Squire Thomas Land

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Squire Thomas Land (1714 – 1791) was a patron of English cricket and an occasional player. He was apparently the leading light in Hambledon cricket until about 1764 when he seems to have withdrawn from the scene. It is believed the Hambledon Club proper was formed not long afterwards.

Squire Land was evidently more interested in hunting and maintained a pack of hounds that earned him recognition as "one of the most celebrated foxhunters in Great Britain".

Land is mentioned in the Hambledon Club Song written by Reverend Reynell Cotton (1717 – 1779) in about 1771. Apparently, Cotton was not too concerned about Land having left the club:

Then why should we fear either Sackville or Mann,

Or repine at the loss of Bayton and Land?

The Rev. Cotton was President of the Hambledon Club 1773 to 1774. He was a schoolmaster in Winchester.

[edit] References

• A Social History of English Cricket by Derek Birley
• Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians - various publications
• Cricket: History of its Growth and Development by Rowland Bowen
• Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket by G B Buckley (FL18)
• From the Weald to the World by Peter Wynne-Thomas (PWT)
• Hambledon Cricket Chronicle by F S Ashley-Cooper (HCC)
• Hambledon: Men and Myths by John Goulstone (HMM)
• Start of Play by David Underdown
• The Dawn of Cricket by H T Waghorn (WDC)
• The Glory Days of Cricket by Ashley Mote (GDC)
• John Nyren's "The Cricketers of my Time" by Ashley Mote