Harris brothers (cricketers)

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This article is about the Surrey cricketers John and Joseph Harris. For other persons named Joseph Harris, see Joseph Harris (disambiguation).

The brothers John Harris (dates of birth and death unknown) and Joseph (Joe) Harris (dates of birth and death unknown) were famous English cricketers in the 1740s and 1750s. They both played for the Addington Cricket Club which had one of the strongest teams in England at the time and for Surrey [1].

With the Harris brothers playing, the Addington club first came to prominence on 25 July 1743 when its team defeated London Cricket Club at the Artillery Ground by an innings & 4 runs [2]. London made 32 & 74; Addington 110.

John Harris top scored with 47 for Slindon against London in the 1744 match from which the earliest known scorecard has survived [3]. Later that season, both the Harrises played for All-England against Kent in the second match that has a surviving scorecard [4].

The single wicket form of the game was very popular in the 1740s and the Harris brothers were frequently involved in matches that attracted high stakes, which underlines what good players they were. They continued playing into the 1750s but unfortunately very little is known about them outside contemporary match reports [1].

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b From Lads to Lord's – biographies of John and Joe Harris
  2. ^ F S Ashley-Cooper, At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742-1751, Cricket Magazine, 1900
  3. ^ Timothy J McCann, Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century, Sussex Record Society, 2004
  4. ^ Arthur Haygarth, Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744-1826), Lillywhite, 1862