R. Whitehead (MCC cricketer)

R. Whitehead (first name and dates unknown) was an English first-class cricketer with amateur status who was mainly associated with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). He was also a match organiser and, according to Arthur Haygarth, sometimes used the pseudonym "Long".^[1] Whitehead is known to have been an active player between 1785 and 1800. Fourteen of his matches are rated first-class by CricketArchive and, in these, Whitehead scored 201 runs with a highest score of 32 and held six catches.^[2]

Whitehead's earliest known appearances were in two 1785 matches when he played for the Gentlemen of Kent against White Conduit Club. His first-class debut was on Monday, 20 June 1785 at Sevenoaks Vine. He scored 1 and 22 to help his team win by 104 runs.^[3] In the return match played 30 June – 1 July at White Conduit Fields, the Gentlemen of Kent were heavily defeated by 304 runs, Whitehead scoring only 2 and 4. He did, however, take three wickets and this match is the only one in which he is known to have bowled.^[4] He is not recorded again until August 1793 when he played for Middlesex in a 22/11 odds match against an England XI.^[5] He played in two more matches over the next three years^[6][7] and then became a prolific player through the 1798 to 1800 seasons.^[8][9][10]

Whitehead formed his own team which took part in three matches at Lord's. The first was played 13–14 July 1798 against Lord Frederick Beauclerk's XI. It was a single innings filler arranged on the spot after an MCC v England XI match had finished early. Whitehead's XI won by 7 wickets.^[11] In 1799, Whitehead's XI played Lord Yarmouth's XI on 1–2 August but lost by four wickets despite having held a first innings lead.^[12] The third match was played 19–21 May 1800 against John Gibbons' XI. This was low-scoring. Whitehead's XI batted first and scored only 61 but dismissed Gibbons' XI for 56. In the second innings, Whitehead's XI scored 86 and so Gibbons' XI needed 92 to win. The bowling of Billy Beldham and Thomas Boxall proved too much for Gibbons' side and this time they were all out for 39, so Whitehead's XI won by 52 runs.^[13]

Whitehead's last known appearance was on 14–15 July 1800 at Lord's for a team called the W's and H's with Mr Lawrell. They had eight players, including Whitehead, whose name began with "W". Despite the team title, there were only two players (John Hammond and J. Hampton) whose names began with "H" and the eleventh player was James Lawrell. Their opponents were an England XI. Whitehead scored 4 and 0 but his team won the match by seven wickets.^[14]

References

Bibliography

• Britcher, Samuel (1790). A list of all the principal Matches of Cricket that have been played (1790 to 1805). MCC.
• Haygarth, Arthur (1862). Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826). Lillywhite.
• Waghorn, H. T. (1906). The Dawn of Cricket. Electric Press.

Further reading

• Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Cotterell.