George Parr of Nottinghamshire, who would later succeed William Clarke as captain of the All-England Eleven and lead the second English tour of Australia, emerged in the late 1840s as the most powerful leg-side hitter in English cricket. By 1849, aged 23, he was the leading batsman in the AEE and the natural heir to Clarke's professional empire.
Notts cricket in the 1840s was anchored by Clarke's Trent Bridge ground. Parr came up through the local clubs and was already established at Trent Bridge before the AEE was formed.
Parr first played for Nottinghamshire as a teenager. By 1847, when the AEE took on a fuller fixture list, he was the natural choice to fill the batting slot vacated by Clarke's diminishing batting role.
Parr was born at Radcliffe-on-Trent in 1826 and was already making runs for Notts as a teenager when Clarke's All-England Eleven was founded. He joined the eleven in 1847, in his second season of regular first-class cricket, and quickly established himself as the side's leading batsman. His signature shot was a powerful pull off the front foot to a tree at Trent Bridge that became known as 'Parr's tree' or 'the Lion's leg-tree' — Parr was nicknamed the Lion of the North. He was less elegant than Pilch and less spectacular than Mynn, but he scored heavily and consistently on rough wickets where many contemporaries failed. By 1849 he was the recognised number three in any representative side outside Kent and was being talked of as Clarke's eventual successor as captain of the AEE. Parr would in due course succeed Clarke after his death in 1856, lead the second English tour of Australia in 1863-64, and be one of the central figures of mid-Victorian professional cricket. The 1846-49 emergence period was the foundation.
1826: Parr born at Radcliffe-on-Trent
Mid-1840s: First plays for Notts
1847: Joins All-England Eleven
Late 1840s: Establishes himself as leading professional batsman after Pilch
1849: Recognised heir apparent to Clarke as AEE captain
1826
Parr born at Radcliffe-on-Trent
1847
Joins All-England Eleven
1849
Established as leading AEE batsman
1857
Succeeds Clarke as AEE captain
1863-64
Captains second English tour of Australia
1891
Parr dies; sliver from Parr's tree placed in his coffin
Parr captained the AEE from 1857 (after Clarke's death in 1856) until 1870. He led the second English tour to Australia in 1863-64 and was central to the professional game until his retirement.
The last great pre-overarm professional batsman and the man who held the AEE together for a decade after Clarke's death.
Parr's tree at Trent Bridge stood until a gale brought it down in 1976; a slip of wood from it was placed in his coffin at his request when he died in 1891. The line of leading Nottinghamshire batsmen — Parr, Daft, Shrewsbury, Gunn — descends from his emergence in the 1840s.
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.