Tom Box of Sussex was the leading wicketkeeper in England through the 1840s — keeping wicket without the pads, gloves or specialised gear of later eras and standing up to the fast bowling of Mynn, Redgate and the young John Wisden. He played first-class cricket for 25 years and dropped only one stumping chance in his entire career, according to the Lillywhites' near-contemporary count.
Wicketkeeping in the 1840s was done bare-handed or with light cloth wrappings; pads (for batsmen, let alone keepers) had only just begun to appear. Standing up to fast roundarm bowling was therefore a feat of nerve as much as skill.
Box made his Sussex debut in 1826 and was an established keeper by the time roundarm became dominant in the 1830s. The formation of the AEE in 1846 confirmed his national standing.
Box was born in Sussex in 1808 and made his Sussex debut in 1826. By the early 1840s he was the recognised first-choice wicketkeeper in any representative English side and was a charter member of William Clarke's All-England Eleven of 1846. He kept wicket in a flat cap, with hands lightly bound in cloth — proper wicketkeeping gloves did not appear until the late 1850s — and stood up to the stumps to fast roundarmers like Alfred Mynn, taking the ball one-handed inches from the bails. Box was famously consistent: the Lillywhite annuals of the 1850s claimed he had missed only one stumping chance in his entire career and the figure passed into folklore. He scored useful runs at number eight or nine and was a respected figure in the Sussex eleven through the AEE's golden years. He died of a heart attack while watching a match at Prince's Ground, London, in 1876; the cricketer's death at the cricket has been recounted in countless retrospectives since.
1808: Box born in Sussex
1826: Sussex debut
1830s: Established as leading wicketkeeper in England
1846: Charter member of All-England Eleven
1856: Last regular AEE appearance
1876: Box dies of a heart attack at Prince's Ground while watching cricket
1808
Box born in Sussex
1826
Sussex debut
1846
Joins inaugural All-England Eleven
1856
Effective retirement from regular AEE play
1876
Box dies at Prince's Ground while watching a match
Box's longevity meant he played in three different cricket eras — underarm, roundarm and (briefly) overarm. After his retirement Sussex went through several years of unsettled wicketkeeping before Henry Phillips and others established themselves.
The benchmark wicketkeeper of mid-nineteenth-century English cricket and one of the longest-serving members of the original All-England Eleven.
Box's career — 25 years at the top, the AEE charter membership, the 'one missed stumping' folklore — is the standard reference for early Victorian wicketkeeping. His death at the cricket has become one of the often-told anecdotes of the Victorian game.
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.