Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Shaw, Alfred
SHAW, ALFRED (1842–1907), cricketer, born of humble parents at Burton Joyce, a village five miles north of Nottingham, on 29 Aug. 1842, was the youngest of thirteen children. Two of his brothers, William (b. 5 Aug. 1827) and Arthur (1834-1874), played in Nottinghamshire cricket. On his mother's death in 1852 Alfred left school to work as a farm servant. At eighteen he was apprenticed to a hand frame knitter. Early developing an aptitude for cricket, in 1862 he succeeded h^ brother Arthur as professional to the Grantham cricket club. Playing for the Notts Colts against the county eleven in 1863. he first displayed his great power as a bowler by taking 7 wickets, and helping to dismiss the county for 41 runs. In 1864, on his first appearance at Lord's for the Colts of England v. M.C.C., Shaw took 7 wickets for 24 runs and 6 for 39. Straightway appointed to the ground staff at Lord's, he held the post (with a brief interval in 1868 and 1869 when he was a member of George Parr's All-England eleven) until 1882. For several seasons he was the club's leading bowler.
Shaw played regularly for Notts from 1865 to 1887, and to his bowling was largely due the high position of the county during that period. His best bowling performances were for the M.C.C. v. the North of England, in June 1874, when he took all 10 wickets for 73 runs, and for Notts v. M.C.C, in June 1875, when in the second innings he dismissed seven of his opponents (including Dr. W. G. Grace, Lord Harris, and I. D. Walker) for 7 runs. In 1884, in Notts v. Gloucester, Shaw performed the 'hat trick' (i.e. obtained three wickets with successive balls) in each innings.
Shaw first appeared for the Players v. Gentlemen in 1865, and during his career played in twenty-eight of the matches. In the match at the Oval in 1880 he dismissed seven of the Gentlemen for 17 runs, and in 1881, at Brighton, six for 19. In 6-8 Sept. 1880 he played for England v. Australia in the first test match in this country.
Shaw paid two visits to America — in 1868 with Edgar Willsher's team, and again with that of Richard Daft [q. v. Suppl. I] in 1879, when he made the marvellous record of 178 wickets for 426 runs. He visited Australia five times: as a member of James Lillywhite's team in 1876–7; as captain and joint-manager of the English team in 1881–2, 1884–5, 1886–7; and as manager to Lord Sheffield's team in the autumn of 1891. [See Holroyd, Henry North, third earl of Sheffield, Suppl. II.]
From 1883 to 1894 Shaw had a private cricketing engagement with the earl of Sheffield in Sussex; during that period he coached many rising players for Sussex, and during 1894–5 he played for that county. He accompanied Lord Sheffield on a tour to Norway in August 1894, and took part in a match on board the Lusitania by the light of the midnight sun at Spitzbergen, on 12 Aug. 1894. Next year (Oct.–Nov.) he was with Lord Sheffield in the Crimea. After his retirement in 1895 Shaw acted as umpire in first-class matches.
Shaw, called by Daft 'The Emperor of Bowlers,' was a slow medium bowler, with a very short run, and with his arm almost level with the shoulder. Untiring and most accurate in attack, he was unplayable on 'sticky' wickets. He was a fair batsman, and a first-class fieldsman at 'shortslip.' Along with professional cricket Shaw pursued some other occupation. From 1869 till 1878 he was landlord of the Lord Nelson inn in his native village, whence he went to Kilburn in November 1878 to take charge of the Prince of Wales' inn; while there he joined Arthur Shrewsbury [q. v. Suppl. II] in an athletic outfitter's business in Nottingham, and in 1881 left Kilburn to become landlord of the Belvoir inn, Nottingham.
He died on 16 Jan. 1907, after a long illness, at Gedling, near Nottingham, where he was buried.
[Daft's Kings of Cricket (portrait, p. 123); A. W. Pullin's Alfred Shaw, Cricketer, 1902; Wisden's Cricketers' Almanack, 1908 (pp. 130–2); The Times, 17 and 21 Jan. 1907; M.C.C. Cricket Scores and Biographies, 1877, viii. pp. 302–3; W. G. Grace's Cricketing Reminiscences, 1899, pp. 376–7 (picture of Shaw bowling, p. 212); information from Mr. P. M. Thornton.]