[4][5] In July 1845, aged 18, only 5 ft 4 in and weighing just 7 stone (44 kg),[5] he made his first-class debut for Sussex against MCC, taking 6 wickets in the first innings and three in the second.

[3] He travelled with a touring team led by George Parr to Canada and the US in 1859, where eight matches in Montreal, Hoboken, Philadelphia, Hamilton and Rochester were won easily.

[1][4] Wisden began a cricket-equipment business in Leamington Spa in 1850 and five years later opened a "cricket and cigar" shop in Coventry Street near The Haymarket in central London, in partnership with Fred Lillywhite until 1858.

[4] The first edition may have been based on a diary written in 1863 by Francis Emilius Cary Elwes, which came to light in 2016.

According to Robert Winder, who wrote a history of the almanack, evidence from the diary indicates that there was a connection between the two men and that Wisden saw Elwes' work, but no definitive conclusion on the matter can be reached.

[5] After his death the business grew into a major international sports brand, receiving a Royal Warrant in 1911 as "Athletic Outfitters to the King".

[9] Wisden died of cancer, at the age of 57, in the flat above his Cranbourn Street shop (next to Leicester Square tube station).