Edgar Willsher

Edgar "Ned" Willsher (22 November 1828, Rolvenden, Kent – 7 October 1885, Lewisham, London) was an English cricketer who is famous for being the catalyst in the shift from roundarm to overarm bowling.

By the early 1860s, roundarm had replaced underarm as the standard form of bowling but overarm was still illegal, even though it was in use. On 26 August 1862 at The Oval, Willsher became the first cricketer to be no-balled for bowling overarm. Playing for an England XI against Surrey he was called six times by umpire John Lillywhite for delivering the ball with his hand above his shoulder. Willsher left the field with eight of his professional colleagues (the two amateurs in the England team remained on the field) and play was abandoned for the rest of the day. When Lillywhite refused to accept the legality of Willsher's action, he was replaced as umpire so that the game could continue. Willsher went on to take 6 for 49.^[1]

As a result of this incident, which may well have been planned in advance to force the issue, the laws were changed and overarm was legalised from the beginning of the 1864 season. Ironically, Ned Willsher himself became an umpire after he finished playing.

In late 1868, he led a side on a tour of Canada and the United States.

References

1. ^ Frindall, Bill (2009). Ask Bearders. BBC Books. pp. 138–139. ISBN 978-1-84607-880-4. 

• Arthur Haygarth: Scores and Biographies

Persondata
Name	Willsher, Edgar
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Short description
Date of birth	22 November 1828
Place of birth
Date of death	7 October 1885
Place of death