A milestone on the way

foot of page William Clarke In at the deep end | A new Nyren | Old Clarke and the MCC | Old Clarke and the Players | Old Clarke and the AEE

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William Clarke

William Clarke

Harry Altham's History of Cricket is highly readable. Chapter 9 is entitled William Clarke and the First All-England Eleven, and Altham begins it by saying:

In the history of cricket, certain figures stand like milestones on the way.

He names a few, including WG, and then places William Clarke of Nottingham among them. I'd call Clarke a landmark on the way, and WG a monument. "Old Clarke", as he came to be known, was one of the most influential players ever, and he left an incalculable legacy. Clarke recognised the potential of the new railway network, and founded an entity called the All-England Eleven (the AEE), which travelled by rail to far-flung destinations where top-class cricket was hitherto unknown. In doing so, Clarke revolutionised cricket, and made himself a fortune.

C. L. R. James mentions Clarke only once. He is telling us that the Victorians recreated cricket in their own image, or in Thomas Arnold's image, and that they purged the game of bookies, and of those like Beauclerk who sold matches for money. James asserts that cricket in 1837, when Victoria succeeded William IV, was "still no more than a camp-follower in the life of the nation". During her reign, it became "a national institution". To get there, says James, cricket needed morals, manners, and virtue. He is not against money, as long as it's honest money. After all, the professionals and the ground staffs had to be paid, and MCC and the new county clubs needed profit. He then says:

...and in 1846 William Clarke organised the first itinerant All England XI to make money—he said so plainly.

And that was it in a nutshell. Clarke offered his players more than MCC would pay them, and took them by rail to showcase their skills before local spectators who could barely dream of going to Lord's. He was able to arrange lucrative matches, especially in the North, where the Lancashire and Yorkshire county clubs were founded in the early 1860s. While Clarke paid his players well, the match contracts were always enough to ensure a surplus, which Clarke kept for himself. Hence, as James says, Clarke made money, and said so plainly.

Clarke was born in Nottingham on Christmas Eve in 1798. He died in Wandsworth on 25 August 1856, aged 57. Like his contemporary William Lillywhite (1792–1854), he became both a bricklayer and an outstanding bowler. In 1819, aged twenty, he married Jane Wigley, landlady of the Bell Inn, and they had six children, including Alfred Clarke who became a noted player in his own right. Sometime in the 1820s, Clarke lost his right eye when he was struck by the ball during a game of fives.

Remembering the Ball of the Century.

Clarke's bowling style, learned from William Lambert, was right arm slow with an underarm action. Even after the roundarm revolution, he never changed his action. According to William Caffyn, who is quoted by Altham, Clarke took a very short run-up, and delivered the ball from about hip level. The ball was consistently spun from leg to off, following a "curved flight", achieving an "abrupt rise" from the pitch. Even the top batters like Nicholas Felix and Fuller Pilch would struggle against Clarke's deliveries, and he was sometimes unplayable. Puts me in mind of Shane Warne. Did Felix or Pilch ever look as if someone had nicked their lunch?

As a right-handed batter, Clarke was sometimes very useful, and he scored eight half-centuries. His highest score was 75, a big innings in those days of rough-track pitches, for the Players of Nottinghamshire against the Gentlemen of Nottinghamshire in July 1842. He seems to have been a competent fielder, and held 55 catches in his 143 appearances that CricketArchive recognise as first-class.

Clarke was a shrewd team captain, with great tactical expertise. He was also, as John Major put it, "short-tempered, and not above sharp practice".

Above all, although he was a great player, Clarke's lasting fame is due to his foundings of Trent Bridge Cricket Ground in 1838, and of the All England Eleven (the AEE) in August 1846. The AEE took to the railway, and played their first match in Sheffield, at the Hyde Park Ground, commencing 31 August. A revolution had begun.

In at the deep end

While he is remembered as Old Clarke, he began as young Clarke, and is known to have played for Nottingham in 1816, when he was seventeen, in a match against Ripon. The earliest scorecard on which he is named is from the notorious "odds" match between the Nottingham XXII and an England XI, played at the Forest New Ground in Nottingham on 23–25 June 1817. Clarke was then eighteen. While it is fitting that his first recorded opponents should be an England Eleven, he could never have expected to be involved in one of the most controversial matches in the game's history, and we may safely assert that he had nothing at all to do with Beauclerk's shenanigans.

The match scorecard shows that Clarke was #5 in the Nottingham batting order, and he scored 1 and 0. Lambert bowled him out in the first innings. In the second, Clarke was caught by Charles Holloway of Hampshire, who probably shared wicket-keeping duties with Tom Howard. We don't know if Clarke bowled against England, only that he didn't bowl anyone out.

