Arthur Cursham

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Arthur Cursham (March 14, 1853 — December 24, 1884) was an English cricketer and footballer during the final quarter of the nineteenth century. He was born in Wilford and died in Florida.

Cursham made his England footballing debut in a 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Scotland in March 1876. Cursham made his County Cricket debut during the 1876 season, playing his first game for Nottinghamshire in a low-scoring victory against Yorkshire.

Cursham made six international footballing appearances in total, four coming against Scotland and two against Wales, playing domestic football for Nottingham County, between 1876 and 1883.

Cursham's cricketing career saw him debut for Nottinghamshire during the 1876 season, just five months after appearing for the national football side for the first time, though he, along with the rest of the Nottinghamshire team, failed to impress in a match in which only one player would reach double figures in each of the first three innings, himself scoring just three runs from the middle order. Cursham, a right-handed batsman and a round-arm bowler, appeared extensively for Nottinghamshire during the 1877 and 1878 seasons, scoring a maiden career half-century against Middlesex in 1877, before moving briefly to play for Derbyshire during the 1879 season.

Cursham played regularly in the Derbyshire lower order, scoring a duck in his debut innings, though failing to break into the side as a bowler. While the final game of 1879 saw Derbyshire lose by an innings margin, he was drafted into the team for one further season, retiring from the game at the age of 27.

Three years after the end of his cricketing career, Cursham played two further games for the England national football team, a victory against Wales in which he would score his second and final international goal, and a defeat against Scotland. Cursham died at just 31 years of age, having emigrated to the United States at the end of his footballing career, just a year after his final international footballing appearance.

His brother Henry was also an England international footballer.

[edit] External links