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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Crossland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 2 April 1852 Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 26 September 1903 (aged 51) Blackburn, Lancashire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm fast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1878–1885 | Lancashire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First-class debut | 8 August 1878 Lancashire v Yorkshire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last First-class | 12 May 1887 CI Thornton's XI v Cambridge University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: ESPNcricinfo, 1 January 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
John Crossland (2 April 1852 – 26 September 1903) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket between 1878 and 1887. Crossland was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in county cricket, but critics generally believed that he threw, rather than bowled the ball, a practice illegal in cricket. Contemporaries suggest that, but for the suspicions over his bowling action, Crossland would have played Test cricket for England.
Crossland was born in Nottinghamshire, but qualified to play for Lancashire County Cricket Club through his residency there. He made his first-class debut for his adopted county in 1878 and reached his peak as a bowler between 1881 and 1884. His most effective year was 1882, when he headed the national bowling averages, claiming 112 wickets at an average of just over ten runs per wicket.[a] The presence of Crossland and other bowlers with suspect actions in the Lancashire team caused some counties to refuse fixtures against them during the mid-1880s. In 1885, a ruling from the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) barred Crossland from playing for Lancashire as his qualification for the county had technically lapsed when he lived in Nottinghamshire outside of the cricket season. The ruling forced his retirement from county cricket, although he sporadically played other first-class matches for a few years.
As a right-arm fast bowler, Crossland claimed 322 wickets in all first-class cricket at an average of 12.48. He claimed ten or more wickets in a match[broken anchor] on six occasions. Primarily a tail-end batsman, he scored 1,172 runs with a top score of 51.
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