A new Nyren

Clarke continued to play regularly for Nottingham, and became team captain in 1830, a position he held until 1855. From 1835, the team was called Nottinghamshire, and the present county club was founded in 1841 (it's the second oldest, after Sussex in 1839). In all that time, Clarke was the mainstay, and Altham says he became the acknowledged "General" of both club and county. That title was formerly bestowed upon Richard Nyren of Hambledon, but I'd say Nyren is flattered by the comparison. Nyren was a fine all-rounder, and a great captain, but Clarke was much more, because he was additionally a superb organiser.

The Trent Bridge Inn, painted in 1850 by Robert Bradley.

Clarke's first wife, Jane, died in September 1837. He soon became involved with Mary Chapman, landlady of the Trent Bridge Inn. There was an area of meadow land behind this pub, and Clarke saw it would be ideal for cricket. He married Mary, and began developing the meadow into a now world-famous ground which stages Test cricket every year. It was soon ready for matches. In 1840, Trent Bridge hosted Nottinghamshire v Sussex, which the visitors won by 14 runs. Clarke took nine wickets in the match, but the combination of Lillywhite and Charles Taylor made the difference for Sussex. Trent Bridge was noted for the quality of its pitches, and Notts began to use it regularly.

Old Clarke and the MCC

It was not until 1846, when Clarke was 47 years old, and was becoming known as "Old", that Marylebone Cricket Club thought it might be an idea to engage his services. For nearly thirty years, Clarke had been one of the very best bowlers in England, but MCC either overlooked him or ignored him. Given Clarke's status in the game, he cannot possibly have been overlooked. MCC in the 1840s was still under the baleful shadow of the vile Beauclerk, so we may safely assume that Clarke had "given offence".

Grimston. Yes, it was a Tory.

MCC may have realised their foolishness in June 1845 when they played against the North at Lord's. MCC fielded a reasonably good team which included Jemmy Dean, William Hillyer, William Lillywhite, Will Dorrinton, Fuller Pilch, and Tom Sewell. Those were all great or very good players. Their colleagues were amateurs (so-called "gentlemen"). One of them, Roger Kynaston, was a half-decent player, so fair enough in his case. The other four were "jolly good chaps" who went to the right school, you know, and they included the ludicrous Grimston—he of "infernal machine" (a lawn mower) inanity.

The North's team wasn't great, and they had a couple of public school nonentities too, but they were mostly a solidly professional line-up which included George Parr, Sam Redgate, and Old Clarke. MCC batted first, and were bowled out for 41. Seven of the wickets were clean bowled. Clarke and Redgate, bowling unchanged, did the damage. Clarke took seven, Redgate three. The North scored 141, although Hillyer with five wickets caused them a lot of problems. The top scorer was Sam Dakin with 41 not out, as many as MCC all together. MCC did better in the second innings, and restricted Clarke to three wickets (ten in the match), but they were all out for 99 to lose the match by an innings. Dorrinton, with 11 and 25, top-scored in both MCC innings.

Whatever the history between Clarke and the MCC, he agreed to join the Lord's ground staff ahead of the 1846 season, even though he regarded the pay as insufficient. We'll come back to that. Clarke played for the MCC team against Norfolk on 27/28 July, at Lord's, and took six wickets. He also top-scored with 31, and MCC won by 88 runs. Norfolk were a minor county, though, and Clarke's MCC debut in the equivalent of a first-class match was against Sussex on the Royal New Ground, in Brighton, on 10–12 August. He took three wickets, and played a match-winning innings of 65 as MCC won by 21 runs.

Clarke's last match for MCC was also in Sussex, but at the Cricket Field Road ground in Horsham. Although Clarke was wicketless in the match, MCC won by 79 runs. It's surprising in a way that MCC retained his services after 1846, given the bathchair spluttering which erupted after he formed the AEE in August of that year.

Old Clarke and the Players

Archest of the arch

Back in July of 1846, Clarke had made another debut when he was selected for the Players. I find it amazing that one of the top professional bowlers did not play in the Gentlemen v Players (GvP) match until then. The fixture had been revived in 1819, when Young Clarke was learning his trade, and played on an almost annual basis since. It was frequently laughable, because the Gentlemen were usually outclassed until WG came along. And, let's face it, he wasn't a "gentleman"; more so than Wilfred Rhodes, Sydney Barnes, and even the old Emmott himself, WG was in truth the archest of arch-professionals.

From 1819 until 1845, the GvP match was always at Lord's, and Clarke did not go there unless he was playing for either Notts or the North. In September 1845, they played it in Brighton. It returned to Lord's in July 1846, and Clarke, now an MCC ground staff bowler, was finally able to take part. Surprisingly, it was one hell of a match, because the Gentlemen actually turned up and played for once.

