ned made sure he seized the opportunity with both hands, and played no fewer than 15 of the 23 AEE matches in 1854, all against odds. In the eleven matches in which he was called on to bowl, he took a total of 58 wickets, which may not seem a lot against teams of 18 or 22, but the fact was that Clarke tended to put himself on to bowl non-stop at one end, leaving his minions to fight it out for the remaining scraps from the other. Willsher, although now 25 and approaching his peak, was still the junior player, and had done enough for the time being to keep his place for the foreseeable future. The highlight for him was a fifteen-wicket match haul against Sleaford, along with a top score of 20 in the AEE’s second innings. There was a certain amount of resentment against Clarke for supposedly taking key players away from county matches, but this was far from the case for Willsher, as he assisted Kent in all four of its matches that year. The thriller of the season was the return game against Sussex at Gravesend, with the visitors, after Wisden had bowled all seven of his second-innings victims, scraping home by three wickets in pursuit of a target of 94. Willsher had contributed five for 41 off 39.3 four-ball overs, but hard as he tried, he could make no difference in this or any other county fixture, as all four were lost. He would have derived much greater satisfaction from his mid-season appearance for his home town against the AEE at Mote Park. Alfred Mynn made 42 to give Maidstone a first innings lead of 23, and then took two for 11 as the AEE collapsed at the second attempt. Willsher played a full part with four wickets in an easy ten-wicket victory. Edgar continued to be a regular with the AEE in 1855 and 1856, and indeed his performances in minor matches continued to provide his bread and butter throughout his career. Willsher’s schedule for July 1855 provides a perfect illustration: 2 Salisbury AEE v 18 of South Wiltshire 5-7 Reading AEE v 22 of Reading 9-10 Enville Hall AEE v Earl of Stamford’s 22