Fuller Pilch, the Norfolk-born professional batsman who had moved to Town Malling in Kent in 1835 and become the leading run-maker in England for nearly two decades, played his last serious cricket in 1854 at the age of 50. Pilch was widely regarded as the best batsman in the world before W.G. Grace; his patient forward play — the famous 'Pilch poke' — was the bridge between the rough-pitch hitters of the early nineteenth century and the technical batsmen of the Victorian era.
Cricket pitches in the early nineteenth century were rolled but not properly dressed. The standard batting technique was a back-foot sliced shot or a violent hit; few batsmen could survive long against good roundarm bowling. Pilch's forward play was a deliberate departure that allowed him to dominate.
By the early 1850s Pilch was over 50 and his powers were declining. Younger batsmen — including the rising Surrey men George Parr and Tom Hayward — were taking over the leading positions. The 1854 season was a quiet one for Pilch, and he retired from county cricket at its end.
Fuller Pilch was born at Horningtoft in Norfolk in March 1804 and made his first-class debut for Norfolk in 1820. By the late 1820s he was already the leading batsman in eastern England, but the demand for his services took him southwards: in 1835 the Town Malling club in Kent paid him £100 a year, an unprecedented sum, to move and play for them. From 1836 he was the leading professional in the Kent eleven through that county's golden age — alongside Alfred Mynn, Nicholas Felix and the wicket-keeper Tom Box — and was the leading run-scorer for Kent in twelve of his nineteen seasons with the club. Pilch's batting was technically revolutionary: on rough early-Victorian wickets where most batsmen played back, he stepped firmly forward, smothering spin with the front leg and pad, and pushed the ball straight down the pitch. The shot was called the 'Pilch poke' and is recognised as the ancestor of the modern forward defensive. He retired from the Kent eleven at the end of the 1854 season, played a handful of festival matches in 1855, and then took up the Saracen's Head pub in Canterbury, where he had been landlord since 1842. He died in 1870, by which time the young W.G. Grace was already hailed as the new master.
1820: Pilch's first-class debut for Norfolk
1835: Pilch moves to Town Malling, Kent, on £100 a year
1836-1854: Leading run-scorer for Kent in 12 of 19 seasons
1842: Pilch becomes landlord of the Saracen's Head, Canterbury
End of 1854 season: Pilch's last regular first-class cricket
1870: Pilch dies in Canterbury
Mar 1804
Pilch born at Horningtoft, Norfolk
1820
First-class debut for Norfolk
1835
Moves to Town Malling, Kent
1842
Becomes landlord of the Saracen's Head, Canterbury
1854
Retires from regular first-class cricket
1870
Pilch dies in Canterbury
“Pilch was described as the greatest batsman ever known until the appearance of W.G. Grace.”
Pilch's retirement coincided with the rise of Surrey as the dominant county and with the breakaway of the United All-England Eleven from Clarke's AEE. The Kent of the Mynn-Pilch-Felix era was already in decline; the county would not be a leading force again until the 1900s.
The greatest batsman of his generation and the technical bridge between the rough-pitch hitters of the 1820s and the orthodox forward play of W.G. Grace's era.
Pilch is conventionally rated as the greatest batsman in the world before W.G. Grace, who himself acknowledged the debt. The 'Pilch poke' — the forward defensive smothering the ball with the pad — is the direct ancestor of modern orthodox batting technique. The Pilch Stand at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury commemorates him.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.