Chuckinģ Problem Produced Crisis 100 Years Ago
Specially written for "The Press’ by
G. J. GRIFFITHS
ALTHOUGH the West Indies fast bowler C. Griffith was no-balled for throwing early in his team's prefent tour of England in the match against Lancashire —he has since escaped censure and it is to be hoped that he continues to satisfy English umpires with the legality of his delivery. “Chucking,” or allegation of It. has caused much unhappmess in recent years. However, the problem of “chucking” is anything but new and possibly the most renowned thro* ing incidents occurred as long as 104 years ago. The principals were E. Willsher, a leftarm bowler of considerable pace, and J. Lillywhite, the umpire, and member of a famous cricketing family. Willsher, seen casually in his street clothes, looked anything but an athlete. He was a tall, cadaverous individual whose absolute thinness made him appear even taller than he was: his black hair heightened a dark complexion, cleanthaven in his younger days —bearded with a goatee in middle age. Even tailored clothes hung loosely on his frame. But to Englishmen of 100 years ago he was one of the three great fast bowlers in the country—Jackson, Tarrant and Willsher—the spearhead of the famous All England Eleven. Even the finest batsmen were reluctant to see him enter the attack and, as Richard Daft related, were glad to see him taken off. Willsher, like I. Meckiff, was a left-armer with a suspect action, and he lived through a period when, like today, the spotlight had been turned on unfair bowling. The arm, said the old M.C.C. rule, should not rise higher than the elbow, and neither Willsher, nor any other fast bowler of the time found it easy to comply. The umpires had an even more difficult task. W. Caffyn, the leading Surrey all-rounder, wrote in later years: “There is no doubt whatever that Willsher was often in the habit of bowling above the shoulder, but then so also were nine out of every 10 bowlers of that time. I myself have often been noballed for this, and have also frequently committed the offence without paying the penalty. The old law was an absurd one, and one wonders that it should have remained in force as lom as it did.” But the authorities were slow in acting. Several times an amendment had been dis-
cussed; each time it had been rejected. As the 1862 season went its course, nothing further was done. The climax came in August when Surrey met England at the Oval. An extremely strong England side had begun batting on Monday, August 25, and although Surrey was perhaps the strongest county in England, its bowlers had received a terrible pasting. All day the England team batted, and nearly all the next, amassing 503 runs—a total which will surprise many people who think scores were always under 100 in those days. The odds were against Surrey as its opening pair, Mortlock and Humphrey, came out to face Willsher and V. E. Walker, the wellknown amateur batsman and lob bowler. Only a few balls had been bowled when Humphrey lashed out at a slow break from Walker and sent it away on the leg side. Grundy, standing fairly close in, launched himself to his right and brought off a magnificent one-handed catch, as the Oval crowd roared. F. Burbidge, the Surrey amateur, joined Mortlock and the pair settled down to defence. But as Willsher began his third over, the sensation occurred. Willsher stepped up to the wicket with his strange quick-march kind of approach, raised his hand high above his head, then swept it down quickly to deliver the ball at elbow height. As he let it go, the umpire, John Lillywhite, called him. Six times Willsher bowled. Six times Lillywhite shouted “No ball.” With the crowd in a frenzy and the players beginning to remonstrate, Willsher threw the ball down and walked off the ■ field. All the England professionals followed him, leaving only C. G. Lyttelton and V. E. Walker on the paddock with the Surrey men. There was no more play that night. In scenes of the utmost confusion, as the crowds began to join the players on the field, play was abandoned. Lillywhite was approached i that evening and again in the morning to see if he would change his mind, but he refused. Nobody knew why he had waited until Willsher’s third over before calling him, but Lillywhite stuck by his guns. As the England eleven refused to play any further in the i match with Lillywhite as umpire, Street, a professional bowler, joined the other umpire, T. Sewell, next morning and the game
continued. Surrey was routed, and England l won by an innings and more than 250 runs. It was freely rumoured that Lillywhite had been specially engaged to pronounce judgment on Willsher, but this was never proved. Lillywhite, an excellent batsman and a member of Parr’s team to tour America in 1859, was fully qualified as an umpire, and accepted as a good one. Most likely he took it upon himself to force the issue into the open. Willsher, no doubt, partly brought the incident on himself, for not only was his arm height challenged, but his peculiar downward jerk just before delivery looked suspiciously like a throw. Willsher certainly was renowned for his ability to make the ball lift, and Daft attributed to his “quick, jerky movement” an ability to "put spin and Impetus on the ball that caused it to rise like lightning from the pitch.” Whoever was the scapegoat—the M.C.C., John Lillywhite or Willsher himself—the end was soon in sight. The M.C.C. discussed the question the following year but, after a heated debate, the law was left unaltered. When United met All England in the glamour match of the season at Lords, crowds went in their thousands, half expecting to
see a new sensation as Willsher opened the bowling for All England, but the umpire did not call him.
Things had already gone too far, however. When the matter came up for discussion by the M.C.C. In 1864 the “modernists” had their way. After another debate, with plenty of plain speaking, the M.C.C. altered the rule to the terse announcement: “The ball shall be bowled.” Shoulders, elbows and the rest were forgotten. Willsher’s day was by no means over; in some respects it was just starting. Born in 1828, and aged 33 when involved in the no-balling incident, he went on bowling his fast round-arm in first-class cricket for another 13 years. He captained the English team to America in 1868, and, even in his forties, came near the top of the bowling averages year after year. Richard Daft classed him as the greatest leftarmer of the nineteenth century, ahead of J. C. Shaw and Morley, while W. G. Grace commented simply: “He was, without doubt, one of the greatest bowlers we have ever had.”
In cricket history, however, the greatness of his bowling will always tend to be forgotten in favour of the sensation he caused on that fine August evening in 1862.
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Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31086, 15 June 1966, Page 15
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1,186Chuckinģ Problem Produced Crisis 100 Years Ago Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31086, 15 June 1966, Page 15
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