Richard Newland
Encyclopedia
Richard Newland was an English cricket
er in the mid-Georgian period who played for Slindon Cricket Club
and Sussex under the patronage of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond
. He also represented various All-England
teams. Newland made 26 known appearances from 1741 to 1751: 18 in first-class
and 8 in single wicket
matches.
(born 1717) and Adam
(born 1719), played for Slindon but little is known of them apart from what appears in the match reports. The Newland brothers were the uncles of Richard Nyren
, who later became the team captain at Hambledon
. Their sister Susan married Richard Nyren senior of Eartham, which is near Slindon.
The earliest recorded mention of the Newland brothers is in a letter dated Thursday 9 July 1741 from the Duchess of Richmond to her husband
. She mentions a conversation with John Newland re a Slindon v East Dean match a week earlier at Long Down, near Eartham, Sussex.
style. He excelled at both single wicket
and the eleven-a-side game.
Newland's career must have begun in the 1730s but there is no mention of him in the sources during that decade. He relied for his opportunities on the 2nd Duke of Richmond, who patronised the Slindon team which eventually became representative of Sussex as a county. This was emphasised in a noted match against Surrey at Merrow Down in September 1741 when, according to Richmond's letters, "poor little Slyndon" beat Surrey "almost in 1 innings".
There are references in 1742 to "the Sussex Man from Slending" and "the noted bowler from Slendon", although it is not certain that Richard Newland was one or both of these great players. At the end of the 1742 season, Slindon played two matches against London
at the Artillery Ground
but lost them both, the second by a huge margin. In the first, several wagers were laid that one Slindon batsman, almost certainly Richard Newland, would obtain forty runs from his own bat – a feat he failed to perform.
In July 1743, the six players in a threes match between All-England and Kent at the Artillery Ground were stated to be "the best in England". Newland captained All-England, but Kent won by 2 runs before a crowd estimated at 10,000.
By 1744, Newland had begun a rivalry with Robert Colchin
(aka Long Robin), who organised a number of games between his own team and one picked by Newland. Slindon defeated London in June 1744 by 55 runs, its team including Newland, his brother Adam and two other noted Sussex players Aburrow
and Ridgeway
. However, the team contained given men including the great Addington
player Joe Harris
. The match is now famous because Richmond created what has become the world's oldest surviving scorecard
.
Two weeks later, Newland played for All-England
against Kent
at the Artillery Ground
. In Cricket, An Heroic Poem (1745) by James Love
, which commemorated the match, Newland is described as "the champion", a sobriquet later applied to W G Grace. Kent captain Lord John Sackville
is reported to have held a remarkable catch in the second innings to dismiss Newland, who was the top scorer in the match with 18* and 15.
After Slindon beat London again in September 1744, Richmond issued the audacious "Slindon Challenge" to play "any parish in England". The only teams to accept were Addington, which featured Tom Faulkner
and the Harris brothers, and Bromley
, famous for Colchin, Durling and the Bryant brothers. Sadly, details of the two challenge matches are lost. It is believed they were both rained off.
There are few mentions of Slindon in 1745 or 1746 and Newland can be found playing for All-England or leading his own team, usually in opposition to Colchin's team. In July 1745, he scored what was then a massive 88 for All-England against Kent at the Artillery Ground. It is not absolutely certain that he did this in one innings and it may have been his match total but, giving him the benefit of the doubt, it is the highest individual innings recorded during cricket's pioneering period (i.e., to 1763).
By 1747, single wicket
had superseded the 11-a-side version as the most popular form of cricket and the 1748 season was the halcyon days of single wicket. Richmond made the most of it and his Slindon fives and threes were a regular feature of the great matches at the Artillery Ground. However, Newland did not always captain his team in 1747. There was a threes match in September in which he was again opposed by his rival Colchin, but the captaincy of his side had been given to Stephen Dingate
, who was a regular fixture in Richmond's teams at this time. This could be evidence that Newland was past his best. In July 1747, he seems to be reconciled with Colchin because for the first time they played on the same side but, significantly, it was Long Robin's XI that Newland was playing for. In 1749, Newland was a member of an All-England team captained by Colchin.
Newland's last known appearances were in 1751, the year after Colchin and then Richmond had died. He played in two matches for All-England against Kent and was on the winning team both times. Now 38, it can be assumed that, like Sussex cricket in general after the death of Richmond, he faded from the scene. It is likely that he retired to Slindon where he farmed his land and taught his nephew Richard Nyren
to play cricket.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er in the mid-Georgian period who played for Slindon Cricket Club
Slindon Cricket Club
Slindon Cricket Club was famous in the middle part of the 18th century when it claimed to have the best team in England. It was located at Slindon, a village in the Arun district of Sussex....
and Sussex under the patronage of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond
Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond
The 2nd Duke of Richmond has been described as early cricket's greatest patron. Although he had played cricket as a boy, his real involvement began after he succeeded to the dukedom...
