Frank Tinley, ‘a dark-complexioned little fellow’, made his Nottinghamshire debut v Kent at Trent Bridge in 1845, having already played a couple of First-Class games for the North v MCC. Born Frances Eastwood Tinley in Southwell on 3 March 1819, he was one of three brothers to represent Notts.
He was for long periods the professional to the Southwell Club, but spent two seasons with Newport on the Isle of Wight and one with a club in Rotherham. He was often used as a given player for XXIIs opposed to the All England Eleven (AEE) or the MCC; in one such game, guesting for Leicestershire in 1851, he took eleven MCC wickets, one of 14 occasions when he took ten or more wickets in a match (against teams fieldling more than eleven). His last First-Class match was in August 1856, for Notts v AEE when he made just 3 and 0; he played in other matches - almost all against the AEE - until 1861. In the following year he began a stint as an umpire, standing in 15 First-Class matches and a similar number of other major fixtures.
A tallow chandler by trade, he later was landlord of the Hearty Good Fellow in Southwell. Frank Tinley died in Birmingham on 2 June 1889.
January 2021
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 66