Thanks to the terrible pitches, the long-stop (a position exactly behind the wicketkeeper, close to the boundary) used to be one of the most important positions in the early days of cricket.
For Yorkshire in the 1870s, Ephraim Lockwood used to be one of the regulars at the position. On that day, however, he was forced to exclaim: "Nay, George, I’ve been behind thee for twenty-three overs and had nowt to stop. I’m off where there’s summat to do."
Some time in the same decade, 'Monkey' Hornby was leading North of England against their Southern counterparts. So impressed was he that he did away with the long-stop despite protests from the wicketkeeper.
George Pinder was an incredible wicketkeeper. He was great enough to encourage captains to do away with the long-stop. One must remember that he kept wickets in an era when the norm was stand up to fast bowlers.
But there was more to Pinder. He was also a fantastic stumper. He was a teammate of Tom Emmett, probably the fastest in England that point. Emmett's famous 'sostenuter' used to pitch on leg and break very sharply towards off, often beating the bat or taking the edge.
Pinder anticipated the break-backs and pouched the edges despite the pace and minimal distance between the edge and his gloves. If the batsman overbalanced, the bails were gone (remember the variable bounce).
Let us return to the variable bounce. Pinder kept wickets in an era when glovemen did not sit on their haunches. Sammy Carter, the first wicketkeeper to do that, was barely born during the peak of Pinder’s career.
Thus Pinder stood, his body bent from the waist, and still gathered shooters, even down leg. Tom Hearne, hapless victim of a stumping off a leg-shooter, once blurted out: "I don’t call that stumping; I call it shovelling of 'em in!"
Coldham called Pinder "seemingly immortal".
Kilburn called him "the wicketkeeper who was beyond compare in his time".
Wisden: "Lovers of the game, whose recollections go back to the '70's, will remember him as one of the finest wicket-keepers we ever had. To very fast bowling he was perhaps the best of all."
Steel and Lyttelton: "The famous George Pinder, at the beginning of his career, had faster bowling to keep it consistently than any other cricketer before or since. Freeman, Emmett, and Atkinson were three very fast bowlers, and they all three played for Yorkshire, and after them came Hill and Ulyett. Pinder in consequence very frequently damaged his hands, and no wonder."
From 179 matches, Pinder had 221 catches and 136 stumpings to his name. In all recorded matches, the numbers read 474 catches and 380 stumpings from 356 matches. I wish there was more detailed information about the number of byes he allowed.
Perhaps they might have kept more records had he played Test cricket. Unfortunately, he did not.
Yorkshire gave Pinder a benefit season in 1880. It yielded about £300. They tried to replace him, once he announced retirement, with Walter Aspinall. The difference in quality was such that Pinder had to be recalled from retirement.
George Pinder was born on 15 July 1841. To understand his legacy, just look at any cricket match with nine fielders, none of whom has to field at long-stop. Pinder was one of the earliest cricketers who gave the sport an extra fielder.