. He also represented various All-England
All-England Eleven
In cricket, the term All-England has been used for various non-international teams that have been formed for short-term purposes since the 1739 English cricket season and it indicates that the "Rest of England" is playing against, say, MCC or an individual county team...
teams. Newland made 26 known appearances from 1741 to 1751: 18 in first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
and 8 in single wicket
Single Wicket
Single wicket cricket is a form of cricket played between two individuals, who take turns to bat and bowl against each other. The one bowling is assisted by a team of fielders, who remain as fielders at the change of innings. The winner is the one who scores more runs...
matches.
Family
Two of his brothers, JohnJohn Newland (cricketer)
John Newland was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the 1740s for Slindon Cricket Club and Sussex...
(born 1717) and Adam
Adam Newland
Adam Newland was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the 1740s for Slindon Cricket Club and Sussex...
(born 1719), played for Slindon but little is known of them apart from what appears in the match reports. The Newland brothers were the uncles of Richard Nyren
Richard Nyren
Richard "Dick" Nyren was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the 1760s and 1770s in the heyday of the Hambledon Club...
, who later became the team captain at Hambledon
Hambledon Club
The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England.-Foundation:...
. Their sister Susan married Richard Nyren senior of Eartham, which is near Slindon.
The earliest recorded mention of the Newland brothers is in a letter dated Thursday 9 July 1741 from the Duchess of Richmond to her husband
Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond
The 2nd Duke of Richmond has been described as early cricket's greatest patron. Although he had played cricket as a boy, his real involvement began after he succeeded to the dukedom...
. She mentions a conversation with John Newland re a Slindon v East Dean match a week earlier at Long Down, near Eartham, Sussex.
Career
In the 1740s, Richard Newland was arguably "the most famous player in England". He was a batting all-rounder and the earliest known left-handed player in cricket history. His bowling style and pace are unknown but, like all bowlers during his career, he used the underarmUnderarm bowling
In cricket, underarm bowling is as old as the sport itself. Until the introduction of the roundarm style in the first half of the 19th century, bowling was performed in the same way as in bowls, the ball being delivered with the hand below the waist...
style. He excelled at both single wicket
Single Wicket
Single wicket cricket is a form of cricket played between two individuals, who take turns to bat and bowl against each other. The one bowling is assisted by a team of fielders, who remain as fielders at the change of innings. The winner is the one who scores more runs...
and the eleven-a-side game.
Newland's career must have begun in the 1730s but there is no mention of him in the sources during that decade. He relied for his opportunities on the 2nd Duke of Richmond, who patronised the Slindon team which eventually became representative of Sussex as a county. This was emphasised in a noted match against Surrey at Merrow Down in September 1741 when, according to Richmond's letters, "poor little Slyndon" beat Surrey "almost in 1 innings".
There are references in 1742 to "the Sussex Man from Slending" and "the noted bowler from Slendon", although it is not certain that Richard Newland was one or both of these great players. At the end of the 1742 season, Slindon played two matches against London
London Cricket Club
The original London Cricket Club was formed by 1722 and was one of the foremost clubs in English cricket over the next four decades. It is closely associated with the Artillery Ground, where it played most of its home matches.-Early history of London cricket:...
at the Artillery Ground
Artillery Ground
The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is one of London's most centrally located cricket grounds, situated just off the City Road immediately north of the City of London...
but lost them both, the second by a huge margin. In the first, several wagers were laid that one Slindon batsman, almost certainly Richard Newland, would obtain forty runs from his own bat – a feat he failed to perform.
In July 1743, the six players in a threes match between All-England and Kent at the Artillery Ground were stated to be "the best in England". Newland captained All-England, but Kent won by 2 runs before a crowd estimated at 10,000.
By 1744, Newland had begun a rivalry with Robert Colchin
Robert Colchin
Robert "Long Robin" Colchin was a highly influential professional English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period at a time when the single wicket version of the game was popular.-Cricket career:...
(aka Long Robin), who organised a number of games between his own team and one picked by Newland. Slindon defeated London in June 1744 by 55 runs, its team including Newland, his brother Adam and two other noted Sussex players Aburrow
Edward Aburrow senior
Edward Aburrow senior was a noted English cricketer of the mid-18th century. He was a Sussex man, believed to have been a native of the famous village of Slindon, where his son Edward "Curry" Aburrow was born....
and Ridgeway
Ridgeway (Sussex cricketer)
Ridgeway was a noted English cricketer of the mid-18th century who played for Sussex and All-England.-Cricket career:...
