John Lillywhite

John Lillywhite (born 10 November 1826 at Hove, Sussex; died 27 October 1874 at St Pancras, London) was an English cricketer and umpire during the game's roundarm era.

John Lillywhite
Personal information
Full nameJohn Lillywhite
Born(1826-11-10)10 November 1826
Hove, Sussex, England
Died27 October 1874(1874-10-27) (aged 47)
St Pancras, London, England
BattingRight-hand
BowlingRight-arm fast
RelationsFather:William Lillywhite, Brother:Fred Lillywhite, Cousin:James Lillywhite
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1850-1869Sussex
1851-1864Middlesex
1856-1860Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 185
Runs scored 5127
Batting average 17.43
100s/50s 2/13
Top score 138
Balls bowled 7010
Wickets 223
Bowling average 11.56
5 wickets in innings 12
10 wickets in match 2
Best bowling 8-54
Catches/stumpings 94/
Source: Cricket archive, 2 October 2012
The first English touring team pictured on board ship at Liverpool: standing at left Robert Carpenter, William Caffyn, Tom Lockyer; middle row John Wisden, HH Stephenson, George Parr, James Grundy, Julius Caesar, Thomas Hayward, John Jackson; front row Alfred Diver, John Lillywhite

John Lillywhite was part of a famous cricketing family, his father being William Lillywhite, a brother being Fred Lillywhite and his cousin being James Lillywhite. In 1863, members of the family established the sports outfitters Lillywhites.[1]

Lillywhite was an all-rounder who batted right-handed and bowled right-arm roundarm, both slow and fast.

His known first-class career spanned the 1848 to 1873 seasons. He took 223 wickets in 185 matches @ 11.56 with a best analysis of 8/54. He took five wickets in an innings 12 times and 10 wickets in a match twice. He scored 5127 runs @ 17.43 with a highest score of 138, making two centuries. He took 94 catches.

He served as cricket coach at Rugby School where he nurtured star all-rounder Tom Wills, one of the founders of Australian rules football.

At the end of the 1859 English cricket season, Lillywhite was one of the 12 players who took part in cricket's first-ever overseas tour when an English team led by George Parr visited North America.

From 1856 to 1873, Lillywhite umpired in 29 first-class matches.[2] On 26 August 1862, during an All-England Eleven v. Surrey match at The Oval, Lillywhite no-balled Edgar Willsher six times in succession for what he deemed to be illegal "high" deliveries. Willsher and the majority of his All-England teammates protested and abandoned the match, and Lillywhite was replaced the following day. The incident provoked much discussion and resulted in the laws of cricket being change to allow overarm bowling from the beginning of the 1864 season.

References

  1. Lillywhites Retrieved 4 October 2012
  2. Lillywhite's umpiring stats Retrieved 8 October 2012

Further reading

  • H S Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1926
  • Derek Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999
  • Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
  • Arthur Haygarth, Scores & Biographies, Volumes 3-9 (1841-1866), Lillywhite, 1862-1867
  • John Major, More Than A Game, HarperCollins, 2007 includes the famous 1859 touring team photo taken on board ship at Liverpool
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