William Martingell — Surrey's Match-Winning Roundarmer, 1840s

Martingell was born at Nutfield, Surrey, in 1822 and made his first-class debut for the county in 1838, aged sixteen. He was a right-arm medium-fast roundarmer, accurate to a length that modern analysts would describe as 'good areas', and he maintained that accuracy match after match in an era when pitches were rough and unpredictable. His 762 first-class wickets at 10.38 make him statistically the most effective bowler in the roundarm era. He partnered William Caffyn in the Surrey attack of the 1840s and later the 1850s; together they gave Surrey a balanced seam-bowling partnership that underpinned the county's dominance through the decade. Clarke recruited him for the AEE from 1846 and Martingell appeared in virtually every fixture. When the United All-England Eleven broke away in 1852, Martingell stayed with Clarke — loyalty rewarded by continued first-class opportunities until his retirement in 1854.