William Clarke (cricketer)
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William Clarke (born 24 December 1798 in Nottingham; died 25 August 1856 in Wandsworth, Surrey) was a famous English cricketer and team manager. As the founder and organiser of the All-England Eleven he is one of the most significant figures in the sport's history.
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[edit] Bowling
Clarke was one of the best bowlers in England throughout his career. He eschewed the roundarm style and persisted with the rightarm underarm leg-spin he had learned as a boy. It brought him 795 wickets @ 10.06 in 143 known first-class matches alone. His best known analysis is 9/29. He took 82 5wI and 26 10wM. In all matches for his famed All-England Eleven, Clarke is estimated to have taken 2,385 wickets (see PWT).
Clarke's known first-class career began in the 1826 season and continued until 1855, the year before he died. He was a moderate batsman, scoring first-class 2133 runs @ 10.35 with a highest score of 75. He took 55 catches.
[edit] The first great team captain
Besides his bowling, Clarke's greatest attribute was his captaincy and leadership. He was an astute tactician and perhaps the sport's first truly tactical captain who could "think out" the opposition by means of planned field positions and rotation of his bowlers. Clarke captained the old Nottingham town club from 1830 and automatically succeeded to the captaincy of Nottinghamshire CCC when it was formed out of the town club in various stages between 1835 and 1840.
[edit] The All-England Eleven
Clarke was originally was a bricklayer by trade but his earnings as a bowler enabled him to take up the traditional cricketer's trade of publican. Clarke was importantly the owner of the Trent Bridge Inn, behind which he opened the Trent Bridge cricket ground in the 1830s.
A forerunner of Kerry Packer, Clarke was dissatisfied with the lack of revenue in first-class cricket which was completely controlled by MCC. He decided to take matters into his own hands. In the 1846 season, he formed the All-England Eleven as a touring team of leading players to play matches at big city venues, mainly in the North of England. Clarke's team was indeed a top-class side worthy of its title. Their matches in Sheffield, Manchester and Leeds were a huge success and very profitable, especially for Clarke himself who was careful to pay his players more than MCC did and so keep them interested. He kept the surplus for himself and became very wealthy.
Clarke's touring team continued for several years to showcase the best players of the day. Because of its strength the AEE generally played sides composed of twenty-two men, though these odds were reduced when opposed to such sides as Sheffield, Manchester, some county teams and the rival United All-England Eleven.
[edit] Trivia
Clarke is believed to be the only player ever to take a first-class hat-trick including the same batsman (John Fagge) twice.[1]
A stand at Trent Bridge, an English international venue and Nottinghamshire's home ground, is named after William Clarke.
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[edit] References
- Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians - various publications
- Scores and Biographies by Arthur Haygarth
- The Hamlyn A-Z of Cricket Records by Peter Wynne-Thomas (PWT)
