Captain – George Parr
The Surrey club invited George Parr to bring the Notts team to the Oval from 14 to 16 July 1859. In view of Surrey’s win in 1858, the betting began at 6 to 4 on Surrey, but Notts batted first and stayed all day for 329, of which George Parr made 130, this being the first Notts hundred in inter-county games; his innings was played with two handicaps, the first a badly bruised finger and second a badly ricked back, which meant for part of the time he used a runner. A collection realised £20 for him. Richard Daft made 52. At the start of the second day, the odds changed to 5 to 1 against Surrey. The home side were bowled out for 213 with William Caffyn making 76 and Cris Tinley taking 5-69 and, following- on, Surrey closed on 83-5 at the end of the second day. The remaining five wickets were taken on day three; Surrey captain Thomas Lockyer made 61 as Surrey were 172 all out, Tinley 4-46. Notts won the match by eight wickets.
The Surrey game was the only county fixture involving Notts in 1859, but a match was staged at Trent Bridge in mid-September for the Benefit of Thomas Heath, when An Eleven of Notts selected by John Bickley opposed the next Twenty-two, by this time however the three leading Notts cricketers were pioneering elsewhere. On 7 September, twelve England players under the captaincy of George Parr set sail for the first overseas tour – to North America. John Jackson and James Grundy accompanied Parr, the party comprising six All England players and six United England players, all being professionals. The team returned to England on 11 November, each player making about £90 out of the trip after all expenses had been paid. Admirers and well-wishes also gave them generous presents.
August 2020
Scorecard and stats can be seen here