James Coupe "Jem" Shaw (11 April 1836 – 7 March 1888) was an English professional cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire from 1865 to 1875 making 115 appearances. According to WG Grace, few bowlers had a better record.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | James Coupe Shaw | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 11 April 1836 Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 7 March 1888 (aged 51) Sutton-in-Ashfield, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Jem | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Left-arm fast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 186–1875 | Nottinghamshire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FC debut | 26 June 1865 Notts v Surrey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last FC | 14 June 1875 Notts v MCC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 22 February 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shaw was born at Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire. He joined Nottinghamshire in 1865 and played every consecutive Notts game over a ten-year period. He also made numerous appearances in representative teams such as the Players in the Gentlemen v Players series, the North of England cricket team and the All-England Eleven. He played against W G Grace many times and had some successes, including twice dismissing him for nought in 1871. Grace said after the second of these that he "would pay particular attention to J C Shaw". In the next innings, Grace scored a double-century. Shaw's comment afterwards was famous for its ruefulness and it has often been quoted: "I puts the ball where I likes and he puts it where he likes".[1]
Shaw was a left-arm round arm fast bowler and took 642 first-class wickets at an average of 14.41 and a best performance of 9 for 86. WG Grace noted that he had a high-delivery that was sometimes difficult to play, and brought his arm from behind with a very quick action making it difficult to see.[2] Shaw still has the best ever bowling figures for Nottinghamshire, taking 10 wickets for 20 runs in a match against an England XI in 1870[3] He was a right-hand batsman and played 176 innings in 115 matches with an average of 4.24 and a top score of 18 not out.[4] Grace described him as a very poor bat – in fact Shaw did not reach double figures until his seventy-second first-class innings, setting a record since equalled only by Eric Hollies for consecutive single-figure innings.[5] Indeed, for Nottinghamshire Shaw reached double figures only once in 109 visits to the crease.
Shaw died at Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, at the age of 51.
References edit
- ^ Rae, p.97.
- ^ WG Grace Cricket
- ^ Ashfield District Council:Sutton in Ashfield
- ^ "Player Profile". CricketArchive. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
- ^ Webber, Roy; The Playfair Book of Cricket Records; p. 317. Published 1951 by Playfair Books.
Bibliography edit
- Simon Rae, W G Grace: A Life, Faber & Faber, 1998