William Goodwin (cricketer)

William Goodwin (October 1683 – unknown) was an early English cricketer who was reported in 1724 to be a noted player. The report suggests that he played for Sunbury and Middlesex in major cricket.^{[fc 1][fc 2]}

Career

Goodwin is one of the earliest cricketers whose name has survived in 18th century records. On Saturday, 5 September 1724, the Weekly Journal newspaper in London reported that "one William Goldwin, of Sunbury in the County of Middlesex, has taken upon him for some Time to practise the emplyment of Ferry-Man. He is but 41 Years old next October and able to play Cricket with most People".^[1]

There are no other known references to Goodwin but, given his age, it may be assumed he was an active player from c.1701 until possibly c.1730 when he would have been 47. It would seem he played for Sunbury, which was a noted club in the 1720s and early 1730s, and perhaps for Middlesex as a county.^[2]

Footnotes

1. ↑ Note that surviving match records to 1825 are incomplete and any statistical compilation of a player's career in that period is based on known data. Match scorecards were not always created, or have been lost, and the matches themselves were not always recorded in the press or other media. Scorecard data was not comprehensive: e.g., bowling analyses lacked balls bowled and runs conceded; bowlers were not credited with wickets when the batsman was caught or stumped; in many matches, the means of dismissal were omitted.
2. ↑ The term "major cricket" deserves some qualification. It is not limited to "first-class cricket" which is a misleading concept that is essentially statistical and may typically ignore the more important historical aspect of a match if statistical information is missing, as is invariably the case re matches played prior to 1772. From that season, scorecards began to be created habitually and there is a continuous and adequate, though incomplete, statistical record commencing in 1772. Major cricket in the Stuart and Hanoverian periods includes both single wicket and eleven-a-side games. Features of these matches include high stakes, large crowds and evidence that the teams are representative of several parishes, perhaps of whole counties. Except in rare instances, village cricket in the shape of a match played between two parish teams, would be classified as minor.

References

Bibliography

• Maun, Ian (2009). From Commons to Lord's, Volume One: 1700 to 1750. Roger Heavens. ISBN 978 1 900592 52 9.