Edward Sainsbury

Infobox cricketer biography
playername = Edward Sainsbury


country = England
fullname = Edward Sainsbury
nickname =
living =
dayofbirth = 5
monthofbirth = 7
yearofbirth = 1851
placeofbirth = Bath, Somerset
countryofbirth = England
dayofdeath = 28
monthofdeath = 10
yearofdeath = 1930
placeofdeath = Weston-super-Mare, Somerset
countryofdeath = England
batting = Right-handed batsman
bowling = Underarm, slow
role = Opening or middle order batsman
club1 = Somerset, Gloucestershire, MCC
year1 = 1882-1892
type1 = First-class
debutdate1 = 8 June
debutyear1 = 1882
debutfor1 = Somerset
debutagainst1 = Lancashire
lastdate1 = 27 July
lastyear1 = 1892
lastfor1 = Gloucestershire
lastagainst1 = Yorkshire
deliveries = balls
columns = 1
column1 = First-class
matches1 = 46
runs1 = 1213
bat avg1 = 14.97
100s/50s1 = 1/3
top score1 = 116
deliveries1 = 900
wickets1 = 25
bowl avg1 = 25.76
fivefor1 = -
tenfor1 = -
best bowling1 = 4-74
catches/stumpings1 = 20/-
date = 19 Jul
year = 2008
source = http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3801/3801.html CricketArchive

Edward Sainsbury, born at Bath, Somerset, on July 5, 1851, and died at Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on October 28, 1930, played first-class cricket for Somerset and Gloucestershire, and was captain of Somerset in first-class matches in the 1885 season.

Sainsbury was a right-handed batsman who sometimes opened but mainly batted in the middle order, and an underarm slow bowler. Educated at Sherborne School, he played for Somerset in the years to 1881 when the county side was not regarded as first-class, including one of the matches, in 1879, against Gloucestershire, that has been the subject of much debate among cricket historians and statisticians, since the match included a century by W. G. Grace that has been traditionally counted in his career total of 126 first-class centuries, even though the status of the match is, at best, doubtful. [cite web | url = http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/2/2319.html | title = Gloucestershire v Somerset | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 2007-07-19] See this article for more details on this subject. Sainsbury was one of Somerset's leading batsmen in the pre-first-class period: he hit 105 against Hertfordshire at St Albans in 1878 and an unbeaten 101 against Sussex at Hove two years later. [Cite book | title = "Sunshine, Sixes and Cider: A History of Somerset Cricket" | author = David Foot | edition = 1986 | publisher = David and Charles | ISBN = 0 7153 8890 8 | pages = p17 ]

From 1882 to 1885, some Somerset matches were regarded as first-class and Sainsbury appeared fairly regularly for the team. He made 63 in 1882 against Hampshire, putting on 118 for the second wicket with his captain, Stephen Newton, who made 80. [cite web | url = http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/2/2621.html | title = Somerset v Hampshire | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 2007-07-19]

Sainsbury's best season with the bat was 1883. He made 51 for Somerset against MCC. [cite web | url = http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/2/2736.html | title = Marylebone Cricket Club v Somerset | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 2007-07-19] Then against Gloucestershire at Taunton in August he hit 59 in the first innings and 116 in the second innings, though Gloucestershire won the match easily. [cite web | url = http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/2/2748.html | title = Somerset v Gloucestershire | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 2007-07-19]

This was the high point of Sainsbury's cricket career, and he never passed 50 in a first-class match after this. He played regularly for Somerset in both 1884 and 1885 but averaged less than 10 runs per innings. [cite web | url = http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3801/f_Batting_by_Season.html | title = First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Edward Sainsbury | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 2007-07-19] He captained the side in the 1885 season, but after this Somerset dropped out of first-class cricket for five years. Sainsbury continued to play for the county in minor matches for a couple of seasons, but when Somerset were readmitted to first-class status in 1891, he moved across to play for Gloucestershire, appearing for them in 18 matches in the 1891 and 1892 seasons, though without success.

Sainsbury's elder brother Francis also played for Somerset in the non-first-class period before 1882.

References