Sussex and All-England
1854-08-21
William Lillywhite, nicknamed 'The Nonpareil' and 'Old Lilly', the Sussex professional roundarm bowler who had been instrumental in the 1820s campaign to legalise roundarm bowling and had dominated English bowling through the late 1820s and 1830s, died at Hove on 21 August 1854, aged 63. His death closed the first chapter of the roundarm era he had helped create.
Sussex / All-England
1844-07-01
By the early 1840s William Lillywhite, the Sussex bricklayer who had pushed roundarm bowling into the law book in 1828, was past 50 but still the most accurate bowler in England. Engaged at Lord's as practice bowler from 1844, he played first-class cricket until 1853 and, in his final decade, embodied the bridge between the underarm cricket of the eighteenth century and the overarm game his son John would help bring in.
Sussex
1825-05-01
William Lillywhite — known to history as 'The Nonpareil' for his unrivalled accuracy and command — emerged from Sussex club cricket in the mid-1820s as the most influential bowler of his generation. With his partner Jem Broadbridge he made roundarm the dominant bowling style of the era, drove Sussex to their claim as champion county, and forced the MCC to amend the Laws of Cricket in 1828 and again in 1835.