John Wisden

John Wisden

Wisden in the England team to North America in 1859
Personal information
Full name	John Wisden
Born	(1826-09-05)5 September 1826 Brighton, Sussex, England
Died	5 April 1884(1884-04-05) (aged 57) Westminster, London, England
Height	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Underarm right arm slow
Role	Bowler
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1845–1863	Sussex
1854	Kent
1859–1863	Middlesex
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 187 Runs scored 4,140 Batting average 14.12 100s/50s 2/9 Top score 148 Balls bowled 24,205 Wickets 1,109 Bowling average 10.32 5 wickets in innings 111 10 wickets in match 39 Best bowling 10/58 Catches/stumpings 169/1
Source: CricketArchive, 5 April 1884

John Wisden (5 September 1826 – 5 April 1884) was an English cricketer who played 187 first-class cricket matches for three English county cricket teams, Kent, Middlesex and Sussex.^[1] He is now best known for launching the eponymous Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 1864, the year after he retired from first-class cricket.^[2]

Early life[]

Wisden was born in Crown Street, Brighton.^[3] His father, William, was a builder.^[3] He attended Brighton's Middle Street School (formerly the Royal Union School, founded as a charity school in 1805).^[3] He moved to London after his father died, and lived with the wicket-keeper Tom Box.^[4][5]

Cricket[]

In July 1845, aged 18, only 5 ft 4 in and weighing just 7 stone (44 kg),^[5] he made his first-class debut for Sussex against MCC, taking 6 wickets in the first innings and three in the second.^[6] He joined the All-England Eleven in 1846, moving allegiance to the United All-England Eleven in 1852.^[3] He was engaged to marry George Parr's sister Annie in 1849, but she died before the wedding, and he never married.^[3]

Initially a fast roundarm bowler, before overarm bowling was permitted, his pace slowed in later years so he bowled medium pace; he also bowled slow underarm. While bowling fast, he took on average nearly 10 wickets in each game.^[4] In 1850, when he was playing for the North against the South at Lord's, his off-cutter technique won him 10 wickets in the second innings, all clean bowled (still the only instance of all ten wickets being taken "bowled" in any first-class match).^[7] He was also a competent batsman, and scored two first-class centuries, the first, exactly 100, against Kent at Tunbridge Wells in 1849, and in 1855 he notched up 148 against Yorkshire, the only first-class century scored in 1855.^[4]

He played almost all of his cricket in England, mostly for Sussex, but once for Kent and thrice for Middlesex.^[3] He travelled with a touring team led by George Parr to Canada and the US in 1859, where eight matches in Montreal, Hoboken, Philadelphia, Hamilton and Rochester were won easily.^[5]

Of moderate height, he was nicknamed the "Little Wonder" after the winner of The Derby in 1840, and later the "Cardinal".^[3] He was said to be the best all-rounder of his day.^[4] In all, he took 1,109 first-class wickets with a bowling average of 10.32. He scored 4,140 first-class runs with a batting average of 14.12, an average which was very good for the time.^[1][4]

Business career and legacy[]

J Wisden & Company, 21 Cranbourn Street, London

Wisden began a cricket-equipment business in Leamington Spa in 1850 and five years later opened a "cricket and cigar" shop in Coventry Street near The Haymarket in central London, in partnership with Fred Lillywhite until 1858.^[5][3] He was also the cricket coach at Harrow School from 1852 to 1855, and owned The Cricketers, a public house at Duncton in Sussex.^[3]

He retired from cricket in 1863 at the relatively early age of 37 as a result of rheumatism,^[5] and started publishing his annual Cricketers' Almanack the following year.^[4] He also published in Cricket and How to Play It in 1866.^[3] In retirement he developed his business into a manufacturer and retailer of equipment for many sports, not just cricket. The shop moved to Cranbourn Street near Leicester Square in 1872.^[5]

After his death the business grew into a major international sports brand, receiving a Royal Warrant in 1911 as "Athletic Outfitters to the King".^[5] The business went into receivership in 1939, and was acquired in 1943 by a Co-operative society, which sold it on to Grays of Cambridge in 1970.^{[citation needed]} Grays then ceased to use Wisden as an equipment brand, but re-established John Wisden & Co as the publisher of the Cricketers' Almanack. It is now an imprint of Wisden's owner, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.^{[citation needed]}

Death[]

Wisden died of cancer, at the age of 57, in the flat above his Cranbourn Street shop (next to Leicester Square tube station). He was buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.^[3]

In 1913, 29 years after his death, he was the subject of a "Special Portrait" in the 50th edition of Wisden, replacing the usual Wisden Cricketers of the Year feature which was dropped from that edition.^{[citation needed]} In 1984, a headstone was placed at his grave to mark the centenary of his death.^{[citation needed]}

References[]

Further reading[]

• Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
• H S Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1926
• Derek Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999
• Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
• Arthur Haygarth, Scores & Biographies, Volumes 3–9 (1841–1866), Lillywhite, 1862–1867
• John Major, More Than A Game, HarperCollins, 2007 – includes the famous 1859 touring team photo taken on board ship at Liverpool

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Wisden.

• https://web.archive.org/web/20150511191742/http://www.wisdenindia.com/
• http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/special-interest/wisden/about-wisden/timeline/