Old Ebor
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oldebor.bsky.social
Old Ebor
@oldebor.bsky.social
A cricket tragic who writes about the pre-war history of the game

https://oldebor.wordpress.com
Reposted by Old Ebor
During the later 19th century, when amateurs took control of English cricket from professionals, there was surprisingly little resistance to the new status quo. Except in Nottinghamshire, where an 1881 dispute became the last serious attempt to resist amateur domination.
“Against the Wishes of the Committee”: Holden, Shaw, Shrewsbury and the Nottinghamshire Strike of 1881
During the later nineteenth century, there was a quiet revolution in cricket. As amateurs took control of the county game, professionals lost security and autonomy. There was surprisingly little resistance to the new status quo. Except in Nottinghamshire, where an 1881 dispute over "naming rights", selection and benefits exposed the fault lines, and became the last serious attempt by players to resist amateur domination.
oldebor.wordpress.com
February 2, 2026 at 10:12 AM
During the later 19th century, when amateurs took control of English cricket from professionals, there was surprisingly little resistance to the new status quo. Except in Nottinghamshire, where an 1881 dispute became the last serious attempt to resist amateur domination.
“Against the Wishes of the Committee”: Holden, Shaw, Shrewsbury and the Nottinghamshire Strike of 1881
During the later nineteenth century, there was a quiet revolution in cricket. As amateurs took control of the county game, professionals lost security and autonomy. There was surprisingly little resistance to the new status quo. Except in Nottinghamshire, where an 1881 dispute over "naming rights", selection and benefits exposed the fault lines, and became the last serious attempt by players to resist amateur domination.
oldebor.wordpress.com
February 2, 2026 at 10:12 AM
Reposted by Old Ebor
In 1892, an independently wealthy man called William Stiles died in faintly murky circumstances. There were questions whether he had been held against his wishes, and whether he had been forced to change his will in favour of his possible captors.
open.substack.com/pub/lostlive...
The Lonely Death of William Stiles
Unanswered — and Unasked — Questions at an Inquest
open.substack.com
February 1, 2026 at 1:55 PM
In 1892, an independently wealthy man called William Stiles died in faintly murky circumstances. There were questions whether he had been held against his wishes, and whether he had been forced to change his will in favour of his possible captors.
open.substack.com/pub/lostlive...
The Lonely Death of William Stiles
Unanswered — and Unasked — Questions at an Inquest
open.substack.com
February 1, 2026 at 1:55 PM
Reposted by Old Ebor
Aubrey Faulkner was one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of Test cricket but has received little attention from historians. He was a complex man about whom little is known, yet whose success on the cricket field possibly disguised several demons.
“Demons below the surface”: The Enigma of Aubrey Faulkner
Aubrey Faulkner was one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of Test cricket but has received little attention from historians. He was a complex man about whom little is known, yet whose success on the cricket field possibly disguised several demons.
oldebor.wordpress.com
January 19, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Aubrey Faulkner was one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of Test cricket but has received little attention from historians. He was a complex man about whom little is known, yet whose success on the cricket field possibly disguised several demons.
“Demons below the surface”: The Enigma of Aubrey Faulkner
Aubrey Faulkner was one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of Test cricket but has received little attention from historians. He was a complex man about whom little is known, yet whose success on the cricket field possibly disguised several demons.
oldebor.wordpress.com
January 19, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Reposted by Old Ebor
The Tragedies of Sam Moss

The suspicions over the legitimacy of Sam Moss's bowling action finished his career as a top league cricketer. He continued to play professionally for several years, but he was not destined for a happy ending.
The Tragedies of Sam Moss
The suspicions over the legitimacy of Sam Moss's bowling action finished his career as a top league cricketer. He continued to play professionally for several years, but he was not destined for a happy ending.
oldebor.wordpress.com
January 5, 2026 at 6:59 PM
The Tragedies of Sam Moss

The suspicions over the legitimacy of Sam Moss's bowling action finished his career as a top league cricketer. He continued to play professionally for several years, but he was not destined for a happy ending.
The Tragedies of Sam Moss
The suspicions over the legitimacy of Sam Moss's bowling action finished his career as a top league cricketer. He continued to play professionally for several years, but he was not destined for a happy ending.
oldebor.wordpress.com
January 5, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Reposted by Old Ebor
No-one ever knew who Mabel Grey was nor where she came from. Was she a courtesan or an invention? All attempts to define her failed before she vanished as mysteriously as she arrived. She was notorious and scandalous. And the press couldn't get enough
open.substack.com/pub/lostlive...
The Legend of Mabel Grey
Queen of the Demimonde
open.substack.com
January 2, 2026 at 3:02 PM
No-one ever knew who Mabel Grey was nor where she came from. Was she a courtesan or an invention? All attempts to define her failed before she vanished as mysteriously as she arrived. She was notorious and scandalous. And the press couldn't get enough
open.substack.com/pub/lostlive...
The Legend of Mabel Grey
Queen of the Demimonde
open.substack.com
January 2, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Samuel Moss, perhaps the fastest bowler in the world in the late 1890s, proved extremely successful playing for Bacup in the Lancashire League. But questions over the legality of his bowling action continued to grow as throwing became a controversial topic in English cricket
Divided Opinions: Sam Moss and the Throwing Question
At a time when his career should have been going from strength to strength, Sam Moss — according to some, the fastest bowler in the world — found himself at the centre of a furore over his bowling action. After years of questioning glances, he was no-balled multiple times for throwing and his future was cast into uncertainty
oldebor.wordpress.com
December 22, 2025 at 11:01 AM
The inventor (or discoverer) of the googly did not quite meet the ideal of a cricketing pioneer. Instead he was a mediocre player who had one blinding insight that changed the sport forever

