George Betts (1808 – 7 October 1861) was an influential English cattle trader and butcher who played two matches of first-class cricket during the 1830s.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1808 Bearsted, Kent |
| Died | 7 October 1861 (aged 51–52) West Tilbury, Essex |
| Batting | Right-handed |
| Bowling | Right-arm slow |
| Domestic team information | |
| Years | Team |
| 1835 | Kent |
| FC debut | 27 August 1832 Gentlemen v Players |
| Last FC | 27 July 1835 Kent XI v England |
Source: CricInfo, 24 June 2022 | |
Betts was born in 1808 and christened on 7 November at Bearsted in Kent.[1] He was the son of George and Anne Betts (née Goodwin). His father was a butcher and Betts followed him into the trade, owning a butchers shop at Gravesend in Kent and a farm at West Tilbury in Essex.[a][3] He employed 13 workers on the farm and was considered to be a major figure in the South Essex cattle trade, the Gravesend Reporter writing that he was such a dominant figure that "he was the Tilbury Cattle Market".[4]
Betts played club cricket for the Leeds and Bearsted team as well as for sides in Maidstone before moving to Gravesend in 1835 where he played for Gravesend Cricket Club. Five members of his family played for Leeds and Bearsted and in 1829 Betts and his brother Tom played a two-a-side match against a pair of brothers from Tovil.[3] He made his first-class cricket debut in 1832, playing for Gentlemen against the Players at Lord's. Betts was almost certainly a late replacement, one of two who stepped in to play when members of the original Gentlemen's side did not arrive at the ground.[3][5] He took at least one wicket in the match,[b] bowling Ned Wenman,[c] but did not score a run in either innings.[3][8]
Following the match Bell's Life in London predicted that Betts would "become equal to the first-rate bowlers of the day",[9] although as a lob bowler he was at a disadvantage as roundarm bowling was becoming dominant.[3] In the event, he played his other first-class match for a Kent side in 1835, playing against an England side,[d] again at Lord's. Again he failed to score in either innings and took one known wicket, this time bowling Fuller Pilch.[e] He is known to have played one other non-first-class match for a Kent side.[3][12]
Betts married Jemima Smith in 1843 at Clerkenwell. The couple had seven children. He died from trismus in October 1861 a fortnight after a shotgun accident on his farm.[3][8]
Notes
edit- ^ West Tilbury is across the River Thames from Gravesend. Ferries connecting the two locations have operated since at 1304.[2]
- ^ During this period, wickets taken by bowlers were normally only recorded if they were bowled or out leg before wicket. Other means of dismissal were not credited to any bowler.[6] As a result the number of wickets Betts took in any match is uncertain.
- ^ Wenman was one of the leading wicket-keepers of the period and played regularly for Kent sides between 1825 and 1854. He played in almost 150 first-class matches.[7]
- ^ During the time Betts played, England sides were not representative of the country. Instead, they were sides composed of players from a range of locations brought together to play against another side.[10]
- ^ Pilch was one of the most dominant batsmen of the day and played more than 200 first-class matches. He played for Kent from 1836.[11]
References
edit- ^ George Betts, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2022-06-24. (subscription required)
- ^ History of Tilbury ferry, Thurrock Gazette, 2 November,ber 2018. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
- ^ a b c d e f g Carlaw D (2020) Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914 (revised edition), pp. 59–60. (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-12-21.)
- ^ Quoted in Carlaw, p. 60.
- ^ Gentlemen v Players, 1832, scorecard, CricInfo. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
- ^ Carlaw, p. 31, p. 59. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
- ^ Carlaw, pp. 563–567.
- ^ a b Milton H (1999) The Bat and Ball Gravesend: a first-class cricket history, pp. 127–128. Gravesend: Gravesend Cricket Club. ISBN 0 9536041 0 1
- ^ Quoted in Carlaw, p. 59.
- ^ Birley D (1999) A Social History of English Cricket, p. 364. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 978 1 78131 1769
- ^ Carlaw, pp. 447–451.
- ^ George Betts, CricInfo. Retrieved 2022-06-24.