Lives in Cricket No 37 - William Clarke

61 Caffyn skirts round the fact that Mynn was at one time bankrupt, as well as having been in prison for debt. By 1846 his all-round expertise as a fast bowler and hurricane hitter was in decline, but Clarke’s decision was a wise move. Mynn was bowled sparingly in All-England matches and, though he often created excitement by hitting boundaries, his occupation of the crease was sadly sometimes brief. Clarke however was happy to have his presence in the squad, because of his drawing powers, even if towards the end, Mynn merely officiated as the team’s umpire. Nominally Mynn was an amateur; indeed he represented Gentlemen v Players at Lord’s from 1832 to 1852. He had been born at Goudhurst in 1807 and was therefore 39 at the time of the Sheffield match: from 1834 to 1859 he appeared in representative matches for his native Kent. He died at Southwark in 1861. Villiers Shallet Chernocke Smith was the other amateur in Clarke’s side, standing in for the absent Felix. Educated at Winchester College, he was born at Plymouth in 1821 and was in the school XI for five years to 1843 when he was nearly 22. He went up to Oxford University, playing against Cambridge at Lord’s for four years, being captain in 1846 and 1847. He was the highest scorer for Oxford in the 1846 match. On ordination he retired from major cricket and did not play for a county side. Smith died in 1871. Fuller Pilch was the outstanding batsman of his era. Haygarth considered him the best he had seen: ‘His style of batting was very commanding, extremely forward and he seemed to crush the best bowling by his long forward plunge before it had time to shoot, or rise, or do mischief by catches.’ Caffyn agrees, though he adds: ‘Pilch was exceedingly good tempered, and very kind to all young players with whom he came in contact. He was a remarkably quiet man, with no conversation and seemed never happier than when behind a churchwarden pipe, all by himself.’ Born in Norfolk in 1804, he was paid to move to Kent in the mid-1830s and played for the latter county from 1836 to 1854. From 1827 to 1849 he appeared for Players v Gentlemen at Lord’s. Pilch died in Canterbury in 1870. (The ACS published a biography of Fuller Pilch, by Brian Rendell, in this series in 2010.) Joseph Guy is described by Richard Daft as ‘after Pilch perhaps the most stylish batsman of his day.’ He, it was reported, sacrificed runs for the sake of his style and didn’t attack the bowling with the skill of Pilch. However, he was chosen for the Players v Gentlemen from 1838 to 1852, which demonstrates the MCC’s opinion of his skill. Born in Nottingham in 1813, he played for his native county from 1837 to 1854 and died in 1873. William Hillyer was called the best of all bowlers and certainly in the mid- 1840s he had no equal as a medium-fast round-arm performer; he was the leading wicket-taker in first-class cricket in seven consecutive seasons from 1842 to 1848. Caffyn is full of praise: ‘A splendid bowler was the famous Billy Hillyer of the Kent eleven, being one of the very best of the early round-arm bowlers. He bowled medium pace and had a big break from the leg. He obtained many wickets in the slips by bowling on, or just outside the off stumps, and making the ball go away. I used to find him Leaving Trent Bridge