Joseph Guy of Nottinghamshire — a graceful right-handed batsman whose style Lord Frederick Beauclerk likened to 'cricket of the most gentlemanly kind' — was a charter member of William Clarke's All-England Eleven in 1846 and one of the leading professional batsmen of the 1840s.
Notts cricket in the 1830s and 1840s was led by William Clarke at Trent Bridge. Guy emerged from the same Nottingham cricketing community and was always associated with the Trent Bridge ground.
Guy played for the Players against the Gentlemen from the late 1830s and was an established first-class batsman by the early 1840s.
Guy was born at Radford, Nottingham in 1813 and was already a leading Notts batsman by the time Clarke laid out the Trent Bridge ground in 1838. He bowled little and kept rarely; his place was as a top-order batsman, often at three, in the Notts and AEE elevens. Lord Frederick Beauclerk, the most famous amateur of the previous generation, is credited with calling Guy's style 'cricket of the most gentlemanly kind' — high praise from a man not given to professional flattery. Guy joined Clarke's eleven at its foundation in 1846 and travelled with it through its first decade, scoring valuable runs against the heavy odds the eleven faced in every match. His career declined in the early 1850s as the next generation — George Parr, Tom Hayward — pushed him out of the side, and he retired in 1854. He died in 1873.
1813: Guy born at Radford, Nottingham
Late 1830s: Established as leading Notts batsman
1846: Charter member of All-England Eleven
Late 1840s: Regular top-order batsman in AEE matches
1854: Retires from first-class cricket
1813
Guy born at Radford
1838
Trent Bridge laid out
1846
Joins inaugural All-England Eleven
1854
Retires from first-class cricket
1873
Guy dies
“Joe Guy, all elegance, like cricket in a silver bowl.”
Guy's retirement in 1854 came as the AEE was at its peak; his place was taken by the next generation of Notts batsmen, principally Parr and Daft.
The most stylish professional batsman of the 1840s and a charter member of the All-England Eleven.
Guy is one of the second tier of Victorian professional names — not a Pilch or a Mynn, but a charter member of the AEE and a stylist whose praise from Lord Frederick Beauclerk has been quoted in every history of mid-Victorian cricket.
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.