Jem Shaw

Who was Jem Shaw?

James Coupe Shaw was an English professional cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire from 1865 to 1875 making 115 appearances. According to WG Grace, few bowlers had a better record.

Shaw was born at Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire. He joined Nottinghamshire in 1865 and played every consecutive Notts game over a ten-year period. He also made numerous appearances in representative teams such as the Players in the Gentlemen v Players series, the North of England cricket team and the All-England Eleven. He played against W G Grace many times and had some successes, including twice dismissing him for nought in 1871. Grace said after the second of these that he "would pay particular attention to J C Shaw". In the next innings, Grace scored a double-century. Shaw's comment afterwards was famous for its ruefulness and it has often been quoted: "I puts the ball where I likes and he puts it where he likes".

Shaw was a left-arm round arm fast bowler and took 642 first class wickets at an average of 14.41 and a best performance of 9 for 86.