Lives in Cricket No 37 - William Clarke

89 both occasions. The Surrey v Nottinghamshire match at The Oval duly took place as advertised – the first time the two counties had ever met. It is perhaps worth listing the Notts players: William Clarke (capt), F.Tinley, Joe Guy, George Parr, Butler Parr, James Grundy, Samuel Parr, Charles Brown, George Butler, Thomas Nixon and Alfred Clarke. The Nottinghamshire umpire was Thomas Barker; R.C.Tinley was selected but unable to come, Alfred Clarke taking his place. Surrey won by 75 runs, Notts having collapsed to Daniel Day (seven for 22) in their first innings. On 11 September 1851 the All-England Eleven began a match at Newburgh Park, the ground of Sir George Wombwell, third baronet, near Ampleforth in North Yorkshire. England scored 144: Newburgh Park were dismissed for 79, with Clarke (ten for 49) and Wisden (nine for 27) bowling unchanged. Clarke bowled 30 overs, Wisden 29. England collapsed in their second innings, all out 29. Clarke and Wisden then began to demolish the home side in the second innings. Clarke had taken a further nine wickets and had begun his 33rd over when, in throwing a ball to Tom Box, the wicketkeeper, he seriously damaged his shoulder and had to retire from the match – England went on to win by 11 runs. He was unable to play in the next four matches, but As Centuries Blend , the history of Clydesdale C.C. on whose home ground the AEE met Scotland on 18, 19 and 20 September, notes: One disappointment was the absence from the England team of the masterful William Clarke; but he did his best to make up for that. He was indefatigable in circling the ground, explaining the game. If Clarke had played, the crowd might have seen something of the captaincy of which he was said to be capable. He re-appeared as an umpire at Teignbridge on 29 September and then played purely as a batsman in the last fixture of the season at Hove v Sixteen of Sussex. Fred Lillywhite in his 1852 Guide wrote: ‘It is a painful duty to record that he [Clarke] broke his shoulder bone which, at the time of writing this, it is thought will disable him from again lending his valuable assistance in the field.’ Fortunately the injury was not as severe as Lillywhite surmised and Clarke certainly proved that by bowling unchanged through the first innings of the first AEE match of 1852, delivering 49.2 overs and taking 12 wickets! Clarke took 84 wickets in first-class matches in the 1851 season, the most in his career. Some idea of William Clarke’s reputation in the cricket world in 1851 is demonstrated by the inclusion in a book Cricket Notes by William Bolland, President of I Zingari, and issued that season, of a final chapter by William Clark [sic]. This chapter is integral to the understanding of the famous cricketer and is reprinted in an Appendix to this volume. Simultaneously, The Cricket Field, by James Pycroft, was published. Like Nyren’s book, ‘Pycroft’ ran through a number of editions. Chapter IX of the original is entitled ‘Bowling – An Hour With Old Clarke’ and tends to follow the same message as Clarke’s chapter in Bolland’s book. Pycroft’s remarks are set out in full on page 77, above. Incredible Success of the All-England Eleven