William Bedle

Infobox Early Cricketer
playername = William Bedle


country = England
fullname = William Bedle (aka Beddel)
nickname =
living =
partialdates = true
dayofbirth =
monthofbirth =
yearofbirth = 1680
placeofbirth = Bromley, Kent
countryofbirth = England
dayofdeath =
monthofdeath =
yearofdeath = 1768
placeofdeath = Dartford, Kent
countryofdeath = England
batting = unknown hand
bowling = underarm: unknown hand and type
role = unknown
club1 = Dartford Cricket Club
year1 = c.1701-1730
club2 = Kent
year2 = c.1701-1730
date = 22 May
year = 2008
source = G B Buckley

William Bedle (1680 – 3 June 1768) was an English cricketer who is the sport's earliest known accomplished player. He was born in Bromley but lived most of his life near Dartford, where he was a wealthy farmer and grazier.

Career

Bedle played for Dartford Cricket Club, whose website records that he was "the first great player in cricketing annals" and "the earliest Dartford cricketer whose name has come down to posterity".

Given his date of birth, he must have played for Dartford in the first quarter of the 18th century. At this time, Dartford and London were the two most successful clubs in England. Bedle probably played in the first known inter-county match between Kent and Surrey on Dartford Brent in the 1709 season. [http://www.jl.sl.btinternet.co.uk/stampsite/cricket/ladstolords/biog.html#bedle From Lads to Lord's – biography of William Bedle] . Retrieved on 29 September 2008.]

The Dartford club is believed to have formed the nucleus of the Kent county team and this is borne out by a 1723 journal entry recorded by the prominent Tory politician Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford:

At Dartford upon the Heath as we came out of the town, the men of Tonbridge and the Dartford men were warmly engaged at the sport of cricket, which of all the people of England the Kentish folk are the most renowned for, and of all the Kentish men, the men of Dartford lay claim to the greatest excellence. [ [http://www.dartfordcc.co.uk/ Dartford Cricket Club website] . It was probably Dartford Brent where this game was taking place. Retrieved on 29 September 2008.]

There are four known matches involving Dartford or Kent teams against London during Bedle's career.

London hosted Kent at White Conduit Fields in August 1719 and July 1720, Kent winning the first and London the second. [Waghorn, p.5] There were London v Dartford fixtures in July 1722 and June 1724. The former, played in Islington was the subject of a letter in "The Weekly Journal" dated 21 July 1722. The latter was the earliest known match at Kennington Common, near where The Oval is now sited. The results of these two matches are unknown. [Buckley, p.3]

Additional information

Bedle's name, also spelled Beddel, is recorded on a tablet in Dartford Parish Church listing the bellringers of 1749. [http://www.dartfordcc.co.uk/ Dartford Cricket Club website] . Retrieved on 29 September 2008.]

Obituary

William Bedle died at his home near Dartford on 3 June 1768, aged 88. In his obituary notice, "Lloyd's Evening Post" dated 10 June 1768 stated that he was "formerly accounted the most expert cricket player in England". [Buckley, p.48]

References

Citation sources

*
*

External links

* [http://www.dartfordcc.co.uk/ Dartford Cricket Club website]
* [http://www.jl.sl.btinternet.co.uk/stampsite/cricket/main.html From Lads to Lord's; The History of Cricket: 1300 – 1787]

Further reading

* David Underdown, "Start of Play", Allen Lane, 2000