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Single-wicket cricket match between John Grange and James Sadler lasts three days

The appearance of Alfred Mynn on the scene helped the single-wicket format gain popularity.

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Alfred Mynn mastered the single-wicket format © Getty Images
Alfred Mynn mastered the single-wicket format © Getty Images

A three-day long single-wicket contest ended at Woodhouse Moor on October 17, 1857. Abhishek Mukherjee looks at an intense contest between John Grange and James Sadler.

One of the biggest problems cricket had to put up with in her early days was logistics. Communication was not very developed in the 1700s and early 1800s, which meant that teams often found it difficult to assemble their players, visit a ground together, and participate in a contest.

All this led to the rise of the single-wicket contest. There are doubts over its origin, but it generally accepted that the Artillery Ground, London hosted several contests — especially among gamblers. Star performers included Robert Colchin, Stephen Dingate, Tom Faulkner, and Thomas Waymark.

Andrew Ward, in Cricket’s Strangest Matches, called the format “cricket’s answer to boxing.” It was, after all, no-nonsense, one-on-one, and provided ample opportunities to gamble.

Middle-stump and Mynn

The most famous five-a-side cricket bout took place between two legends of the sport — “Lumpy” Stevens of Surrey and John Small of Hambledon. Stevens beat Small thrice, only for the ball to pass through the wicket, which, in its earlier days, had only two stumps: anything that passed between them was declared not out. While it was definitely five-a-side, batsmen batted one at a time, so the match is definitely worth a mention.

The middle-stump was included as a result. Single-wicket contests came to a decline at Hambledon, but the appearance of Alfred Mynn on the scene helped the format gain in popularity. Participants included legends like Fuller Pilch (who beat Tom Marsden convincingly to win the Championship in 1833), but thereafter it was all about Mynn. Mynn also beat his friend Nicholas Felix by an innings and two runs on June 18, 1846 in one of the most high-profile single-wicket contests.

Build-up

Thus, when John Grange (of Dacre Banks) and James Sadler (of Leeds) met at Victoria Ground, Woodhouse Moor, there was no shortage of enthusiasm. Sadler was no mean player. He was an outstanding underarm bowler, and was a mainstay for Leeds. He was also selected to play for North against South, but did not get to bowl — though he managed to catch Pilch off William Clarke.

To make things less tiresome for the two men, they were allowed a fielder each. William Swain (a Richmond professional and Grange’s coach) would field for Grange, while Sadler chose a George Atkinson. Though the length of the pitch remained 22 yards, it was decided that the batsmen would have to run 40 yards for a run to be completed.

Thursday

The match started at 11.45, and the Kirkstall crowd started pouring in as time passed. Sadler sent down 159 balls (the format, of course, did not accommodate the concept of an “over”), of which Grange missed 79. Of the remaining 80 he could manage a mere 17: running 40 yards for a run, you see, was difficult despite the presence of a solitary fielder.

Grange’s effort came to an end when he holed out to Atkinson at mid-off. Fortunately for him, Sadler had sent down ten wides, which helped him reach 27 after an effort that lasted two hours and a half.

Sadler walked out to bat, but realised the problem immediately. It was not Grange. Ward wrote that Swain “fielded like two men.” Unfortunately, he tried to hold on to a skier, ran past the boundary, and tore a nail of his little finger while trying to avoid a spectator and, for some reason, catch the ball at the same time.

Meanwhile, news regarding the match spread by word of mouth, and people left their work a Kirkstall Forge to watch the match, placing bets profusely. MCC Cricket Scores and Biographies narrated that the contest “caused more excitement in Leeds and its neighbourhood than any other contest for the last twenty years.”

Stumps (er, as a figure of speech) were taken as soon as Sadler was bowled by Grange for a 93-ball 20 (plus 4 wides). Grange led by 3 runs after the first innings were completed, and the stakes read £50 per player after the day’s play.

Friday

Atkinson had no idea that the match would see a second day, and had to leave for an appointment. Sadler had to replace him with Joseph Appleyard. He started with a ploy of sending down daisy-cutters (in other words, he made the ball bounce twice or more before it reached Grange), but it turned out to be ineffective.

Sadler changed to underarm lobs before switching to overarm, but to no avail. He was eventually saved by rain; Grange (and wides) were on 21, ahead by 24, at the end of the day’s play.

Saturday

Under a clear Kirkstall sky on Saturday, Grange added 3 to his overnight score before hitting one back to Sadler. His 24 (which included 2 wides) had lasted 96 balls. Sadler was up against a steep target of 28.

Grange had a huge appeal for leg-before on his 14th ball, but it was turned down. The tension mounted. Then, 4 balls later, Sadler hit one “high and far.” Swain ran hard (Bell’s Life estimates the distance covered as 40 yards) to reach the fence. Then, with his back resting against the fence (yes, the laws were different), he stretched out his left-hand, and plucked the ball out of thin air.

Sadler had scored 3. There was no extra. Grange won the match by 24 runs.

What followed?

– Sadler moved to USA soon afterwards and wreaked havoc with the ball. Playing for English Residents XI against American Born XVIII he took 10 for 22 and 5 for 21 at Camden; a week later he claimed 8 for 25 and 6 for 29 against for St George’s Club of New York X against Germantown XI at Philadelphia. In all recorded matches he had 60 wickets at 6.89.

– Single-wicket cricket continued, especially in England, but lost popularity as transport developed. Emergence of the shorter formats helped kill its popularity as well. The last great tournament took place in 1969 at Lord’s, where Keith Boyce (a) knocked out Garry Sobers in the first round, (b) was rendered unconscious after being hit by a throw in the final, and (c) scored a 46-ball 84 and won the tournament.

Brief scores:

John Grange 27 and 24 beat James Sadler 24 and 3 by 24 runs.

(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor and Cricket Historian at CricketCountry. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)

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