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William Bedster

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William Bedster
Personal information
Born1734
Walberton, Chichester, Sussex
Died1805 (aged 70–71)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1777–1792England XI
FC debut8 September 1777 England v Hampshire XI
Last FC13 August 1794 MCC v Oldfield
Source: CricInfo, 23 June 2022

William Bedster (1734 – 1805) was an English cricketer who played during the late 18th century.

Bedster was born in 1734 at Walberton near Chichester in Sussex.[1][2] He made his first appearance in first-class cricket in 1777, playing in an England side[a] against a Hampshire XI. In a career which lasted until 1794 he played in 59 matches which have been given first-class status, scoring 1,335 runs and taking at least 26 wickets.[b] He played for a wide variety of sides, appearing most frequently for England and Middlesex sides in first-class matches.[2]

Bedster was employed as a butler for five years by Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville at his Mount Felix estate at Walton-on-Thames.[5][6][7] During this time he played for Chertsey Cricket Club.[8] He was frequently used as a "given man" by other sides.[c] After his playing career was over, Bedster moved to Chelsea where he was an innkeeper.[5] He died in 1805.[1][2] A road in Molesey in Surrey is named after him.[5]

Notes

  1. ^ During the time Bedster played, England sides were not representative of the country. Instead, they were sides composed of players from a range of locations brought together to play against another side.[3]
  2. ^ In the period during which Bedster played, wickets taken by bowlers were normally only recorded if they were bowled. Other means of dismissal were not credited to any bowler.[4] As a result the number of wickets he took is uncertain, with the total of 26 being a minimum.
  3. ^ A given man was a player who would not usually play for a side and was generally not qualified by either birth or residence to do so. They were either recruited to play for it or "given" by the opposition, to produce a more balanced contest and, in some cases, to attract a bigger crowd.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b William Bedster, CricInfo. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  2. ^ a b c William Bedster, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2022-06-23. (subscription required)
  3. ^ Birley D (1999) A Social History of English Cricket, p. 364. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 978 1 78131 1769
  4. ^ Carlaw D (2020) Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914 (revised edition), p. 31. (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-12-21.). Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  5. ^ a b c Hutton J (2012) Sport on the Hurst - Cricket, Molesey Local History Society. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  6. ^ Portrait of Emma, Countess of Tankerville (1752–1836), Philip Mould Fine Paintings. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  7. ^ Haygarth A Memoirs of the Old Players, p. 212 in Lucas EV ed (1907) The Hambledon Men. London: Henry Frowde. (Available online at Wikisource. Retrieved 2022-03-20.)
  8. ^ The History of Chertsey Cricket Club, Chertsey Cricket Club. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  9. ^ Moore D (1988) The History of Kent County Cricket Club, p. 21. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7470-2209-7


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