George Freeman (cricketer)

George Freeman was a first class cricketer. He made 32 appearance for his beloved Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1865 to 1880. He also played four matches of first-class cricket for the "United England Eleven" (1866-1869), three games for the "North of England" (1867-1869), four for the "United North of England Eleven" (1870) and one for the "Players" (1871). Contemporaries agreed that he was one of the greatest bowlers of his era.

A right-arm, round arm, fast bowler, he took 288 wickets in all first-class cricket at the remarkable average of 9.84. His best analysis of eight for elven came against the old enemy Lancashire in a Roses Match. He took five wickets in an innings 32 times and ten wickets in a match ten times. For a man who played just 44 games, these figures must rank with the best. He conceded just 1.66 runs per over and had a strike rate of 35.47, which translates into a wicket every six overs.

Among his notable bowling spells are six for 44 against an "All England Eleven", five for 36 against Cambridgeshire, five for fourteen against Kent CCC, six for 26 against Marylebone Cricket Club, seven for 29 against Middlesex CCC, seven for thirty against Nottinghamshire CCC, eight for 43 against R Daft's XI, seven for 45 against the "South of England" and eight for 29 against Surrey CCC. He appeared in a non-first-class game for a "Miscellaneous All England Eleven" against 22 of Ireland in 1869 and took four for nineteen and six for five -- ten for 25 in the match.

He also scored 918 runs at 13.7 with a top score of 53 for Yorkshire against Surrey and, over the course of career, also pouched twenty catches. His other half centuries came against Lancashire and the "United South of England Eleven".

Under the pseudonym "Old Ebor", A.W. Pullin (1860-1934) interviewed eighteen former cricketers for the "Yorkshire Evening Post" during the winter of 1897/98. After publication in the paper, they were gathered together for a famous book called "Talks With Old Yorkshire Cricketers". Each player interviewed nominated George Freeman as the greatest bowler they had ever seen. WG Grace, not interviewed in the book, all but agreed with their judgment, dubbing him the finest "fast" bowler he had ever played.

Sadly, Freeman, born on July 27, 1843, in Boroughbridge, was not one of those featured. He had died on November 18, 1895, in Sowerby Grange, near Thirsk aged 52 and Pullin was forced to rely on the testimonies of team-mates and friends for his portrait of the great paceman. Pullin was the rugby and cricket correspondent for the Yorkshire Post and one of the rare people included in Wisden's 'Births and Deaths of Cricketers' who never played first-class cricket.

References

* [http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/13202.html Cricinfo Profile]
* [http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/29/29542/29542.html Cricket Archive Statistics]