George Griffith (cricketer)
Encyclopedia
George Griffith was an English
cricket
er. Known by his nickname "Ben" or the altogether more stirring "Lion Hitter", he was a high-quality all-rounder
. Left-handed both as a batsman and bowler, he could bowl either fast roundarm or slow underarm
, and he was also a fine fielder.
career, in which he played primarily for Surrey
, lasted from 1856 to 1872. He also played for the United All-England Eleven, including appearing in their prestigious fixtures against the All-England Eleven
.
Having initially worked as a baker, he played for the Priory Park Club in Chichester
until 1856, joining Surrey the following year. He left the staff at the end of the 1863 season because of a disagreement over terms, but he continued to play for the club until 1872.
to Australia in 1861/2
and the second with Edgar Willsher
to North America in 1868. No matches on either tour were first-class, with one exception on the former tour, when the touring team divided for a match in March, 1862 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
that has been called "The World v Surrey XI". The six Surrey players from the touring side were joined by five locals, who reportedly had Surrey affiliations, to form the Surrey XI; the World XI was formed of the six non-Surrey tourists and another five locals. Though the Surrey XI lost by 6 wickets, Griffith took 5/52 and 2/37 and scored 39 and 13.
During this tour, which was a tremendous all-round success for him, Griffith and his team-mates pitched their tent at Beechworth, where they were to take on a local XXII over the course of three days. The Beechworth players collapsed quickly, however, being bowled out for twenty (twelve ducks), and the match was over long before the allocated time. The third day, therefore, saw Griffith take on a Beechworth XI all on his own. With the aid of three fielders, he dismissed the local side for one run, before scoring the two runs that he required for victory. The locals were naturally dumbfounded. After the chief clash at Castlemain, which the Englishmen lost, Griffith, Lawrence and Iddison recovered some of their dented pride by beating eleven of the locals in another single-wicket match.
Harry Altham
, in his celebrated book, A History of Cricket, noted that "not without cause has the poet sung ... for by common consent he was the hardest hitter known until the time of CI Thornton
." James Pycroft confirms this: "Griffiths among the professionals and Mr. Thornton among the gentlemen are the two hardest hitters of my time; I mean in their usual style of play. Griffiths however, never seemed to exert himself or to play for sensational long hits."
WJ Ford wrote more than once of a vast hit of Griffith's which sailed clean out of the Oval, over the heads of the many Surrey boundary-riders and then over the pavilion. Ford reckoned that, "Of the old-time professionals, Griffiths was the biggest hitter I remember."
One of his hits, in the 1865 Surrey-Middlesex match at Islington, was measured and found to be 119 yards. 34 years later, it was recalled: "A good deal was made of it in the reports at the time, but although, of course, it wasn't nearly equal to many of Thornton's best, I think in the present day you might sit and watch cricket for a long time without seeing a hit as good."
Griffith also once hit all four balls (although Ford mistakenly wrote about six) of an over right out of the Hastings ground in 1864, when playing for a United Eleven. Standing at the ground's northern-most wicket, Griffith bludgeoned each of the deliveries into exactly the same spot, clean over the fence to the Goods Station Road tavern on the right-hand side of the ground, each of them counting as "lost" sixes. The unfortunate bowler was slow bowler Farmer Bennett
of Kent -- but his mood was in stark contrast to that of the crowd, recorded by the Hastings & St Leonards Observer to have been "in a state of high excitement at such an unprecedented circumstance. General and oft-repeated applause showed the warmth of feeling that existed." A hat was passed around at the end of the game and a large collection taken for Griffith's benefit. As the game was not a first-class match, his feat did not count as a record, but, as Pycroft recalled, "This we never knew equalled".
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. Known by his nickname "Ben" or the altogether more stirring "Lion Hitter", he was a high-quality all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
. Left-handed both as a batsman and bowler, he could bowl either fast roundarm or slow underarm
Underarm bowling
In cricket, underarm bowling is as old as the sport itself. Until the introduction of the roundarm style in the first half of the 19th century, bowling was performed in the same way as in bowls, the ball being delivered with the hand below the waist...
, and he was also a fine fielder.
Overview of his playing career
Griffith's first-classFirst-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
career, in which he played primarily 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...
, lasted from 1856 to 1872. He also played for the United All-England Eleven, including appearing in their prestigious fixtures against the All-England Eleven
All-England Eleven
In cricket, the term All-England has been used for various non-international teams that have been formed for short-term purposes since the 1739 English cricket season and it indicates that the "Rest of England" is playing against, say, MCC or an individual county team...
.
Having initially worked as a baker, he played for the Priory Park Club in Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
until 1856, joining Surrey the following year. He left the staff at the end of the 1863 season because of a disagreement over terms, but he continued to play for the club until 1872.
