George Griffith (cricketer)
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| Batting style | Left-handed batsman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Left-arm fast (round-arm) / left-arm slow (under-arm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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George Griffith (20 December 1833 at Ripley, Surrey – 3 May 1879 at Stoke next Guildford, Surrey) was an English cricketer. Known by his nickname "Ben" or the altogether more stirring "Lion Hitter", he was a high-quality all-rounder. Left-handed both as a batsman and bowler, he could bowl either fast roundarm or slow underarm, and he was also a fine fielder.
Griffith's first-class career, in which he played primarily for Surrey, lasted from 1856 to 1872. He also played for the United All-England Eleven, including appearing in their prestigious fixtures against the All-England Eleven.
Having initially worked as a baker, he played for the Priory Park Club in Chichester until 1856, joining Surrey the following year. He left the staff at the end of the 1863 season because of a disagreement over terms, but he continued to play for the club until 1872.
1864 was a great year for George Griffith. Regarded at the time as the biggest hitter in cricket, he played seventeen first-class matches and scored 489 runs. His left-handed round-arm fast bowling was also very highly thought of, and he took 69 wickets that season – although some of them came via slow lobs. That figure was supplemented by 26 catches, more than anyone else in the country. The previous season he had been even more successful with the bat, though rather less so with the ball, and made his highest score of 142 against Sussex at Hove.
Griffith went on two of the earliest overseas tours, the first with HH Stephenson to Australia in 1861/2 and the second with Edgar Willsher to North America in 1868. No matches on either tour were first-class, with one exception on the former tour, when the touring team divided for a match in March 1862 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground that has been called "The World v Surrey XI". The six Surrey players from the touring side were joined by five locals, who reportedly had Surrey affiliations, to form the Surrey XI; the World XI was formed of the six non-Surrey tourists and another five locals. Though the Surrey XI lost by 6 wickets, Griffith took 5/52 and 2/37 and scored 39 and 13.
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