John Lillywhite — Umpire, Publisher and the 'Green Lily', 1848-1875

The Lillywhite family was the most numerous and influential in mid-Victorian cricket. William ('Nonpareil') was the patriarch; his sons John and Fred and his nephews James senior and James junior between them played, umpired, captained tours, published almanacks and ran sports shops. John was the most versatile: he combined all four roles in a single career.

Lillywhite's umpiring career through the late 1850s and early 1860s coincided exactly with the growing crisis over high-arm bowling. He had spoken in print about the need to legalise overarm. Willsher's bowling action was no different in 1862 from what it had been in 1860; what changed was that Lillywhite chose to call him on a high-profile day at the Oval.

John Lillywhite (born Hove, 10 November 1826, died Islington 27 October 1874) was the second son of William 'Nonpareil' Lillywhite, the bowler who had pushed roundarm into the rulebook in 1835. He played for Sussex and Middlesex between 1848 and 1873 as a versatile roundarm bowler — capable of fast-medium or genuinely slow as the match required — and was a steady lower-order batter. His umpiring career began in 1856 and ran for 17 seasons; he stood in 29 first-class matches. The defining moment came on 26 August 1862, when standing at square leg in the England v Surrey match at the Oval he no-balled Edgar Willsher of Kent six times in a row for raising his hand above the shoulder, triggering the professional walk-off that led directly to the legalisation of overarm bowling in 1864. Most cricket historians believe the call was pre-arranged with Willsher: Lillywhite was an open advocate of further reform and the timing fitted exactly. Off the field, Lillywhite was the family's principal entrepreneur. He established the family's London printing and retail business, opening the Euston Square emporium in 1863, and in 1865 launched John Lillywhite's Cricketers' Companion — known to cricketers as the 'Green Lily' for its green binding. The Green Lily, in competition with John Wisden's Almanack and his cousin Fred Lillywhite's Guide, ran annually from 1865 until 1885 and was for two decades a serious rival to Wisden in editorial reputation. Lillywhite died in October 1874 aged 47; the Green Lily continued in family hands until 1885.

The Green Lily continued in family hands after John's death and ran until 1885, when it was absorbed into Wisden's expanding catalogue. The Lillywhite emporium was sold to A.G. Spalding in the 1880s; John's son and grandson kept the family in cricket retailing for another two generations.