Lives in Cricket No 37 - William Clarke

102 of abusive letters his original attack on Clarke provoked. Those spectators going to watch the All-England Eleven, however, would miss the familiar face of Nicholas Felix – rheumatism prevented him from playing, though he did make two appearances in late August, his final game being at Torquay v Twenty-Two of Devonshire. Whether or not he continued in his role as President of the All-England Eleven doesn’t seem to be recorded. William Martingell also left Clarke’s eleven, possibly by mutual consent after his caustic comments relating to Clarke in the press. Fuller Pilch also did not play in 1853, the Kent batsman having made just two outings in 1852. The two newcomers were Sam Parr, George’s brother and a practical joker, and Charles Arnold. A fast round-arm bowler, Arnold began his professional career with Bury St Edmunds aged 20 in 1842, although he was born and always lived in Cambridge. He stayed with the AEE just one summer, but Sam Parr would remain for years to come, much to the irritation of some of his fellow players, as Daft notes in Kings of Cricket. The first match of 1853 was at St Helens in Lancashire against the local twenty-two, but a week later came one of the most important matches ever played by Nottinghamshire – versus England at Lord’s. Lillywhite’s Guide comments that ‘The ground was attended by a great number of the aristocracy. The representatives of England were selected by Lord Charles Russell and were under the able management of W.Nicholson, Esq, while the county was guided by the experience of the Hon F.Ponsonby.’ The England team was thoroughly representative and included both Dean and Wisden. Clarke took eight wickets as did John Bickley; George Parr made the game’s highest score of 49, with Nottinghamshire winning by 27 runs. This victory resulted in Nottinghamshire being acclaimed the Champion County. Ponsonby later became the sixth Earl of Bessborough; he had played for Harrow and Cambridge and was a founding member of I Zingari. Clarke’s Practical Hints are dedicated to Ponsonby but the latter does not seem to be connected in any way directly to Nottinghamshire cricket. The Guide which covers the 1853 season states that Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club have C.Thornton as honorary secretary and J.Johnson as treasurer. It seems that Charley Brown had shamed the ‘gentlemen of Nottingham’ into putting the county club on a more stable footing! There followed seven successive All-England matches – lost three, won two, drawn two. The twenty-twos almost always had given men – three of the seven sides actually had three given men each. Clarke then played in the MCC-selected England team v Kent at Lord’s. Dean and several United Eleven men were also in the England side, but a fortnight later, when the North v South match was staged at The Oval, all the United players refused to represent their respective sides, because the match had been organized by Clarke. The same state of affairs applied when England opposed a combined Kent and Sussex eleven at Tunbridge Wells later that July. However, when England played their traditional fixture v Kent as part of the Canterbury festival, Clarke and Wisden, supposedly arch-enemies, bowled together unchanged through both Kent innings. Controversy