10 Things to know about John Wisden

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.