A HISTORY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 



the success of Notts, has not been uniform need 

 occasion no surprise. In the heyday of triumph 

 the slow methods of run-getting deliberately 

 adopted by the principal batsmen alienated much 

 local support, while in a county mainly de- 

 pendent on professional talent a good deal of 

 friction frequently occurred. These things are, 

 however, but slight blots on the success of the 

 midland county, a success in no small measure 

 due to its good fortune in possessing such a fine 

 cricket ground as that at Trent Bridge. 



Two of the earliest recorded county fixtures 

 in connexion with Notts., although nominally 

 restricted to the chief town, are the matches 

 which took place in 1789 between Nottingham 

 and Leicester at Loughborough, that place 

 being equidistant from the two county towns. 

 In the first match the bat completely beat the 

 ball, Nottingham being dismissed for 31 and 

 23, while Leicester totalled 70. The return, 

 known in cricket history as the ' odd notch 

 game,' was played a month later, when Not- 

 tingham lost by i run. In 1791 M.C.C. beat 

 XXII of Notts, by 13 runs. Notts, took re- 

 venge on Leicester in 1800, for Chapman and 

 Warsop bowled the latter out for 1 5 and 8, 

 eleven noughts being on the score sheet. On 

 29 September of the same year Nottingham for 

 the first time met Sheffield, and the same pair 

 of bowlers sent back the Yorkshire visitors 

 for 24 and 22. On 3 November a match 

 arranged between Nottingham and XXII of 

 Sheffield ended quite as decisively. The Sporting 

 Magazine of 1815 says ' such is the ardour of 

 the Nottingham cricketers about this time that 

 on Monday and Tuesday in Christmas week 

 Mansfield played Mansfield Woodhouse a two- 

 day match.' 



In 1817 XXII of Nottingham beat England 

 by 30 runs. The match was said to have been 

 ' sold ' on both sides. Lord F. Beauclerk had a 

 finger broken (and lock-jaw nearly surpervened) 

 in trying to stop an angry overthrow from 

 Sherman, whom he had rebuked for slackness. 

 Bentley was given run out so unfairly that the 

 umpire was changed. Mr. E. H. Budd caught 

 out nine opponents. Fourteen thousand specta- 

 tors witnessed this acrimonious game, and ' it was 

 arranged to stop each night at seven as it was the 

 time of the Cuddite riots.' 



The ground at Trent Bridge was opened by 

 Clarke in 1839, and the first big match was 

 played there in 1842. M.C.C. had declined to 

 proceed with their game against Notts., so Fuller 

 Pilch decided to play witli his All England 

 Eleven. His side, composed of Box, Dean, Dor- 

 rington, Hawkins, Hillyer, Lillywhite, Mr. A. 

 Mynn, Fuller Pilch, Hon. F. Ponsonby, Sewell, 

 and Wenman, was victorious by ten wickets, scor- 

 ing 218 and 5 for o against 115 and 110 made 

 by Notts. By this time matters had advanced 

 beyond the stage when in a Nottingham and 



Sheffield match the Nottingham umpire called 

 'no ball' whenever a straight one was bowled. 

 Clarke was the ' general ' of the Notts team. 

 His career was remarkable, for though he repre- 

 sented his town as far back as 1 8 1 6, he did not 

 appear at Lord's until 1836, and was not chosen 

 to represent the Players until he was forty-seven. 

 He was a successful manager of the All England 

 Eleven, and did more to popularize cricket than 

 anyone before Dr. W. G. Grace. Caffyn has 

 observed that Clarke as a bowler must have been 

 the counterpart of the old Hambledon bowlers. 

 He had had his right eye destroyed at fives, and 

 bowled a wicket with his very last ball a few 

 months before his death. In early life he was a 

 bricklayer ; he later became a landlord. 



George Parr, known as ' the lion of the north,* 

 was a magnificent bat, very sound in his defence,, 

 and he certainly hit more balls to leg than any 

 other cricketer. It is curious that though he was 

 an excellent captain he never liked the game 

 and took no interest in it after his retirement. 

 Possibly he alone found no gratification in being 

 on the victorious side in 1847 wnen Notts, beat 

 All England by ten wickets. In 1852 the 

 county was again victorious, this time by 27 runs,, 

 thanks to the bowling of a colt named Bickley 

 who claimed eight wickets in the second innings. 

 Great enthusiasm was aroused by the defeat of 

 Surrey by ten wickets that year ; Parr was the 

 principal scorer with 69. The friction of those 

 days is revealed by the fact that none of Clarke's 

 men were chosen by M.C.C. to play for England 

 against Notts, at Trent Bridge in 1854, when 

 the nation won with ease. In 1859,31 the Oval> 

 Notts, made the then huge score of 320 against 

 Surrey, Parr getting 1 30 and Richard Daft, at 

 that time a colt, 52. Considering the local 

 keenness, it is a matter for surprise that the 

 form degenerated so much in Notts, for a time. 

 The county club was really in a slack state, but 

 in 1869 matters improved. In those days the 

 habitual programme was six county matches, out 

 and home. 



At this period there was an enormous gap 

 between Richard Daft and the rest of the team. 

 Originally appearing as an amateur, Daft reverted 

 to that status at the very close of his career : he 

 and Diver are the only men who have played 

 for both Gentlemen and Players. Richard Daft 

 succeeded Parr as captain, and was at his best as a 

 bat between 1861 and 1876. He played in ex- 

 ceptionally fine form, utilizing every inch of his 

 height, and being very strong in back play. No> 

 man ever shaped better to fast bowling, and it 

 was on him that Arthur Shrewsbury closely 

 modelled himself. In 1870, when scores were 

 much smaller than in more recent years, he 

 actually averaged 61. 



The death of Summers in the cricket field was 

 a tragic incident. In the two matches with 

 Kent, J. C. Shaw, a capital left-handed fast 



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