James Southerton

James Southerton (16 November 1827 in Petworth, Sussex – 16 June 1880 in Mitcham, Surrey) was a professional cricketer who played first-class cricket between 1854 and 1879.

In 1876/7 he toured Australia as part of James Lillywhite's side. This led to him playing in the two first-ever Test matches. Southerton was 49 years 119 days old when he made his Test debut, making him the oldest ever Test debutant, a record unlikely to ever be beaten. In 1880, he also became the first Test cricketer to die. However, as the games were not designated as official Test matches till much later, Southerton never knew about any of his records.

Southerton played much of his first-class cricket for Surrey County Cricket Club, though he did also turn out for other county teams. In 1867 he managed to turn out for three of them, Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire.

Southerton was involved in an unusual incident during the Surrey County Cricket Club v Marylebone Cricket Club match at the Kennington Oval in 1870. Southerton cut a ball hard to W G Grace, who picked it up on the rebound and did not throw it up as if he had made a catch. Nobody except Southerton thought he was out, but he walked away, and when recalled, refused to come back.^[1]

In 1861, Southerton was engaged at Southampton and resided at the Antelope Ground. He remained there until 1867.^[2]

References

External links

• Cricinfo page on James Southerton
• CricketArchive page on James Southerton