Shock White

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Shock White (dates of birth and death unknown) was a noted English cricketer of the mid-18th century who played for Middlesex. He has famously been mistaken for Thomas "Daddy" White but there is no doubt at all that he was a different player altogether [1]. His first name and the source of his nickname are unknown. He lived in Brentford and was a member of the local club.

Shock White is first mentioned in the Whitehall Evening Post on Sat 26 September 1761. In the Chertsey v Hampton game at Laleham Burway on the following Monday, Hampton were to have Charles Sears, John Haynes and Shock White as given men [2].

Shock White has often [3] been described as the culprit in the Monster Bat Incident 1771 but it has been conclusively proved that the wide bat was used by his namesake Thomas White of Reigate [1]. Shock White was twice mentioned by the Daily Advertiser in 1773 as "Shock White of Brentford" [2]. Furthermore, while Shock White played at Tothill Fields for Westminster versus London on Wednesday 18 August 1773, Thomas White was simultaneously playing for Surrey v Kent at Sevenoaks Vine [2].

There are no statistics for Shock White's career and all that is definitely known of him is that he was active between 1761 and 1773 [1].

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300–1787
  2. ^ a b c G B Buckley, Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket, Cotterell, 1935
  3. ^ for example, on p. 62 of Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970