Thomas Brett

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Thomas Brett (born 1747 in Hampshire; died 1809 in Hampshire) was cricket's first well-known fast bowler and was a star of the legendary Hambledon team of the 1770s.

Noted for his pace and his accuracy, Brett was a leading wicket taker in the 1770s and was lauded by John Nyren in The Cricketers of my Time.

An unusual feature of Brett's career at a time when players freely swapped sides as "given men" was that he always played for Hampshire. Indeed, he did not even play for Hambledon per se because he resided at Catherington and so was ineligible to represent Hambledon's Parish XI.

Brett featured in the Monster Bat Incident 1771 as the bowler who led the protest; and it is almost certain that he wrote out the formal objection to Thomas White's huge bat. This document, which has been preserved, was countersigned by his captain Richard Nyren and Hampshire's senior batsman John Small. The protest resulted in the maximum width of the bat being set at four and one quarter inches.

Cricket's statistical record from 1772 gives proof of Brett's ability, bearing in mind that all his known wickets were bowled. It is reasonable to assume that a third or more of catches taken by Hampshire fielders were off his bowling. His known wicket tally was 102 but the bowling details in every game are either unknown or incomplete. We do know he took 29 wickets (i.e., bowled only) in just five matches in 1777; with catches, the true figure could well be 40-plus.

Brett made 31 known first-class appearances for Hampshire from 1772 to 1778.

His last recorded match was for Hampshire v Surrey at Laleham Burway in October 1778 when he was still only 31. It seems he went to live in Portsmouth so a change of occupation may have been the reason for his apparently early retirement.

[edit] Modern Equivalent

In The Cricketers of my Time, it is said of Thomas Brett that he was the "fastest and straightest" of all bowlers. A similar view prevails re Brian Statham who was also noted for his accuracy despite bowling at high pace. Statham once expressed a philosophy that Brett might well have shared: "If they miss, I hit".