William Hillyer

William Richard Hillyer (born March 5, 1813 at Leybourne and died January 8, 1861 at Maidstone), was a prominent cricketer for Kent County Cricket Club, MCC and many other sides in the days before county and international cricket was organised into regular competitions.

A right-handed batsman of no great talent, Hillyer was a prolific and fearsome round-arm fast bowler who took the most first-class wickets in English cricket in each of eight consecutive first-class seasons from 1842 to 1849, spanning the era from the decline of Alfred Mynn and William Lillywhite up to the emergence of John Wisden in 1850.

On statistical grounds alone, Hillyer appears to have no peers across the 1840s. In 1845, he a set a record by taking 174 wickets in first-class cricket – his nearest rival, Jemmy Dean took just 100. As an itinerant professional, he played matches mainly for Kent and MCC, and increasingly for the All-England Eleven.

External sources

[http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/30/30257/30257.html CricketArchive profile and statistical database]

Further reading

* H S Altham, "A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914)", George Allen & Unwin, 1926
* Derek Birley, "A Social History of English Cricket", Aurum, 1999
* Rowland Bowen, "Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development", Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
* Arthur Haygarth, "Scores & Biographies, Volumes 3-9 (1841-1866)", Lillywhite, 1862-1867