Ted Pooley
Encyclopedia
Edward William 'Ted' Pooley (born 13 February 1842 at Chepstow
, Monmouthshire
; died 18 July 1907 at Lambeth
, London
) was an English
cricket
er. Ted Pooley's greatest claim to fame is that he should have been England's first Test
match wicket keeper. The story is a good one, but it overshadows the fact that he played cricket for Surrey
and Middlesex
between 1861 and 1883, and was held in the highest regard for his cricketing ability if not for his personal behaviour.
and then Australia
. Every match was an occasion for gambling by supporters of both sides and most games had a prize purse to play for. Pooley was injured and travelled ahead of the team to recuperate before a match in Christchurch
, New Zealand. Another visitor, Ralph Donkin, offered odds of 20-1 to anyone who guessed the exact score of a batsman. The game was to be an Odds match where the England XI would play 22 of Christchurch and Pooley simply put a shilling on each batsman to make 0. He stood to make a pound for each duck scored for an initial stake of 22 shillings (£1.10). He also apparently umpired during the match. After the match - which featured 11 scores of 0 - Pooley claimed £9 15s from Donkin who refused to pay. It was Pooley's alleged assault on Donkin that led to his arrest at Dunedin (after another match in which Pooley played). He was sent for trial at Christchurch, just before the England team left for Australia and what would subsequently be recognised as the first Test match. Eventually he was found not guilty (along with the England team's bag man Alfred Bramhall) and returned to England several weeks after his fellow tourists. The story goes that the people of Christchurch held a public subscription and bought him a pocket watch.
It was not the first time he had been in trouble with authority figures. He was well known as a drinker and a gambler. In 1873 he had been suspended by Surrey for taking a bet on a match he was playing in.
According to David Frith
in The Fast Men, at an unspecified date (probably before 1871) Jem Mace
, the boxer, was watching cricket at Lords when a ball hit a crack in the pitch and took out three of wicket keeper Ted Pooley's teeth. He dressed Pooley's wounds and declared: "I would rather stand up against any man in England for an hour than take your place behind the wicket for five minutes. I heard that ball strike you as if it had hit a brick wall."
In 1871 he broke a finger taking a return from a fielder and the bone protruded from his flesh. His batting, which was very promising in his early years was increasingly hampered by injuries to his hands.
His wicket keeping was fundamental to the success of spin bowlers like James Southerton
. Off-spin and orthodox left-arm spin were recent developments following the legalisation of overarm bowling
in 1864 and were a puzzle for keepers as well as batsmen.
Including catches made when not keeping wicket, he finished with 854 dismissals
in first-class matches.
. In 1899 the writer Alfred Pullin
traced and interviewed many old cricketers. He described Pooley's hands as "mere lumps of deformity" and attributed their condition to rheumatism caused by drink. Pooley became angry at this, banging the table to show he had no feeling in his fingers and that it was cricket rather than "rheumatics" that had put him in the workhouse. He took Pullin outside to show he could still catch a ball. Pooley lived on until 1907, largely forgotten while his team mates from the 1877 tour were lauded as the first Test cricketers.
His brother, Frederick Pooley, also played first-class cricket.
Chepstow
Chepstow is a town in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the River Wye, close to its confluence with the River Severn, and close to the western end of the Severn Bridge on the M48 motorway...
, Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire
Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...
; died 18 July 1907 at Lambeth
Lambeth
Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er. Ted Pooley's greatest claim to fame is that he should have been England's first Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
match wicket keeper. The story is a good one, but it overshadows the fact that he played cricket for Surrey
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
and Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
between 1861 and 1883, and was held in the highest regard for his cricketing ability if not for his personal behaviour.
The first Test gambling scandal
In 1877 a representative England side was touring New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and then Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Every match was an occasion for gambling by supporters of both sides and most games had a prize purse to play for. Pooley was injured and travelled ahead of the team to recuperate before a match in Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
, New Zealand. Another visitor, Ralph Donkin, offered odds of 20-1 to anyone who guessed the exact score of a batsman. The game was to be an Odds match where the England XI would play 22 of Christchurch and Pooley simply put a shilling on each batsman to make 0. He stood to make a pound for each duck scored for an initial stake of 22 shillings (£1.10). He also apparently umpired during the match. After the match - which featured 11 scores of 0 - Pooley claimed £9 15s from Donkin who refused to pay. It was Pooley's alleged assault on Donkin that led to his arrest at Dunedin (after another match in which Pooley played). He was sent for trial at Christchurch, just before the England team left for Australia and what would subsequently be recognised as the first Test match. Eventually he was found not guilty (along with the England team's bag man Alfred Bramhall) and returned to England several weeks after his fellow tourists. The story goes that the people of Christchurch held a public subscription and bought him a pocket watch.