The Players won the toss and decided to bat first, but they were bowled out for 85, Joe Guy making 25. The "Mighty Mynn" was on the loose, and took 7/37. Frederick Hervey-Bathurst, one of the best-ever amateur fast bowlers, took 3/48. The Gentlemen in their turn struggled against Clarke (5/30) and Hillyer (5/40), and were all out for 105 shortly before close of play. Clarke was moved up the order, and opened with Will Martingell, as day two began. He didn't last long against the pace of Hervey-Bathurst, and was caught by Nicholas Felix for only 3. Joe Guy was again batting well until he was run out for 31. He was denied a second top score, though—Mr Extras scored 32!

There was an unusual incident during this innings when Hillyer, the last man in, contrived to score a seven. Batting with Tom Sewell, he apparently hit the ball for an all-run four. A fielder then returned the ball, but it eluded his team-mates, and Hillyer ran for three overthrows too. The Players were all out for 145 during the evening session.

Needing 126 to win, the Gentlemen were 17/1 at close of play. Hillyer (6/40) was the best bowler for the Players, but they couldn't shift Charles Taylor until Tom Box stumped him after he had scored 44. That was a decisive innings. The Gents had reached 124/8, one to tie and two to win, when Hillyer trapped Edwin Napper lbw for 3. That left Richard Long, who was 9 not out, and last man Walter Mynn (brother of Alfred) to win, tie, or lose. Mynn got the two runs, and the Gentlemen won a great match by 1 wicket.

It had taken Clarke a long time to join the Players, but he stayed with them, and played in every GvP match at Lord's from 1846 to 1853 (there were two in 1851).

Old Clarke and the AEE

The All England Eleven in 1847. Joe Guy, George Parr, Will Martingell, Alfred Mynn, William Denison, Jemmy Dean, William Clarke, Nicholas Felix, Oliver Pell, William Hillyer, William Lillywhite, William Dorrinton, Fuller Pilch, and Tom Sewell.

And so we come to the famous All England Eleven which used the railways to spread the gospel of top-class cricket. It also, as Clarke said plainly, made him a lot of money. The above line-up in September 1847 is certainly an impressive one, and there is no doubt the AEE was far and away the best England team ever assembled to that time. Indeed, of the leading players in 1847, the line-up is short of only a couple. One is star wicket-keeper Tom Box, who joined the AEE in the following season. Ned Wenman is also absent, but he seems to have been largely inactive that year. Also missing are the two great names of future cricket publications—Arthur Haygarth and John Wisden—but they were only 22 and 21 then, and just beginning to earn recognition.

EM, also known as The Coroner.

There had been England teams since the first half of the 18th century. These were occasional teams organised by individual patrons, or by MCC since it was founded in 1787. While some were very good sides, they always lacked several top players. For example, if an England team played against Hampshire in the 1770s, it would include Lumpy Stevens, William Yalden, Will Palmer, John Minshull, and Joseph Miller. But it could not include John Small, Richard Nyren, Tom Brett, Tom Sueter, Tom Taylor, or the other Hambledon "cracks". Clarke wasn't taking on the top county teams. His opponents were town teams which didn't have the very best players, although the likes of Sheffield and Manchester certainly had some very good ones, as did the West Gloucestershire Club whose XXII hosted the AEE at Bristol in August 1855. Their team included a certain Edward Mills Grace, always known as "EM", who was only fourteen at the time. He fielded very well, and Clarke presented him with a bat after the match. Watching the match with his mother was EM's younger brother, seven-year old William Gilbert Grace.

Credit is certainly due to Clarke for popularising cricket in the northern counties, and in some other places like Gloucestershire. The AEE were in demand wherever they played, even though their matches were nearly all against odds, often against XXIIs like West Gloucestershire. Clarke, however, was a difficult character whose arrogance caused resentment, not least over his obsession with money, and his way of demonstrating to his team-mates that the lion's share of the takings were his and his alone. They put up with him because they earned more than with MCC or other teams, but only up to a point. In 1852, the disaffected Dean and Wisden formed the United England Eleven (the UEE). The UEE members publicly denounced Clarke, and resolved to boycott any match that Clarke had organised—which did not include MCC matches or GvP.

Clarke's final match was for the AEE in June 1856. Playing against Whitehaven XXII, he took a wicket with his last-ever ball. Two months later, he died.

The UEE was by no means the last of the itinerant elevens. There were several more, including the United North and the United South. The latter became a cash cow for WG and his brother Fred. In the decade or so after Clarke's death, there was an increasing interest in county cricket which led to the formation of several county clubs in the 1860s, and the creation of an unofficial championship (the official County Championship began in 1890). Odds matches could only appeal to the public for a limited period. Spectators in the North, for example, could now look forward to competitive eleven-a-side matches involving Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, and Yorkshire against each other and the southern counties. The travelling teams survived for many more years yet, some into the 1880s, but they'd had their day, and they faded away.

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