Henry Attfield

Henry Attfield (1756 – c. 1829) was an English cricketer who is recorded in a total of 27 matches between 1773 and 1789. He played mainly for Chertsey and Surrey.

Born at Bagshot, he lived for much of his life in Chertsey, where he was a sawyer by trade. Besides Chertsey and Surrey, Attfield played in three matches for England (i.e., the "rest" of England),[1] and once for the Duke of Dorset's XI. In addition, he was twice a given man for Hampshire. His name was often shortened to 'Field' on match scorecards.[2]

Cricket career

Attfield made his first known appearance on 26 August 1773 when, aged just 17, he travelled to Hambledon, Hampshire with the Surrey team for a match against Hambledon Town on Broadhalfpenny Down.He scored seven runs out of Surrey's total of 131 in their first innings and three in their second. Later in the year he played twice more for the team, this time against Hampshire.[3][4][5][6]

Attfield is known to have played regularly as his name appears on more than 20 surviving scorecards.[note 1] These show that he was usually a middle-order batsman and that he rarely bowled. It is not known if he was right- or left-handed; nor if he had any fielding specialism. His name appears only once in 1774 but then he is recorded five times in 1775. He was selected for England teams twice — against Hampshire at Laleham Burway in July 1777; and again at Broadhalfpenny Down in August 1779. In June 1780, he played for the Duke of Dorset's XI against Sir Horatio Mann's XI at Sevenoaks Vine.[11]

End of career

Attfield's last known match was for the Moulsey Club against Uxbridge on 8 June 1789. He scored 11 and 2 in his two innings and also took one wicket.[12] According to Arthur Haygarth, Attfield continued to live in Chertsey until his death in about 1829 when he was 73 years old. No tombstone was erected in his memory and so Haygarth was uncertain about the date of Attfield's death.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ Some eleven-a-side matches played from 1772 to 1863 have been rated "first-class" by certain sources.[7] However, the term only came into common use around 1864, when overarm bowling was legalised. It was formally defined as a standard by a meeting at Lord's, in May 1894, of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the county clubs which were then competing in the County Championship. The ruling was effective from the beginning of the 1895 season, but pre-1895 matches of the same standard have no official definition of status because the ruling is not retrospective.[8] Matches of a similar standard since the beginning of the 1864 season are generally considered to have an unofficial first-class status.[9] Pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' "Important Match Guide" may generally be regarded as important or, at least, historically significant.[10] For further information, see First-class cricket.

References

  1. ^ ACS 1982, p. 23.
  2. ^ a b Haygarth 1862, p. 14.
  3. ^ Haygarth 1862, pp. 15–16.
  4. ^ "Match scorecard: Surrey v Hampshire, 16–18 September 1773". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  5. ^ Ashley-Cooper 1924, p. 179.
  6. ^ "Match scorecard: Hampshire v Surrey, 27–28 September 1773". CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  7. ^ "FC Matches in England in 1772". CricketArchive. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  8. ^ Wisden (1948). Preston, Hubert (ed.). Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (85th ed.). London: Sporting Handbooks Ltd. p. 813. OCLC 851705816.
  9. ^ ACS 1982, pp. 4–5.
  10. ^ ACS 1981, pp. 1–40.
  11. ^ "First-Class Matches played by Henry Attfield". CricketArchive. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  12. ^ Haygarth 1862, pp. 91–92.

Sources

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