Fuller Pilch (17 March 1804 – 1 May 1870) was an English

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er, active from 1820 to 1854. He was a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

who

bowled In cricket, the term bowled has several meanings. First, is the act of propelling the ball towards the wicket defended by a batsman. Second, it is a method of dismissing a batsman, by hitting the wicket with a ball delivered by the bowler. (Th ...

at a slow pace with a

roundarm In cricket, roundarm bowling is a bowling style that was introduced in the first quarter of the 19th century and largely superseded underarm bowling by the 1830s. Using a roundarm action, the bowlers extend their arm about 90 degrees from their ...

action. Pilch played in a total of 229 first-class matches for an assortment of teams, but mostly for

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. He is remembered as a pioneer of forward play in batting, and especially for a shot called "Pilch's poke".

Early life

Pilch was born at

Horningtoft Horningtoft is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 135 in 54 households at the 2001 census,Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, the third son of Nathaniel Pilch and his wife Frances (née Fuller). They had been married at

Brisley Brisley is a village in the English county of Norfolk located about halfway between Fakenham and East Dereham. It covers an area of and had a population of 276 in 117 households at the 2001 census The Village is located along the B1145 a ro ...

and returned to live there when Pilch was young. His father was a

cobbler Cobbler(s) may refer to: *A person who Shoemaking, repairs, and sometimes makes, shoes Places * The Cobbler, a mountain located near the head of Loch Long in Scotland * Mount Cobbler, Australia Art, entertainment and media * The Cobbler (1923 ...

and Pilch himself became a

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

. He followed in the footsteps of his two elder brothers,

Nathaniel , nickname = {{Plainlist, * Nat * Nate , footnotes = Nathaniel is an English variant of the biblical Greek name Nathanael. People with the name Nathaniel * Nathaniel Archibald (1952–2018), American basketball player * Nate A ...

and

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, and became a professional

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er.

Cricket career

Pilch's first appearance at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

was a three-day match in July 1820, playing for Norfolk. He then went to

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

to play cricket and earn his living as a tailor. By the late 1820s, he had become the finest batsman in England and acquired the nickname, "the ''non pareil'' nrivalledhitter". He appeared 23 times in

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...

matches. In 1833, in highly publicised

single wicket Single wicket cricket is a form of cricket played between two individuals, who take turns to bat and bowl against each other. The one bowling is assisted by a team of fielders, who remain as fielders at the change of innings. The winner is the one w ...

matches, Pilch twice defeated

Tom Marsden Thomas Marsden (12 September 1803 – 27 February 1843) was a noted early English cricketer whose career spanned the 1826 to 1841 seasons. Born in Sheffield, Marsden was an all-rounder who batted left-handed and bowled either left-arm fast (unde ...

, another prominent batsman of the time. In 1835, he moved to

Town Malling West Malling ( , historically Town Malling) is a market town in the Tonbridge and Malling district of Kent, England. It has a population of 2,590. Landmarks West Malling contains several historic buildings, including St Leonard's Tower, a Norma ...

in Kent and received a salary of 100 pounds a year. There he kept a tavern attached to the cricket ground. Pilch moved to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

in 1842 where he kept the ''Saracen's Head''. He served as the first groundsman of the

St Lawrence Ground The St Lawrence Ground is a cricket ground in Canterbury, Kent. It is the home ground of Kent County Cricket Club and since 2013 has been known as The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, due to commercial sponsorship. It is one of the oldest grounds ...

from 1847 to 1868.

Style and technique

Pilch was described as "the greatest batsman ever known until the appearance of

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equal ...

". An early pioneer of batting, Pilch's method of playing the ball forward is seen as an early manifestation of modern batting practices. The main characteristic of his batting was his forward play, using a shot that was called "Pilch's poke". Writing in 1862 in his ''Scores and Biographies'',

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as well as num ...

called Pilch "the best batsman that has ever yet appeared". Haygarth further wrote: "His style of batting was very commanding, extremely forward, and he seemed to rush to the best bowling by his long forward play before it had time to shoot or rise, or do mischief by catches". Though his statistics may seem fairly ordinary as reflected by modern standards, the ten centuries he amassed throughout his entire club and first-class playing career were considered "remarkable" in the context of the

roundarm bowling In cricket, roundarm bowling is a bowling style that was introduced in the first quarter of the 19th century and largely superseded underarm bowling by the 1830s. Using a roundarm action, the bowlers extend their arm about 90 degrees from their ...

and poorly maintained

cricket pitch In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets. It is long (1 chain) and wide. The surface is flat and is normally covered with extremely short grass, but can be completely d ...

es he encountered during his career. As to the question of how Pilch would compare with the greatest of his successors, editor Sydney Pardon wrote in

's obituary in the 1916 edition of ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'': Pilch died at Canterbury in 1870. He never married.

Legacy

Besides his two brothers, Pilch's nephew William Pilch also played first-class cricket. In June 2008, it was reported in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' that Pilch's grave in St Gregory's churchyard in

was preventing the development of the churchyard into a Canterbury Christ Church University concert hall, as it could not be located for removal. Soon afterwards, the grave was located through the use of an old photograph and the memories of local people. In the novel ''

Flashman's Lady ''Flashman's Lady'' is a 1977 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the sixth of the Flashman novels. Plot introduction Presented within the frame of the supposedly discovered historical Flashman Papers, this book describes the bully Flashm ...

'' by

George MacDonald Fraser George MacDonald Fraser (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a British author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Flashman. Biography Fraser was born to Scottish parents in Carlisle, England, ...

, Pilch is

caught and bowled Caught is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket. A batsman is out caught if the batsman hits the ball, from a legitimate delivery, with the bat, and the ball is caught by the bowler or a fielder before it hits the ground. If the ball h ...

Harry Flashman Sir Harry Paget Flashman is a fictional character created by Thomas Hughes (1822–1896) in the semi-autobiographical ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857) and later developed by George MacDonald Fraser (1925–2008). Harry Flashman appears in a ...

in a fictional game at

between Rugby Old Boys and

in 1842. Pilch is mentioned in the song "Gentlemen and Players" on the 2009 cricket concept album

The Duckworth Lewis Method The Duckworth Lewis Method are an Irish pop group formed by Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy and Thomas Walsh of Pugwash. The Duckworth Lewis Method is also the title of the group's first album, which was released on 3 July 2009, a few days b ...

, created by Irish duo Thomas Walsh and

Neil Hannon Edward Neil Anthony Hannon (born 7 November 1970) is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter. He is the creator and front man of the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy, and is the band's sole constant member. Hannon wrote the theme tunes for t ...

References

External links

*
Horningtoft Heritage Society Site
(NB: this is a straight copy of an earlier version of the Wikipedia article) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pilch, Fuller 1804 births 1870 deaths A to K v L to Z cricketers All-England Eleven cricketers Cambridge Town Club cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 English cricketers Fast v Slow cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Gentlemen of Kent cricketers Gentlemen of Nottinghamshire cricketers Gentlemen of Sussex cricketers Hampshire cricketers Kent cricketers Left-Handed v Right-Handed cricketers Married v Single cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Non-international England cricketers Norfolk cricketers North v South cricketers Over 30s v Under 30s cricketers People from Brisley Players cricketers Suffolk cricketers Surrey cricketers Sussex cricketers West of England cricketers