Ridgeway (Sussex cricketer)
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | unknown |
| Born |
c.1710 Sussex, England |
| Batting style | unknown hand |
| Bowling style | unknown (underarm) |
| Domestic team information | |
| Years | Team |
| c.1731 to c1750 | Sussex |
| Career statistics | |
|
| |
| Source: F S Ashley-Cooper, 20 December 2009 | |
Ridgeway (first name and dates of birth and death unknown) was a noted English cricketer of the mid-18th century who played for Sussex and All-England.
Cricket career
He is first recorded in 1743 when he was reported to be "one of the six best players in England".[1] This was when he was due to play in a big "threes" single wicket match at the Artillery Ground that attracted high stakes and a crowd in excess of 10,000 (according to the London Evening Post).[1] Ridgeway did not play in the match, however, probably due to injury, and he was replaced by John Cutbush.[1]
In 1744, Ridgeway played for Slindon against London Cricket Club in the match from which the earliest known scorecard has survived.[2]
In 1745, after Sussex lost to Surrey at Arundel, Lord John Philip Sackville in a letter dated 14 September to the Duke of Richmond, Sussex's patron said: "I wish you had let Ridgeway play instead of your stopper behind it might have turned the match in our favour".[3] That is the last report for this player, whose career probably began in the 1720s or 1730s when match reports did not include much detail.[4]
References
External links
Bibliography
- F S Ashley-Cooper, At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742–1751, Cricket Magazine, 1900
- Timothy J McCann, Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century, Sussex Record Society, 2004