Catalogue for the auction of
Cricket, Football & Sporting Memorabilia
Held on Friday, Saturday & Sunday
10th, 11th & 12th April 2026
Lot 1409
Estimate: £150/250
Hammer: unsold
‘Jerks in from Short Leg’. Quid (R.A. Fitzgerald). London 1866. Original blue boards with cricketer illustration in gilt to centre. Presentation copy from the author with dedication in ink to the inside of the front board to ‘Harry W. Peters, Riverside, from the author R.A. Fitzgerald’. Some wear to board, corner and spine extremities otherwise in good condition. Rarely seen in this signed form. Padwick 6855
Robert Allan “Fitz” Fitzgerald was an English cricketer and administrator who served as Secretary to the Marylebone Cricket Club between 1863-1876. He represented Cambridge University, M.C.C. and Middlesex, in 46 first-class matches between 1854 and 1874. He also played for I Zingari, the Gentlemen of M.C.C., Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. Between 1854 and 1874 he played 50 matches per year and in 1866 scored over 1,000 runs. As Secretary of M.C.C., Fitzgerald sought greater influence for M.C.C. ‘off the field’ and did much to help improve Lord’s Cricket Ground and its facilities. He became M.C.C.’s first paid secretary in 1865.Fitzgerald was popular and witty. Lord Harris wrote of him: “Whether it was the magnificence of his swagger, the luxuriance of his beard, the fun that rolled out of him so easily, or the power of his swiping, I do not know, but as regards each he could not escape notice’