George Parr (cricketer)

For other people with the same name, see George Parr (disambiguation).

George Parr (second from left) and other members of William Clarke's All-England Eleven in 1847.

George Parr (22 May 1826, Radcliffe on Trent, Nottinghamshire – 23 June 1891) was an English cricketer, whose first-class career lasted from 1844 to 1870.

George Parr was known popularly as the "Lion of the North". He was a right-handed batsman and bowled occasional right-handed underarm deliveries. Throughout his career Parr played mainly for Nottinghamshire CCC, and was club captain from 1856 to 1870. He also made occasional appearances for other counties and for Marylebone Cricket Club. He was a stalwart of the All-England Eleven and was captain of the first England touring team, which went to North America in 1859. He also captained England's second tour to Australia and New Zealand in 1864, returning home unbeaten.

Parr played in 207 first-class matches and had 358 innings, in 30 of which he was not out. He scored 6,626 runs (average 20.20) at a time when conditions greatly favoured bowlers. His highest score was 130 for Notts., against Surrey at The Oval on 14 July 1859; his only century. He made 31 fifties and took 126 catches. He took 29 wickets in his career with a best analysis of 6/42.

The Parr Stand which was recently replaced at Trent Bridge was named in his honour.

The first English touring team pictured on board ship at Liverpool: standing at left Robert Carpenter, William Caffyn, Tom Lockyer; middle row John Wisden, HH Stephenson, George Parr, James Grundy, Julius Caesar, Thomas Hayward, John Jackson; front row Alfred Diver, John Lillywhite.

External sources

• CricketArchive
• Career synopsis at CricInfo.com

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
• John Major, More Than A Game, HarperCollins, 2007 – includes the famous 1859 touring team photo taken on board ship at Liverpool
• Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993

Sporting positions
Preceded by William Clarke	Nottinghamshire County cricket captain 1856-1870	Succeeded by Richard Daft