John "Foghorn" Jackson was a Nottinghamshire and All-England Eleven

All-England Eleven

In cricket, the term All-England has been used for various non-international teams that have been formed for short-term purposes since the 1739 English cricket season and it indicates that the "Rest of England" is playing against, say, MCC or an individual county team...

 cricketer who was generally reckoned to be the outstanding fast bowler of the 1850s.

Born in Bungay

Bungay, Suffolk

Bungay is a market town in the English county of Suffolk. It lies in the Waveney valley, west of Beccles on the edge of The Broads, and at the neck of a meander of the River Waveney.-Early history:...

 in Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

, Jackson was affectionately known as "Foghorn". He was a powerful, if inconsistent bat and an occasional wicketkeeper, but he was best known as a rightarm fast bowler of fearsome pace and ability. Haygarth stated that his career, 'though rather short, must be considered most brilliant.' He was the first cricketer to appear in a cartoon in Punch

Punch (magazine)

Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...

.

He played for Nottinghamshire from 1855 to 1866 and also represented Kent in 1858. In 1859, he took part in the first ever overseas cricket tour when he was a member of the England team visiting North America.

His overall first-class career record covered 115 matches. He scored 1993 runs at an average of 12.61 with a highest score of 100. He took 106 catches.

Jackson took 655 wickets for 7491 runs at 11.52, taking 100 wickets in 1858 and 1860. His best innings analysis was 9-27. He took 5wI on 59 occasions and 10wM in 20 matches. He was only 33 when he dropped out of County cricket and latterly appeared for local sides against the All England Eleven.

Jackson lived his later life in extreme poverty despite the County awarding a benefit of £300 in 1874. He died at Brownlow Hill, a Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 workhouse.

External sources

• CricketArchive

Further reading

• H S Altham
  Harry Altham
  Harry Surtees Altham, CBE, DSO, MC was an English cricketer who became an important figure in the game as an administrator, historian and coach. His Wisden obituary described him as "among the best known personalities in the world of cricket"...
  
  , A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1926
• Derek Birley
  Derek Birley
  Sir Derek Birley was an English educator and writer who had a strong interest in sport, especially cricket.He was educated at grammar school in Hemsworth, West Yorkshire, and at Queens' College, Cambridge University....
  
  , A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999
• Rowland Bowen
  Rowland Bowen
  Major Rowland Francis Bowen was a cricket researcher, historian and writer....
  
  , Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
• Arthur Haygarth
  Arthur Haygarth
  Arthur Haygarth was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians....
  
  , Scores & Biographies, Volumes 3-9 (1841–1866), Lillywhite, 1862–1867
• John Major
  John Major
  Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
  
  , More Than A Game, HarperCollins, 2007 – includes the famous 1859 touring team photo taken on board ship at Liverpool
• Peter Wynne-Thomas
  Peter Wynne-Thomas
  Peter Wynne-Thomas is an English cricket writer, historian and statistician who has for many years been the archivist and librarian of Nottinghamshire CCC...
  
  The History of Nottinghamshire CCC, Helm 1992