10 Things to know about John Wisden

The ‘Yellow’ Wisden Book Guy - John Wisden

Wisden is a term instantly associated with cricket, more specifically as the name of the game’s famous yellow colored reference book. Not many people know much about its creator, John Wisden, who was termed by Fuller Pilch as the leading all-rounder of that time.

In 1913, to mark the 50th edition of the Wisden, only one cricketer of the year was announced, John Wisden himself. He ended his career with 1109 wickets and 4140 runs, as well as 169 catches and one stumping.

Here are ten facts about him:

1. Wisden played for three English county teams: Kent, Middlesex and Essex:

Wisden’s game was primarily based in Sussex, the oldest of the eighteen County clubs. Apart from that, he played once for Kent, and three times for Middlesex. In his debut match for Sussex against MCC in July 1845, Wisden took nine wickets.

When he moved to London, he shared his residence with the Sussex wicketkeeper Tom Box, who had made his appearance for the County in 1828.

2. He was nicknamed Little Wonder for his short height:

When he made his debut in 1845, the 18-year old stood at just six inches past five feet and weighed a mere 44 kgs. As a 12-year-old, he was selected to be one of the “Eleven Youths of Brighton” to play against Lewes, a county town in East Sussex.

He was given nicknames such as “Sussex Pet” and “Little Marvel”, but the one that stuck was “Little Wonder”, a sobriquet that must have been inspired by the racehorse who won the 1840 Epsom Derby.

3. He once took 10 wickets in an innings, all bowled:

Among the 79 instances of a bowler taking all ten wickets in an innings, Wisden holds the unique achievement of bowling out all ten of his victim. Eric Hollies, with seven bowled and three leg before, is the only other bowler to take ten wickets and not require the assistance of any fielder.

Playing for the Norths, Wisden took three South wickets in the first innings, as they crumbled to 36 runs. No batsman could manage double figures. In the second innings, Wisden completed a 10/10, bowling the Norths out for 76.

The grave of cricketer JOHN WISDEN at Brompton Cemetery Fulham in London,

4. Before Sachin and Warne did it, Wisden recruited a team to play in Canada and the US:

Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne might be garnering crowds with their idea of globalizing cricket in the US these days, but John Wisden travelled with a George Parr (known as Lion of the North) -led cricket team to Canada and the United States way back in 1859.

The visiting team won all the eight matches, in cities that included Montreal, Philadelphia and Rochester. The team consisted of six All-England and six United-England players. This was the first touring team from England. An expedition to Australia also turned out to be unbeaten for Parr’s men.

5. He captured over a thousand first-class wickets:

He picked up 1109 wickets in 186 first class matches. He was well known across Sussex for his “fast, ripping off-cutters”. He was a fast bowling all-rounder and an occasional wicketkeeper. He ended his career with an economy rate of 1.83.

In the 38 matches that he played in 1850, he captured an astonishing 340 wickets. Before his pace reduced, he averaged around ten wickets every match.

6. John Wisden & Company:

In 1850, John Wisden opened John Wisden & Co., a cricket equipment manufacturing company. Five years later, he opened a “cricket and cigar” shop in Central London.

John Wisden and Co became part of the Wisden group, a conglomerate of four companies, namely the Wisden Cricketer magazine, Cricinfo and HawkEye. The group split in 2007 with the acquisition of the Wisden Cricketer by BSkyB.

7. He was supposed to marry George Parr’s sister:

Known as the Lion of the North, George Parr was one of the finest England batsmen of his time. He had a long association with John Wisden, taking the first touring team abroad with him.

Wisden played for the All-England Eleven which was captained by Parr after the death of its founder, William Clarke. In 1849, Wisden was engaged to marry to Annie Parr, sister of George. However, she died before the marriage. Wisden remained a lifelong bachelor.

Google’s Doodle on Wisden’s 187th birthday

8. Although business-minded, Wisden was a very benevolent man:

His numerous business ventures aside, John Wisden was known to be a very helpful and benevolent man. He took care of the financial difficulties that his fellow cricketers were going through. As part of his efforts, he established a fund to help the needy.

He, along with Parr made the decision that each Whitsuntide will play each other, with their matches being the highlight of each season, the proceeds of which will go to the fund.

9. Wisden Almanack:

His publication, the Wisden Almanack, has come out every year since 1864. Wisden created the “Bible of Cricket”, the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, the ultimate reference book of cricket which, barring a few exceptions, has been published every year since 1864.

The little yellow colored books are small, yet thick. The modern editions run up to 1500 pages. An Indian edition of the Almanack was also started in 2012. The longevity of the publication is highlighted from the fact that it continued to be released in the war years, even when their headquarters were taken down by a German bomber.

10. His 187th Birthday was captured by a Google Doodle:

Wisden has left his mark on the cricketing world by creating the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, one of the most famous reference books in sports. He was widely considered to be the best all-rounder of his era.

In lieu of his achievements and contributions to cricket, Google marked Wisden’s 187th birth anniversary with a doodle. It used the famous yellow image that is represented on the Almanack’s cover, along with its own rendition of the woodcut of two cricketers that highlight the cover.