John Small (cricketer)

For other people with the same name, seeJohn Small.

John Small

Personal information
Full name	John Small
Born	(1737-04-19)19 April 1737 Empshott,Hampshire,England
Died	31 December 1826(1826-12-31)(aged 89) Petersfield,Hampshire, England
Nickname	Old Small
Batting	Right-handed
Role	Batsman
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1768–1798	Hampshire
Source:CricInfo,31 July 2009

John Small(19 April 1737 – 31 December 1826) was an English professionalcricketerwho played during the 18th century and had one of the longest careers on record. Born atEmpshott,Hampshire,he is generally regarded as the greatestbatsmanof the 18th century and acknowledged as having been the first to master the use of the modern straightbatwhich was introduced in the 1760s. He probably scored the earliest knowncenturyin important cricket. The strength of the Hambledon/Hampshire team during Small's prime years can be seen in the team being rated the (unofficial)Champion Countyin 10 seasons: 1766–1771, 1776–1777, 1779 and 1783. He died atPetersfield,where he was in residence for most of his life and where he established businesses.

Small was a very influential player who was involved in the creation of two significant permanent additions to theLaws of Cricket:the maximum width of the bat and the introduction of the middle stump (out of the three stumps) of thewicketeither end of thecricket pitch.Acclaimed as the greatest player associated with the famousHambledon Club,Small is the first person known to have been described in literature in terms that attest him to have been a "superstar". In 1997, he was named byThe Timesas one of its100 Greatest Cricketers of All Time.

Cricket career

Small was a playing member of Hambledon during its years of greatness. He was definitely playing for Hambledon by 1764 and his name is found in the club's scorecards until 1798 when he was over 60.Knowledge of the early years of his career are sketchy due to the lack of detailed records before scorecards became common from 1772, but it is believed he began playing in top-class cricket during the 1750s and may well have taken part in the earliest known Hambledon matches, a tri-series againstDartfordin 1756.

1764–1771

The earliest definite mention of Small dates from the1764 seasonwhen Hambledon played three matches againstChertsey.

In August 1768, Small scored more than 140 runs for Hambledon againstKentatBroadhalfpenny Down.This was a feat almost unheard of at that time but it is not quite clear from the original source if it was in one innings or his match total.Only a week later, playing for Hambledon againstSussexat Broadhalfpenny Down, Small scored "about four-score notches... and was not out when the game was finished", Hambledon winning by 7 wickets.

In 1769, Hambledon playedCaterhamatGuildford Basonand won by 4 wickets. A contemporary report in theReading Mercurystates that "the utmost activity and skill in the game was displayed by each individual through the whole course of this match, but particularly the batting of Messrs Small andJohn Baytonon the Hambledon side ".

Small was involved in one of the most controversial incidents in early cricket history when Hambledon playedChertseyatLaleham Burwayin September 1771. Hambledon won the match by 1 wicket.It was in this game that Chertsey'sThomas Whiteused a bat that was as wide as the wicket, possibly in an attempt to force an issue about the width of the new straight bats that had recently replaced the old curved sticks.Whether that was White's intention is unclear but his action ensured that anew rule was passedwhich limited the width to 4.25 inches. This rule supported a written motion presented by Hambledon bowlerThomas Brettthat was counter-signed by club captainRichard Nyrenand senior batsman Small. The original of Brett's memorandum, bearing Small's signature, is maintained byMarylebone Cricket Clubin its museum atLord's.

1772–1775

The production of match scorecards became common from the1772 seasonand three 1772 cards have survived. Small played in all three matches and was easily the season's highest runscorer with 213 in his six innings. The only other player to exceed 100 wasWilliam Yaldenwho made 136, also in six innings. In the first match of the season, Small scored 78 forHampshireagainstAll-Englandout of a team total of 146.In the second innings, he scored 34 out of 79 and his team won by 53 runs, an illustration of his enormous value to Hampshire.His innings of 78 was the highest individual score definitely recorded to that time. Although higher scores such asRichard Newland's 88 in 1745 and Small's own 140-plus in 1768 have been mentioned in the sources, it is not clear if those were definitely made in one innings or if they were match totals.

Small's 1772 aggregate of 213 runs from six innings would give him an average of 35.50 if all his innings were completed (scorecards in 1772 do not confirm the not out batsmen). This may seem low by modern standards but scores were much lower in general at the time.

