Thomas Waymark

Thomas Waymark (probably born 17 June 1705 at Mitcham, Surrey [ [http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/IGI/individual_record.asp?recid=500152377071&lds=1&region=2&regionfriendly=British+Isles&frompage=99 Thomas Waymark's likely birth record] ] [According to [http://www.jl.sl.btinternet.co.uk/stampsite/cricket/main.html From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300 – 1787] , the date and location strongly suggest that this Thomas Waymark was the famous cricketer] ; date of death unknown) was an English cricketer in the first half of the 18th century.

Waymark’s career began in the 1720s and the earliest mention of him is in the 1727 season H T Waghorn, "The Dawn of Cricket", Electric Press, 1906] . He was still playing in the 1740s and he was in the All-England team in [http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/misc/2/misc2718.html the match] at the Artillery Ground on 18 June 1744 Arthur Haygarth, "Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826)", Lillywhite, 1862] . He was an all-rounder who excelled at both the single wicket and 11-a-side versions.

Thomas Waymark was a groom by trade and was employed as such by his patron Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond . There was probably no shortage of capable grooms and it is fair to assume that Richmond employed Waymark because of his outstanding ability with bat and ball, Richmond being the foremost investor in cricket at the time. Richmond's teams were representative of Sussex as a county and the few reports in which Waymark is mentioned make clear that he was a star all-rounder, the first great all-rounder in the game's history [http://www.jl.sl.btinternet.co.uk/stampsite/cricket/main.html From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300 – 1787] ] .

For example, in the report of Mr Edward Stead’s XI v Sir William Gage’s XI at Penshurst Park on 28 August 1729, it states that "a groom of the Duke of Richmond signalised himself by extraordinary agility and dexterity". This was Waymark playing for Gage's XI who won the match by an innings .

In August 1730, a major match between the teams of Richmond and Gage was postponed "on account of Waymark, the Duke’s man, being ill" G B Buckley, "Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket", Cotterell, 1935] . Assuredly this was not done out of sympathy for Waymark's condition, but because every major match in the 18th century was based on a wager and the betting on Waymark's expected contribution must have been so high that stakes would have to be repaid unless the game could be played when Waymark was fully fit. Unfortunately, we do not know if the game was eventually replayed .

By the 1740s, Waymark was no longer in the Duke’s employ as he was working at Bray Mills in Berkshire; and he is given as a Berkshire resident and playing for the Berkshire XI or the London XI F S Ashley-Cooper, "At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742 – 1751", "Cricket" Magazine, 1900] . Waymark seems to have ceased playing by 1750.

Nothing is known of his final years and his date and place of death are unrecorded.

References

External sources

* [http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/77/77415/77415.html CricketArchive]
* [http://www.jl.sl.btinternet.co.uk/stampsite/cricket/main.html From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300 – 1787]

Further reading

* H S Altham, "A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914)", George Allen & Unwin, 1962
* Derek Birley, "A Social History of English Cricket", Aurum, 1999
* Rowland Bowen, "Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development", Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
* David Underdown, "Start of Play", Allen Lane, 2000