Published: Apr 21, 2016, 07:30 AM (IST)
Edited: Jul 15, 2016, 11:56 AM (IST)
Yorkshireman George Pinder, born July 15, 1841, was among the greatest wicket-keepers of the 1870s. Pinder was famous for doing away with the long-stop — an indispensable fielding position till then, given the condition of pitches — while standing up to the stumps to the fastest contemporary bowlers. He was also one of the fastest stumpers of his era, which, again, was commendable, given the poor pitches. Abhishek Mukherjee looks back one of the greatest and impactful wicket-keepers in history.
The incident dates back to the 1870s. Ephraim Lockwood, that round-arm medium-pace-bowling all-rounder who led Yorkshire for two seasons, was doing his usual business on the field; in other words, he was manning the boundary behind the wicketkeeper at the long, long stretch on The Oval. In other words, he was the long-stop.
It was a different era, the 1870s. The pitches on which bowlers hurled the ball often resembled paddy fields more than the well-rolled strips we get to see on television these days. The ball lifted, shot, darted, whistled, jagged at unexpected heights and directions; as a result wicketkeeping became one of the most challenging jobs in cricket.
A long-stop, thus, was almost mandatory. But on that day, Lockwood, frustrated by the fact that nothing came his way, exclaimed: “Nay, George, I’ve been behind thee for twenty-three overs and had nowt to stop. I’m off where there’s summat to do.”
[read-also]184326,110927[/read-also]
Lockwood was not the only one to watch George Pinder in his pomp. AN ‘Monkey’ Hornby was leading North of England against their Southern counterparts in the same decade. So impressed was he with Pinder’s brilliance that he, as legend goes, did away with the long-stop despite protests from a reluctant Pinder.
That was probably Pinder’s greatest contribution to wicketkeeping, but certainly not the only aspect that marked him out. One must remember that Pinder kept wickets in an era when the norm was stand up to fast bowlers, which makes his efficiency even more remarkable.
What was more Pinder was also a fantastic stumper. One must remember that he was a teammate of Tom Emmett, that left-arm round-arm fast bowler, probably the fastest among contemporary Englishmen. Emmett bowled a ball that he himself coined ‘sostenuter’: the ball pitched on leg and broke very sharply towards off, often beating the bat or taking the edge.
Pinder was a master against the sostenuter: he anticipated the break-backs and pouched the edges despite the pace and minimal distance the ball had to travel between the edge and his gauntlets; and if the batsman overbalanced, the bails were whipped off in a flash (you do remember the variable bounce, correct?).
In his much-acclaimed biography of Lord Hawke, James Coldham called Pinder “seemingly immortal”. JM Kilburn called him “the wicketkeeper who was beyond compare in his time.” Cricket as it should be played (by “An ex-captain”) called him “first-class”, adding that he is “seldom at fault”.
In his obituary, Wisden wrote: “Lovers of the game, whose recollections go back to the ‘70’s, will remember him as one of the finest wicket-keepers we ever had. To very fast bowling he was perhaps the best of all.”
Note: It is probably worth a mention that Neville Cardus called Pinder “not less gifted than” Jack Blackham, but then, that was Cardus. It is interesting that Blackham, too, kept without a long-stop for a significant part of his career.
But what about ones that kept low? One must remember that Pinder kept wickets in an era when glovemen did not sit on their haunches; Pinder stood, his body bent from the waist, and still gathered shooters, even down leg. One must remember that Sammy Carter, the first wicketkeeper to sit on his haunches, was barely born during the peak of Pinder’s career.
Tom Hearne, a hapless victim of a near-impossible stumping (off a leg-shooter), once blurted out: “I don’t call that stumping; I call it shovelling of ’em in!”
Indeed, Pinder was the finest against fast bowling. AG Steel and Alfred Lyttelton wrote in Cricket: “The famous George Pinder, at the beginning of his career, had faster bowling to keep it consistently than any other cricketer before or since. [George] Freeman, Emmett, and [George] Atkinson were three very fast bowlers, and they all three played for Yorkshire, and after them came [Allen] Hill and [George] Ulyett. Pinder in consequence very frequently damaged his hands, and no wonder.”
Fiercely competitive, spirited, and energetic, Pinder celebrated dismissals and victories like none other. When Yorkshire beat Nottinghamshire by an innings at Sheffield in 1878, Pinder was a part of the usual scramble for the stumps. In an effort to reach there first, Pinder collided into his teammates and broke his collarbone.
It is, indeed, difficult to assess wicketkeepers of a bygone era based on catches and stumpings, for the number of dismissals depended on the chances that came behind stumps. Even then, from 179 matches, Pinder had 221 catches and 136 stumpings to his name. In all recorded matches, the numbers read 474 catches and 380 stumpings from 356 matches.
His 2,415 First-Class runs came at 11 with 3 fifties, while his occasional underarm slow bowling fetched him 23 wickets at 21.
Unfortunately, George Pinder never played a Test.
Career
Pinder was born George Pinder Hattersley, in Ecclesfield, Sheffield. Exactly when he lost the ‘Hattersley’ bit is not documented. He was barely ten when he was working as a pocket-knife grinder. He soon joined St Mary’s CC, and kept wickets for them by 18.
By 21 he played for Sheffield Shrewsbury CC XXII against an All-England XI; he failed with bat, but took 2 catches and 3 stumpings. He played for several sides, and eventually, at 25, got to play a match that was given First-Class status, for All-England XI against United England XI.
He played his first match for Yorkshire later that season, against Nottinghamshire. He got 3 second-innings dismissals, including a catch and a stumping off Emmett. He eased into the side in no time, and established himself as a worthy successor of Edwin Stephenson.
By the early 1870s, Pinder had established himself firmly as a Yorkshire professional, and, as mentioned, emerged as one of the leading wicketkeepers of the era.
Unfortunately, money was hard to come by. Pinder was not a part of WG Grace’s 1873-74 team or James Lillywhite’s 1876-77 team to Australia (the latter included the first two Tests). Thus, when the offer to tour North America with Richard Daft’s team in 1879-80 came along, Pinder obliged. The team returned with an unbeaten record.
Note: In his reminiscences, Grace mentioned that Ted Pooley and Pinder “were not available for the tour”.
In 1880, Yorkshire gave him a benefit season, which yielded about £300 before he called it a day. The same season they tried to replace him, in August, with Walter Aspinall, who did not prove worthy of those giant boots. The selectors were far from impressed, and to quote Wisden, “Pinder was hastily summoned from retirement”.
Pinder saw Yorkshire through that season, but did not play for them again. Towards the end of the season he played a good hand against Gloucestershire. Yorkshire trailed by 107, and were 105 for 8 when Pinder walked out. He collared an attack consisting of WG and Fred Grace, Billy Midwinter, Walter Gilbert, and William Woof, scoring 57. Gloucestershire had to chase 84, and barring WG nobody reached double-figures; they lost only 4 wickets, but Pinder had his share, with 2 catches and a stumping.
He played a couple of matches in 1881 before calling it a day for good.
Personal life and final years
George Pinder married Emma Dunkerly, five years older to him. George and Emma lived with George’s stepsons William, Albert, and Vernon, as well as their daughters, Ada and Lilly, at The Kings Head (Carlton Road, Worksop, Nottinghamshire)
A publican, Pinder ran into financial crisis before Hickleton Main Colliery CC appointed him as groundsman and storekeeper. He passed away on January 15, 1903, in his daughter’s home at Hickleton. He was 59.
(Abhishek Mukherjee is the Chief Editor at CricketCountry and CricLife. He blogs here and can be followed on Twitter here.)
