right-handed players would oppose an eleven of left-handed ones. A team whose name all began with B on several occasions played the rest of England by way of variety.
The Sheffield v. Nottingham matches were very keenly contested, sometimes one side gaining a victory and sometimes another. One of the Nottingham players, it is said, used to ride on horseback to Sheffield before playing in this match, rising at an unearthly hour to do so. The Sheffield scorebook describes one of these contests as "a most disgraceful match," as the Nottingham umpire kept calling "No ball" whenever a straight one was bowled!—and it goes on to say that the Sheffielders were foolish to continue the game when they perceived such an unfair advantage was taken. It is needless to add that Nottingham won this match. Both of these famous towns possessed at this time some noted players. Old Clarke was the "General" of the Nottingham team, and was ably supported by such men as Tom Barker, George Jarvis, and Tom Heath. The most famous player amongst the Sheffielders was Tom Marsden, a lefthanded bat with tremendous hitting powers. When playing for Sheffield against Nottingham and Leicester combined in 1826, he knocked up the huge total of 227. This would have been, indeed, a wonderful feat in those days against almost any side, but the fact that the score was obtained