Small has been recorded in a number ofsingle wicketmatches, but he seems to have been less successful in this form of cricket than in the eleven-a-side version. On 22–23 May 1775, he played in one single wicket innings that was of enormous significance in the evolution of the sport because it led directly to the introduction of the third (middle) stump to what had always been a two-stump wicket. This was the single wicket "fives" game at the Artillery Ground when a Hambledon Five defeated a Kent Five by one wicket, the not out batsman being Small who in the course of his second innings was beaten three times byLumpy Stevens,only for the ball to pass through the two-stump wicket each time without hitting the stumps or the bail.As a result of Lumpy's protests, the middle stump was legalised and introduced, although its introduction was gradual.

Small's most famous feat was scoring the earliest knowncenturyin a first-class match when he made 136 not out for Hampshire againstSurreyatBroadhalfpenny Downin July 1775.This beatJohn Minshull's score of 107 set in 1769 and it was the first century scored in a match that has been awarded first-class status. It lasted only until 1777 whenJames Aylwardset a new mark with a score of 167.Small scored this century in the 5th wicket turned the match in Hampshire's favour, and they eventually won by 296 runs after having looked certain to lose before Small and Richard Nyren came together.

Style and technique

Along with other greats of the Hambledon era such asBilly BeldhamandTom Walker,Small did much to lay the foundations of what can now be recognised as modernbattingtechnique. He was noted for his sound defence but he was also a fluent strokemaker who used his wrists particularly well.John Nyren described him as the "best short runner of his day" and believed him to be "the first who turned the short run to account".

Small rarely if ever bowled but he was "an admirable fieldsman, always playing middle wicket" and "as active as a hare".

It is sometimes said that Small invented the straight bat, replacing the old curved bat in the 1760s after bowlers started pitching the ball instead of skimming or trundling it.It is more accurate to say that he was the first batsman to master the use of the straight bat and that he subsequently manufactured them in his workshop.

Family and personal life

John Small's tombstone in the churchyard at St Peter's Church, Petersfield.

Nyren says that Small was "a remarkably well-made and well-knit man of a handsome countenance and honest expression".

He was married and had at least five children including three daughters who died in childhood (see photograph of the family's tombstone). His wife Ann (born c.1739) died on 22 November 1802, aged 63. His two sons,JackandEli,also played senior cricket. Mrs Ann Small was a vociferous supporter of the Hambledon team and was a regular attendee at its matches, often travelling with the team to away games too.

Outside cricket, Small's profession was originally acobblerbut he later expanded his business to include the manufacture ofcricket batsandballs.

Small was musical and could play both thefiddleand thedouble bass.One of his greatest admirers was the cricket patronJohn Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset,who, when learning of Small's musical skills, sent him "a handsome violin".Small returned the favour by sending the Duke a present of two newly made cricket bats and balls.

Legacy

Like so many of his contemporaries, Small's fame is based largely on the testimony paid to him byJohn NyreninThe Cricketers of My Time.Small received high praise indeed for Nyren wrote that "(Small) shines among them (i.e., the Hambledon players) in all the lustre of a star of the first magnitude" (i.e., asuperstar).

His legacy is well summarised by a contemporary verse about him which, it is believed, he displayed on a sign outside his workshop in Petersfield:

Here lives John Small,
Makes bat and ball,
Pitches a wicket, plays at cricket
With any man in England.

In 1997, in an article inThe Times,formerWisden Cricketers' AlmanackeditorJohn Woodcocknamed Small in his100 Greatest Cricketers of All Time.

Bibliography

• Altham, H. S.(1962).A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914).George Allen & Unwin.
• Ashley-Cooper, F. S.(1924).Hambledon Cricket Chronicle 1772–1796.Jenkins.
• Birley, Derek(1999).A Social History of English Cricket.Aurum.
• Bowen, Rowland(1970).Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development.Eyre & Spottiswoode.
• Buckley, G. B.(1935).Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket.Cotterell.
• Haygarth, Arthur(1862).Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826).Lillywhite.
• Maun, Ian (2011).From Commons to Lord's, Volume Two: 1751 to 1770.Martin Wilson.ISBN978-0-9569066-0-1.
• McCann, Tim(2004).Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century.Sussex Record Society.
• Mote, Ashley(1997).The Glory Days of Cricket.Robson.
• Nyren, John(1998). Ashley Mote (ed.).The Cricketers of my Time.Robson.
• Swanton, E. W.,ed. (1986).Barclays World of Cricket.Willow Books.ISBN0-00-218193-2.
• Underdown, David(2000).Start of Play.Allen Lane.
• Waghorn, H. T.(1899).Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730–1773).Blackwood.
• Waghorn, H. T.(1906).The Dawn of Cricket.Electric Press.
• Wilson, Martin (2005).An Index to Waghorn.Bodyline.

External links

• John SmallatESPNcricinfo