John Lillywhite

Who was John Lillywhite?

John Lillywhite was an English cricketer and umpire during the game's roundarm era.

John Lillywhite was part of a famous cricketing family, his father being William Lillywhite, a brother being Fred Lillywhite and his cousin being James Lillywhite. In 1863, members of the family established the sports outfitters Lillywhites.

Lillywhite was an all-rounder who batted right-handed and bowled right-arm roundarm, both slow and fast.

His known first-class career spanned the 1848 to 1873 seasons. He took 223 wickets in 185 matches @ 11.56 with a best analysis of 8/54. He took five wickets in an innings 12 times and 10 wickets in a match twice. He scored 5127 runs @ 17.43 with a highest score of 138, making two centuries. He took 94 catches.

At the end of the 1859 English cricket season, Lillywhite was one of the 12 players who took part in cricket's first-ever overseas tour when an English team led by George Parr visited North America.

From 1856-1873, Lillywhite umpired in 29 first class matches.