| John Wisden | |
| Country: | England |
| Fullname: | John Wisden |
| Birth Date: | 5 September 1826 |
| Birth Place: | Brighton, Sussex, England |
| Death Place: | Westminster, London, England |
| Heightft: | 5 |
| Heightinch: | 4 |
| Batting: | Right-handed |
| Bowling: | Underarm right arm slow |
| Role: | Bowler |
| Club3: | Middlesex |
| Year3: | 1859–1863 |
| Club2: | Kent |
| Year2: | 1854 |
| Club1: | Sussex |
| Year1: | 1845–1863 |
| Columns: | 1 |
| Column1: | First-class |
| Matches1: | 187 |
| Runs1: | 4,140 |
| Bat Avg1: | 14.12 |
| 100S/50S1: | 2/9 |
| Top Score1: | 148 |
| Deliveries1: | 24,205 |
| Wickets1: | 1,109 |
| Bowl Avg1: | 10.32 |
| Fivefor1: | 111 |
| Tenfor1: | 39 |
| Best Bowling1: | 10/58 |
| Catches/Stumpings1: | 169/1 |
| Date: | 15 August |
| Year: | 2022 |
| Source: | https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/34/34003/34003.html CricketArchive |
John Wisden (5 September 1826 – 5 April 1884) was an English cricketer who played 187 first-class cricket matches for three English county cricket teams, Kent, Middlesex and Sussex.[1] He is now best known for launching the eponymous Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 1864, the year after he retired from first-class cricket.[2]
Wisden was born in Crown Street, Brighton.[3] His father, William, was a builder.[3] He attended Brighton's Middle Street School (formerly the Royal Union School, founded as a charity school in 1805).[3] He moved to London after his father died, and lived with the wicket-keeper Tom Box.[4] [5]
In July 1845, aged 18, only 5 ft 4 in and weighing just 7stone,[5] he made his first-class debut for Sussex against MCC, taking 6 wickets in the first innings and three in the second.[6] He joined the All-England Eleven in 1846, moving allegiance to the United All-England Eleven in 1852.[3] He was engaged to marry George Parr's sister Annie in 1849, but she died before the wedding, and he never married.[3]
Initially a fast roundarm bowler, before overarm bowling was permitted, his pace slowed in later years so he bowled medium pace; he also bowled slow underarm. While bowling fast, he took on average nearly 10 wickets in each game.[4] In 1850, when he was playing for the North against the South at Lord's, his off-cutter technique won him 10 wickets in the second innings, all clean bowled (still the only instance of all ten wickets being taken "bowled" in any first-class match).[7] He was also a competent batsman, and scored two first-class centuries, the first, exactly 100, against Kent at Tunbridge Wells in 1849, and in 1855 he notched up 148 against Yorkshire, the only first-class century scored in 1855.[4]
He played almost all of his cricket in England, mostly for Sussex, but once for Kent and thrice for Middlesex.[3] He travelled with a touring team led by George Parr to Canada and the US in 1859, where eight matches in Montreal, Hoboken, Philadelphia, Hamilton and Rochester were won easily.[5]
Of moderate height, he was nicknamed the "Little Wonder" after the winner of The Derby in 1840, and later the "Cardinal".[3] He was said to be the best all-rounder of his day.[4] In all, he took 1,109 first-class wickets with a bowling average of 10.32. He scored 4,140 first-class runs with a batting average of 14.12, an average which was very good for the time.[1] [4]
Wisden began a cricket-equipment business in Leamington Spa in 1850 and five years later opened a "cricket and cigar" shop in Coventry Street near The Haymarket in central London, in partnership with Fred Lillywhite until 1858.[5] [3] He was also the cricket coach at Harrow School from 1852 to 1855, and owned The Cricketers, a public house at Duncton in Sussex.[3]
He retired from cricket in 1863 at the relatively early age of 37 as a result of rheumatism,[5] and started publishing his annual Cricketers' Almanack the following year.[4] The first edition may have been based on a diary written in 1863 by Francis Emilius Cary Elwes, which came to light in 2016. According to Robert Winder, who wrote a history of the almanack, evidence from the diary indicates that there was a connection between the two men and that Wisden saw Elwes' work, but no definitive conclusion on the matter can be reached.[8]
He also published in Cricket and How to Play It in 1866.[3] In retirement, he developed his business into a manufacturer and retailer of equipment for many sports, not just cricket. The shop moved to Cranbourn Street near Leicester Square in 1872.[5]
After his death the business grew into a major international sports brand, receiving a Royal Warrant in 1911 as "Athletic Outfitters to the King".[5] The business went into receivership in 1939, and was acquired in 1943 by a Co-operative society, which sold it on to Grays of Cambridge in 1970.[9] Grays then ceased to use Wisden as an equipment brand, but re-established John Wisden & Co as the publisher of the Cricketers' Almanack. It is now an imprint of Wisden's owner, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.[9]
Wisden died of cancer, at the age of 57, in the flat above his Cranbourn Street shop (next to Leicester Square tube station). He was buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.[3]
In 1913, 29 years after his death, he was the subject of a "Special Portrait" in the 50th edition of Wisden, replacing the usual Wisden Cricketers of the Year feature which was dropped from that edition.[10] In 1984, a headstone was placed at his grave to mark the centenary of his death.[11]