His finest years
1864 was a great year for George Griffith. Regarded at the time as the biggest hitter in cricket, he played seventeen first-class matches and scored 489 runs. His left-handed round-arm fast bowling was also very highly thought of, and he took 69 wickets that season - although some of them came via slow lobs. That figure was supplemented by 26 catches, more than anyone else in the country. The previous season he had been even more successful with the bat, though rather less so with the ball, and made his highest score of 142 against Sussex at Hove.Overseas tours
Griffith went on two of the earliest overseas tours, the first with HH StephensonHH Stephenson
Heathfield Harman "HH" Stephenson was a famous English cricketer during the game's roundarm era....
to Australia in 1861/2
English cricket team in Australia in 1861-62
An England cricket team toured Australia in 1861–62. This was the first-ever tour of Australia by any overseas team and the second tour abroad by an English team, following the one to North America in 1859.-Organisers:...
and the second with Edgar Willsher
Edgar Willsher
Edgar "Ned" Willsher was an English cricketer who is famous for being the catalyst in the shift from roundarm to overarm bowling....
to North America in 1868. No matches on either tour were first-class, with one exception on the former tour, when the touring team divided for a match in March, 1862 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
that has been called "The World v Surrey XI". The six Surrey players from the touring side were joined by five locals, who reportedly had Surrey affiliations, to form the Surrey XI; the World XI was formed of the six non-Surrey tourists and another five locals. Though the Surrey XI lost by 6 wickets, Griffith took 5/52 and 2/37 and scored 39 and 13.
During this tour, which was a tremendous all-round success for him, Griffith and his team-mates pitched their tent at Beechworth, where they were to take on a local XXII over the course of three days. The Beechworth players collapsed quickly, however, being bowled out for twenty (twelve ducks), and the match was over long before the allocated time. The third day, therefore, saw Griffith take on a Beechworth XI all on his own. With the aid of three fielders, he dismissed the local side for one run, before scoring the two runs that he required for victory. The locals were naturally dumbfounded. After the chief clash at Castlemain, which the Englishmen lost, Griffith, Lawrence and Iddison recovered some of their dented pride by beating eleven of the locals in another single-wicket match.
The celebrated hitter
Very popular with the ring at Lord's and, indeed, all other grounds, Griffith was reputed to be the hardest hitter of his time. Edward Eardley-Wilmot and EC Streatfield recalled in their book, Charterhouse: Old and New: "Ben Griffiths, with his shoulders high up in his head, hitting merrily left-handedly all over the field". The following line of verse also describes him in romantic terms:- "If George Griffith gets a loose one, he will send it far away."
Harry Altham
Harry Altham
Harry Surtees Altham, CBE, DSO, MC was an English cricketer who became an important figure in the game as an administrator, historian and coach. His Wisden obituary described him as "among the best known personalities in the world of cricket"...
, in his celebrated book, A History of Cricket, noted that "not without cause has the poet sung ... for by common consent he was the hardest hitter known until the time of CI Thornton
Charles Thornton (cricketer)
Charles Inglis Thornton , nicknamed "Buns", was an English cricketer who played more than 200 first-class matches in the later 19th century, for no fewer than 22 different teams....
." James Pycroft confirms this: "Griffiths among the professionals and Mr. Thornton among the gentlemen are the two hardest hitters of my time; I mean in their usual style of play. Griffiths however, never seemed to exert himself or to play for sensational long hits."
WJ Ford wrote more than once of a vast hit of Griffith's which sailed clean out of the Oval, over the heads of the many Surrey boundary-riders and then over the pavilion. Ford reckoned that, "Of the old-time professionals, Griffiths was the biggest hitter I remember."
One of his hits, in the 1865 Surrey-Middlesex match at Islington, was measured and found to be 119 yards. 34 years later, it was recalled: "A good deal was made of it in the reports at the time, but although, of course, it wasn't nearly equal to many of Thornton's best, I think in the present day you might sit and watch cricket for a long time without seeing a hit as good."
Griffith also once hit all four balls (although Ford mistakenly wrote about six) of an over right out of the Hastings ground in 1864, when playing for a United Eleven. Standing at the ground's northern-most wicket, Griffith bludgeoned each of the deliveries into exactly the same spot, clean over the fence to the Goods Station Road tavern on the right-hand side of the ground, each of them counting as "lost" sixes. The unfortunate bowler was slow bowler Farmer Bennett
George Bennett (cricketer)
George Bennett was an English professional cricketer, who played first-class cricket from 1853 to 1873. He was mainly associated with Kent County Cricket Club, and made 170 known appearances in first-class matches.Bennett was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm slow roundarm bowler...
of Kent -- but his mood was in stark contrast to that of the crowd, recorded by the Hastings & St Leonards Observer to have been "in a state of high excitement at such an unprecedented circumstance. General and oft-repeated applause showed the warmth of feeling that existed." A hat was passed around at the end of the game and a large collection taken for Griffith's benefit. As the game was not a first-class match, his feat did not count as a record, but, as Pycroft recalled, "This we never knew equalled".