In November 1818, between his cricket and hunting seasons, George Osbaldeston walked 200 miles in 36 hours on Newmarket Heath for a wager of 1,000 guineas. The feat — completed inside the time, with Osbaldeston resting only twice — was reported across the sporting press and is the most famous of his many cross-disciplinary athletic exploits. It is a piece of the Regency sporting culture that linked cricket to pedestrianism, prize-fighting and turf.
Pedestrianism — long-distance walking against time and money — was a major Regency sport. Osbaldeston's feat was one of the most famous of the period.
Osbaldeston was a comprehensive Regency sportsman — cricket, hunting, prize-fighting, real tennis, racing, pedestrianism. The November 1818 wager was for 1,000 guineas a side, against the leading London bookmakers. He walked a 200-mile course on the Newmarket roads and surrounding tracks, completing it in 35 hours and 50 minutes — under the 36-hour limit. The feat earned him the wager and consolidated his reputation as the most versatile sportsman of the age.
1810
Osbaldeston's cricket debut
1818
Barred from MCC committee; pedestrian wager in November
Jun 1819
All-comers cricket challenge
1831
Famous 200-mile horse ride at Newmarket — repeats the feat in another discipline
Osbaldeston returned to cricket in 1819 with the all-comers single-wicket challenge.
A piece of Regency cross-discipline sporting flamboyance — and a glimpse of the world cricket inhabited.
The November 1818 walk is one of the most-cited episodes in Regency sporting history. It illustrates the cross-discipline character of the period's elite sportsmen — figures whose cricket careers were embedded in a wider sporting life.
Zimbabwe vs England
1996-12-22
The first Test between Zimbabwe and England at Bulawayo in December 1996 ended in a draw with the scores level — the first ever in Test history. Coach David 'Bumble' Lloyd, frustrated by Zimbabwe's defensive tactics, told a press conference 'we flippin' murdered em'. He was reprimanded by the ECB.
England vs Australia
4 August 1975
On 4 August 1975, during the second Ashes Test at Lord's, a 24-year-old merchant seaman from Liverpool named Michael Angelow leapt the boundary fence wearing only socks and trainers, hurdled both sets of stumps to the amusement of the players, and was wrestled to the ground by police. He had taken a £20 bet from his shipmates. He was fined £20 in court the next morning, and the BBC commentary by John Arlott — "we have got a freaker, not very shapely, and it is masculine — and I would think it has seen the last of its cricket for the day" — became one of the most replayed pieces of cricket commentary of the decade.
Australia
1981-12-12
Australian captain Greg Chappell, the most prolific batsman in the country, made four ducks in a row across Tests and ODIs during the 1981-82 home summer — and seven ducks across the season — earning the temporary nickname 'Chappello'.