Lives in Cricket No 24 - Edgar Willsher

57 old George Freeman, rapidly replacing Tarrant as the fastest and straightest bowler in the land. The attack was completed by Alfred Shaw of Nottinghamshire, who celebrated his 26th birthday on the trip out, and James Lillywhite junior, cousin of Edgar’s old friend John and later the England captain in the first-ever Test match in 1877. Both Shaw, medium-pace right-arm, and Lillywhite, slow- medium left-arm, were renowned for their niggardly accuracy, and would make a perfect foil for the more explosive talents of Freeman and Tarrant. As it transpired, the latter was to be called on infrequently throughout the tour, and indeed his powers had finally started to wane; less than two years later he was dead from pleurisy at the age of 31. The core of the batting was the Surrey opening partnership of Tom Humphrey and Harry Jupp, enthusiastically dubbed the ‘Siamese twins’ by the Montreal Gazette . Humphrey, known as the ‘Pocket Hercules’ due to his diminutive stature – although not quite the 4 ft 4 in claimed by the Gazette – was slightly more dashing than Jupp, who picked up the sobriquet of ‘Young Stonewall’. Both had compiled two first-class hundreds during the season just finished, with Jupp the leading scorer with 965 runs at 24.74. After these two, the best of the remainder was Cambridgeshire’s John Smith, a Captain of England Willsher’s men. The All-England Eleven which played six matches in the United States and Canada in September and October 1868. Standing (l to r): J.Rowbotham, A.Shaw, G.Freeman, E.Willsher (capt), G.F.Tarrant, H.Jupp, E.W.Pooley (wk). Seated: H.R.J.Charlwood, G.Griffith, J.Smith, Jas.Lillywhite jun, T.Humphrey.