At his peak, Fred Morley was regarded as the fastest bowler in England. A left-armer, what he lacked in height he more than made up for in accuracy and in a 13-year career he took more than 1200 first-class wickets. His batting is best forgotten and he was also something of a liability in the field. But with the ball he was devastating. He took 100 wickets in a season seven times, and in 1878 took 197 at 12.16. A year earlier, he had taken 13 for 14 for MCC against Oxford University (who were bowled out for 12) and in 1878 he took 15 for 35 on a bad pitch for Nottinghamshire against Kent. In 1879-80 he toured Canada and the USA with Richard Daft and returned with 100 wickets at 3.54. In 1880, he made his debut in England's first home Test, taking 8 for 146, and made three more appearances on Ivo Bligh's tour of Australia in 1882-83 where his performances were below-par. That was explained when it was revealed that he had fractured a rib on the journey out when the team's ship had been involved in a collision in the harbour in Colombo. He never fully recovered, playing only two matches in 1883, and he died of congestion and dropsy at end of the summer of 1884.
Martin Williamson