[Carte-de-visite photograph of Scottish cricketer Alexander (Alec) Watson] [graphic]
[Sheffield? : Publisher not identified,
1878?]
Alex Watson (1844-1920), one of the first county professionals from Scotland, played 303 matches, including 283 for Lancashire (1871-93), scoring more than 4000 runs and taking 1384 wickets at 13.31. His bowling action was regarded by some as suspect and as a result he was rarely picked for the respresentative matches of his day.
The image first appeared in a little-known and short lived periodical, "The All England Cricket and Football Journal and Athletic Review," published by Martin Hurst in Sheffield between April 1877 and October 1879. Each of the twenty-nine issues had a real photograph of a player or a team on the front cover. This photograph appeared in the issue for March 1878. Hurst advertised in the magazine that copies of the photographs could be had from him, "mounted on superior enamelled cards with gilt edges", at a cost of 3d each, this is one of those.
Watson, Alexander, 1844-1920
Cricket players
England Sheffield.