It was not the first time he had been in trouble with authority figures. He was well known as a drinker and a gambler. In 1873 he had been suspended by Surrey for taking a bet on a match he was playing in.
Sporting career
All this detracts from his long and successful career as a professional cricketer. By his own account he first kept wicket during a match in 1863 when the regular keeper refused to play on a bad pitch (Middlesex had been dismissed for 20). He was an instant success and kept wicket for Middlesex and Surrey for the next 20 years. Wicket keeping was very different in the nineteenth century. Most keepers stood up to all but the fastest bowlers with a fielder behind them at long-stop to tidy up any byes. Pooley often used his bare hands to catch the ball. At one point he used a bare hand and one soft glove.According to David Frith
David Frith
David Edward John Frith is a leading cricket writer and historian. Cricinfo describes him as "an author, historian, and founding editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly".-Life and career:...
in The Fast Men, at an unspecified date (probably before 1871) Jem Mace
Jem Mace
Jem Mace was an English boxing champion. He was born at Beeston, Norfolk. Although nicknamed "The Gypsy", he denied Romani ethnicity in his autobiography...
, the boxer, was watching cricket at Lords when a ball hit a crack in the pitch and took out three of wicket keeper Ted Pooley's teeth. He dressed Pooley's wounds and declared: "I would rather stand up against any man in England for an hour than take your place behind the wicket for five minutes. I heard that ball strike you as if it had hit a brick wall."
In 1871 he broke a finger taking a return from a fielder and the bone protruded from his flesh. His batting, which was very promising in his early years was increasingly hampered by injuries to his hands.
His wicket keeping was fundamental to the success of spin bowlers like James Southerton
James Southerton
James Southerton was a professional cricketer who played first-class cricket between 1854 and 1879....
. Off-spin and orthodox left-arm spin were recent developments following the legalisation of overarm bowling
Overarm bowling
In cricket, overarm bowling refers to a delivery in which the bowler's hand is above shoulder height. This is in contrast to a roundarm delivery, where the hand is between shoulder height and waist height; and an underarm delivery where the bowler's hand is below waist height.After roundarm was...
in 1864 and were a puzzle for keepers as well as batsmen.
Including catches made when not keeping wicket, he finished with 854 dismissals
Dismissal (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a dismissal occurs when the batsman is out . Colloquially, the fielding team is also said to have snared, bagged or captured a wicket. At this point a batsman must discontinue batting and leave the field permanently for the innings...
in first-class matches.
Retirement
After his cricket career, Pooley, as with so many of his contemporary cricketers, struggled financially and his gambling and drinking eventually lead to the Lambeth workhouseWorkhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
. In 1899 the writer Alfred Pullin
Alfred Pullin
Alfred William Pullin, known by the pseudonym Old Ebor , was a British sports journalist who wrote about rugby union and cricket. He wrote mainly for British newspapers the Yorkshire Post and the Yorkshire Evening Post...
traced and interviewed many old cricketers. He described Pooley's hands as "mere lumps of deformity" and attributed their condition to rheumatism caused by drink. Pooley became angry at this, banging the table to show he had no feeling in his fingers and that it was cricket rather than "rheumatics" that had put him in the workhouse. He took Pullin outside to show he could still catch a ball. Pooley lived on until 1907, largely forgotten while his team mates from the 1877 tour were lauded as the first Test cricketers.
His brother, Frederick Pooley, also played first-class cricket.
Further reading
- Keith BoothKeith Booth (scorer)Keith Booth is a cricket writer and scorer. He has been the principal scorer for Surrey County Cricket Club since 1995.Like Geoffrey Boycott, Dickie Bird and Michael Parkinson, he comes from Barnsley, and like them he inherited a love of cricket. He has previously scored for Middlesex and MCC and...
, His Own Enemy: The Rise and Fall of Edward Pooley, Belmont Books, 2000, ISBN 978-0953776603.