George Brown (cricketer, born 1783)

George Brown (27 April 1783, Stoughton, Sussex – 25 June 1857, Sompting, Sussex) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1819 to 1838.

A right-handed batsman and fast underarm bowler who played for Hampshire and Sussex, he made 51 known appearances in first-class matches.^[1] He represented the Players in the Gentlemen v Players series.

Brown was credited with 89 wickets in his career (i.e., bowled only) with a best return of six in one innings. He had a reputation for extreme pace and was widely known as "Brown of Brighton". He is said, though the story may be apocryphal, to have once killed a dog when a ball he had bowled went past the stumps and through a coat held by the longstop, hitting the dog which was behind the coat.^[2] Another of his longstops, a man called Dench, insisted on fielding with a sack of straw tied to his chest for protection.^[3] E H Budd played against both Brown and Walter Marcon, who had a similar reputation, and Budd said that "Brown was not more terrific in his speed than Marcon", an elaborate way of saying that they were both extremely fast.^[4] Brown was a useful batsman and made 1053 runs at 11.44 with a top score of 70 which he scored during the first of the three roundarm trial matches.^[5] He died in Sompting, Sussex.^[1]

References

External links

• George Brown at CricketArchive (subscription required)

Further reading

• H S Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962
• David Frith, The Fast Men, TransWorld Publishing, 1975
• Arthur Haygarth, Scores & Biographies, Volumes 1-11 (1744–1870), Lillywhite, 1862–72