John Wisden of Sussex — five feet four and weighing under nine stone — broke into first-class cricket in 1845 as a fast roundarm bowler and within four years was a fixture in the All-England Eleven. By 1849, aged 23, he was being talked of as the most promising young bowler in England; the publishing empire and the all-ten-bowled feat would come later.
Sussex cricket in the 1840s, anchored on the Brighton ground, was the home of William Lillywhite's roundarm tradition. Wisden grew up on the Brighton ground staff and was the natural heir to the Sussex bowling line.
Wisden's first-class debut in 1845 was at 18; his selection for the AEE in 1847 confirmed his place among the leading professionals at 21.
Wisden was born at Brighton in 1826 and joined the Sussex ground staff at Brighton as a teenager. He bowled fast roundarm with surprising pace for his slight build — contemporaries called him 'the Little Wonder' — and made his first-class debut for Sussex in 1845 at the age of 18. By 1847 he had taken his place in William Clarke's All-England Eleven; by 1849 he was the principal fast bowler of the side. His emergence as one of the leading professionals of the late 1840s was the foundation of everything that followed: the all-ten-bowled feat for North v South in 1850, the cricket-equipment partnership with George Parr's brother in 1855, the breakaway United All-England Eleven (with James Dean) in 1852, and the publication of the first Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 1864. His 1840s career is the bowling-pace counterpart to Parr's batting emergence.
1826: Wisden born at Brighton
Early 1840s: Joins Sussex ground staff
1845: First-class debut at 18
1847: Joins All-England Eleven
1849: Established as leading young fast bowler in England
1826
Wisden born at Brighton
1845
First-class debut for Sussex
1847
Joins AEE
1849
Established as leading fast bowler
1850
All ten bowled for North v South
1864
First Wisden Almanack
Wisden's career through the 1850s was extraordinary: 10 wickets in an innings (all bowled) for North v South in 1850; co-founder of the United All-England Eleven in 1852; a major bowler on the Stephenson tour of Australia in 1861-62 was averted only because by then he had retired with rheumatism. He founded John Wisden & Co. in 1855 and the Almanack in 1864.
The emergence of the man whose name would later be on every cricket bookshelf in the English-speaking world — first as a fast bowler, then as a publisher.
Every cricket library on earth has a Wisden Almanack on the shelf. The man whose name it bears emerged as a Sussex fast bowler in the late 1840s; the publishing empire was a second career built on the cricket reputation of the first.
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.