open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
Bernard Bosanquet
The Father of the Googly
open.substack.com
December 16, 2025 at 7:23 PM
In 1888, a brutal and inexplicable murder took place in a quiet Somerset village called East Lambrook. Life was never quite the same again.
lostlives.substack.com/p/across-the...
Across the Lane
The Murder of Martha Charles
lostlives.substack.com
December 13, 2025 at 8:35 PM
For a time in the 1890s, the fastest bowler in the world was a league professional who never played first-class cricket. Sam Moss was usually too fast for the opposition batters but his career was tainted by suspicions about his action
“Very fast but with a somewhat doubtful delivery”: The Arrival of Sam Moss
For a time in the 1890s, the fastest bowler in the world was possibly a professional playing in league cricket. Sam Moss was from Lancashire but his career took him around the country, where he was usually too fast for the opposition batters. But whispers about his bowling action — at a time when English cricket was very sensitive about such matters — followed him too.
oldebor.wordpress.com
December 8, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Reposted by Old Ebor
The New South Wales cricketer Andy Newell disappeared in 1907 and was assumed to have killed himself after suffering from depression. His obituary was even printed in Wisden. But he was not dead. Instead, he had left his home to begin a new life
The Resurrection of Andy Newell
The New South Wales cricketer Andy Newell disappeared in 1907 and was assumed to have killed himself after suffering from depression. His obituary was even printed in Wisden. But he was not dead. Instead, he had left his home to begin a new life.
oldebor.wordpress.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:52 AM
The New South Wales cricketer Andy Newell disappeared in 1907 and was assumed to have killed himself after suffering from depression. His obituary was even printed in Wisden. But he was not dead. Instead, he had left his home to begin a new life
The Resurrection of Andy Newell
The New South Wales cricketer Andy Newell disappeared in 1907 and was assumed to have killed himself after suffering from depression. His obituary was even printed in Wisden. But he was not dead. Instead, he had left his home to begin a new life.
oldebor.wordpress.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:52 AM
In January 1892, an Ilminster bank manager called William Lidderdale caught a train to London where he was meeting a surveyor to discuss a property he wanted to buy. He took just over £1,000 in cash but nothing else. He was due to be married in a week. He was never seen again
November 23, 2025 at 5:14 PM
William Lidderdale disappeared in 1892 on his way to London. His fate was never uncovered, although theories included kidnap, fatal illness and accident. Equally likely, he chose to vanish; and he invented a scorned woman to bolster his story lostlives.substack.com/p/the-unrave...
The Unravelling of a Myth
The Matter of Mr Lidderdale — Part Three
lostlives.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by Old Ebor
Whether or not Joe Root scores that elusive century in Australia, he is going to be remembered as one of England's greatest batters. There is even an argument he is "the greatest". Where does he fit into the historical picture and who might the other candidates be? open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
The Measure of Greatness
Joe Root in Context
open.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Fifteen years after the mysterious disappearance of the bank manager William Lidderdale, a friend began the process of having him declared legally dead. But rather than settling the matter, it renewed fascination in the baffling case open.substack.com/pub/lostlive...
The Application to Presume Death
The Matter of Mr Lidderdale — Part Two
open.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Whether or not Joe Root scores that elusive century in Australia, he is going to be remembered as one of England's greatest batters. There is even an argument he is "the greatest". Where does he fit into the historical picture and who might the other candidates be? open.substack.com/pub/oldebor7...
The Measure of Greatness
Joe Root in Context
open.substack.com
November 16, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Reposted by Old Ebor
On 8 January 1892, a bank manager called William Lidderdale vanished without trace. But a fairly straightforward story was soon complicated by the publication of a death notice full of impossibilities…
open.substack.com/pub/lostlive...
The Matter of Mr Lidderdale
Part One: The Missing Bank Manager
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by Old Ebor
Phil Mead scored 55,061 first-class runs and 153 centuries in a career lasting from 1905 until 1936. Yet he only played 17 times for England, despite a Test average of 49.37. The reasons are simple: he played for an unfashionable county and was easy neither on the eye nor on his team-mates.
“He would not have objected to being described as a mercenary”: Phil Mead and the Battle with Poverty
Phil Mead scored 55,061 first-class runs and 153 centuries in a career lasting from 1905 until 1936. Yet he only played 17 times for England, despite a Test average of 49.37. The reasons are simple: he played for an unfashionable county and was easy neither on the eye nor on his team-mates.
oldebor.wordpress.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:29 AM
On 8 January 1892, a bank manager called William Lidderdale vanished without trace. But a fairly straightforward story was soon complicated by the publication of a death notice full of impossibilities…
open.substack.com/pub/lostlive...
The Matter of Mr Lidderdale
Part One: The Missing Bank Manager
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Phil Mead scored 55,061 first-class runs and 153 centuries in a career lasting from 1905 until 1936. Yet he only played 17 times for England, despite a Test average of 49.37. The reasons are simple: he played for an unfashionable county and was easy neither on the eye nor on his team-mates.
“He would not have objected to being described as a mercenary”: Phil Mead and the Battle with Poverty
Phil Mead scored 55,061 first-class runs and 153 centuries in a career lasting from 1905 until 1936. Yet he only played 17 times for England, despite a Test average of 49.37. The reasons are simple: he played for an unfashionable county and was easy neither on the eye nor on his team-mates.
oldebor.wordpress.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:29 AM