Lives in Cricket No 37 - William Clarke

40 First Matches with Sussex and the Consequences of the Nottingham Journal . The reply simply stated that an agreement had already been made to play at Leicester, but MCC were happy to consider Nottingham for any future match. So the match took place on the Wharf Street Ground at Leicester. A great many Nottingham cricket supporters went to Leicester for the game – some had to make the journey on foot as all the available horse-drawn transport was booked up. Other Nottingham supporters found all the accommodation in Leicester was taken and had to seek bed and lodgings overnight in Loughborough. There were numerous complaints in the Nottingham newspapers. These were compounded by the following report in the Leicester Herald : Every one seemed gratified if we except the Nottingham visitors. … Lillywhite was rather unsuccessful with the bat, but he made amends in knocking down the consequences of the Nottingham players, several of whom we consider only second-raters. It was drily observed at the termination of this innings, that ‘had the match been played on the Sands at Nottingham, not one of the South players would have been allowed to return into Kent and Sussex to tell the tale’. Upon the whole we feel delighted at the issue, for it has done one thing, lowered the pride of the Nottingham players. They appeared to us complete second-rates, and when matched by the beautiful fielding of the South had very little chance indeed. They must never again think of calling a public meeting at Nottingham, with the Mayor in the Chair, and talk such nonsense and fulsome stuff about the invulnerable players of Nottingham. They may challenge a county town but Sussex and Kent are too much for them. The Leicester newspapers don’t appear to acknowledge the fact that Barker (who took 11 wickets at Lord’s) was unable to bowl due to a sprain: he did, though, open the batting for the North. The South won by 218 runs, William Lillywhite taking 11 wickets in the match, but the star of the game was Alfred Mynn, the Kent amateur, who hit 125 not out in the second innings. Mynn had damaged his leg in practice prior to his innings and should not have batted. This was in the days before pads – Redgate’s fast deliveries hit him on the damaged leg on several occasions (Mynn employed a runner). So badly bruised was the leg that he was unable to play again for over a year. Would he have survived so long at the crease if Barker had bowled in harness with Redgate? In consequence of the use of Leicester as the venue, Clarke declined to play; he hadn’t bowled at Lord’s and his place was taken by William Garrat, who won praise for his batting at Leicester: ‘The batting of Garrat we cannot refrain from noticing, it was admired by everyone and his runs were got in a masterly style’ ( Nottingham Review) . Also missing from the Northern eleven at Leicester were the two Cambridge players, their places being occupied by the Nottingham amateur George Rothera, and James Dearman of Sheffield.