John Lillywhite (born 10 November 1826 at

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th c ...

, Sussex; died 27 October 1874 at St Pancras,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) was an English

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 str ...

er and

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

during the game's roundarm era. John Lillywhite was part of a famous cricketing family, his father being

William Lillywhite Frederick William Lillywhite (13 June 1792 – 21 August 1854) was an English first-class cricketer during the game's roundarm era. One of the main protagonists in the legalisation of roundarm, he was one of the most successful bowlers of his ...

, a brother being

Fred Lillywhite Frederick Lillywhite (7 July 1829 – 15 September 1866) was a sports outfitter and cricketing entrepreneur, who organised the first overseas cricket tour by an English team and published a number of reference works about cricket. Cricketing dyn ...

and his cousin being James Lillywhite. In 1863, members of the family established the sports outfitters

Lillywhites Lillywhites is a sports retailer based at Piccadilly Circus, London, United Kingdom. It is a division of Frasers Group. History In the 19th century, several members of the Lillywhite family were leading cricketers; another, Fred Lillywhite, ...

. Lillywhite was an

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

who batted right-handed and bowled right-arm roundarm, both slow and fast. His known first-class career spanned the

1848 1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...

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 In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Taki ...

12 times and

10 wickets in a match In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bow ...

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 Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

where he nurtured star all-rounder

Tom Wills Thomas Wentworth Wills (19 August 1835 – 2 May 1880) was an Australian sportsman who is credited with being Australia's first cricketer of significance and a founder of Australian rules football. Born in the British penal colony of New ...

, 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.Lillywhite's umpiring stats
Retrieved 8 October 2012 On 26 August 1862, during an

All-England Eleven In English cricket since the first half of the 18th century, various ''ad hoc'' teams have been formed for short-term purposes which have been called England (or sometimes "All-England"; i.e., in the sense of "the rest of England") to play against, ...

v. Surrey match at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

, Lillywhite no-balled

Edgar Willsher Edgar "Ned" Willsher (22 November 1828 – 7 October 1885) was an English cricketer known for being a catalyst in the shift from roundarm to overarm bowling. A left-handed bowler, and useful lower-order batsman, Willsher played first-class crick ...

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 The ''Laws of Cricket'' is a code which specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744 and, since 1788, it has been owned and maintained by its custodian, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lond ...

being change to allow overarm bowling from the beginning of the 1864 season.

References

External links

CricketArchive

The New York Clipper

, ''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 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lillywhite, John 1826 births 1874 deaths People from Hove United All-England Eleven cricketers North v South cricketers Players cricketers English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 English cricketers of 1864 to 1889 English cricketers Sussex cricketers United South of England Eleven cricketers Middlesex cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers English cricket umpires Manchester Cricket Club cricketers Players of the South cricketers W. G. Grace's XI cricketers All-England Eleven cricketers

References

External links

Further reading