. However, the team contained given men including the great Addington
Addington Cricket Club
Addington is about three miles south-east of Croydon. It is only a small place but Addington Cricket Club fielded one of the strongest cricket teams in England from about the 1743 season to the 1752 season....
player Joe Harris
Joe Harris (cricketer)
Joseph Harris and his brother John Harris were English cricketers in the 1740s and 1750s...
. The match is now famous because Richmond created what has become the world's oldest surviving scorecard
Scoring (cricket)
Scoring in cricket matches involves citing two facts, the number of runs scored by each team and the number of wickets each has lost. These are the basic figures likely to be quoted in a media report on a match completed or still in progress....
.
Two weeks later, Newland played for All-England
All-England Eleven
In cricket, the term All-England has been used for various non-international teams that have been formed for short-term purposes since the 1739 English cricket season and it indicates that the "Rest of England" is playing against, say, MCC or an individual county team...
against Kent
Kent county cricket teams
Kent county cricket teams have been traced back to the 17th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that. Kent, jointly with Sussex, is the birthplace of the sport...
at the Artillery Ground
Artillery Ground
The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is one of London's most centrally located cricket grounds, situated just off the City Road immediately north of the City of London...
. In Cricket, An Heroic Poem (1745) by James Love
James Love (poet)
James Love was the pseudonym of British poet, playwright and actor James Dance. He is famous within sporting circles for his Cricket: An Heroic Poem , whose line "The strokes re-echo o'er the spacious ground" has been quoted in the Oxford English Dictionary. Its subtitle reads thus:Illustrated...
, which commemorated the match, Newland is described as "the champion", a sobriquet later applied to W G Grace. Kent captain Lord John Sackville
Lord John Sackville
Lord John Philip Sackville was the second son of Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset...
is reported to have held a remarkable catch in the second innings to dismiss Newland, who was the top scorer in the match with 18* and 15.
After Slindon beat London again in September 1744, Richmond issued the audacious "Slindon Challenge" to play "any parish in England". The only teams to accept were Addington, which featured Tom Faulkner
Tom Faulkner
Tom Faulkner , known as "Long Tom", was a noted English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period.A Surrey man, he was a prominent single wicket player who frequently played in challenge matches at the Artillery Ground....
and the Harris brothers, and Bromley
Bromley Cricket Club
Bromley Cricket Club was one of the strongest English cricket clubs in the mid-18th century when its team was led by Robert Colchin aka "Long Robin".-Earliest mentions:...
, famous for Colchin, Durling and the Bryant brothers. Sadly, details of the two challenge matches are lost. It is believed they were both rained off.
There are few mentions of Slindon in 1745 or 1746 and Newland can be found playing for All-England or leading his own team, usually in opposition to Colchin's team. In July 1745, he scored what was then a massive 88 for All-England against Kent at the Artillery Ground. It is not absolutely certain that he did this in one innings and it may have been his match total but, giving him the benefit of the doubt, it is the highest individual innings recorded during cricket's pioneering period (i.e., to 1763).
By 1747, single wicket
Single Wicket
Single wicket cricket is a form of cricket played between two individuals, who take turns to bat and bowl against each other. The one bowling is assisted by a team of fielders, who remain as fielders at the change of innings. The winner is the one who scores more runs...
had superseded the 11-a-side version as the most popular form of cricket and the 1748 season was the halcyon days of single wicket. Richmond made the most of it and his Slindon fives and threes were a regular feature of the great matches at the Artillery Ground. However, Newland did not always captain his team in 1747. There was a threes match in September in which he was again opposed by his rival Colchin, but the captaincy of his side had been given to Stephen Dingate
Stephen Dingate
Stephen Dingate was a leading English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period. He almost certainly began playing in the 1720s and was one of the best known players in England through the 1740s....
, who was a regular fixture in Richmond's teams at this time. This could be evidence that Newland was past his best. In July 1747, he seems to be reconciled with Colchin because for the first time they played on the same side but, significantly, it was Long Robin's XI that Newland was playing for. In 1749, Newland was a member of an All-England team captained by Colchin.
Newland's last known appearances were in 1751, the year after Colchin and then Richmond had died. He played in two matches for All-England against Kent and was on the winning team both times. Now 38, it can be assumed that, like Sussex cricket in general after the death of Richmond, he faded from the scene. It is likely that he retired to Slindon where he farmed his land and taught his nephew Richard Nyren
Richard Nyren
Richard "Dick" Nyren was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the 1760s and 1770s in the heyday of the Hambledon Club...
to play cricket.