William Stearman (1813 – 11 April 1846) was an English cricketer who played during the 1830s and 1840s. He made 15 first-class appearances, mainly for Kent sides immediately before the formation of Kent County Cricket Club.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 1813 Aldborough, Norfolk | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 11 April 1846 (aged 32–33) Thurgarton, Norfolk | ||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||
| Role | Batsman | ||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||
| 1836–1840 | Kent XI | ||||||||||||||
| 1842–1845 | Norfolk XI | ||||||||||||||
| FC debut | 12 September 1836 Kent XI v Sussex XI | ||||||||||||||
| Last FC | 6 July 1840 Kent XI v England XI | ||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Source: CricInfo, 14 April 2024 | |||||||||||||||
Stearman was born at Aldborough in Norfolk in 1813,[1][2][3][4][5] the son of John and Sarah Stearman (née Muniment).[2] Professionally he worked as a cooper and is believed to have been recruited to play for Kent by Fuller Pilch, a Norfolk player who had been persuaded to move to Town Malling in 1836.[6][7]
On his first-class debut for Kent against Sussex in 1836, Stearman scored 26 not out in his second innings, the highest score of the match.[1][2] A right-handed batsman, he played in a total of 15 first-class matches, 11 for Kent sides and four for England XIs,[a] scoring a total of 244 runs and frequently opening the batting for Kent. The 26 he scored on debut remained his highest first-class score.[b][2] in 1839 he was the first man dismissed by Sam Redgate during a four-ball over in which he took three wickets. Stearman had scored 15; both Alfred Mynn and Pilch were dismissed for ducks.[2][9]
By 1843 Stearman had returned to Norfolk. He played for Norfolk sides between 1842 and 1845 in matches which do not have first-class status. He died of tuberculosis in 1846 and is buried at Thurgarton, the neighbouring village to Aldborough.[2]
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ a b William Stearman, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2022-08-16. (subscription required)
- ^ a b c d e f Carlaw D (2020) Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914 (revised edition), p. 503. (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-12-21.)
- ^ William Stearman, CricInfo. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
- ^ Moore D (1988) The History of Kent County Cricket Club, p. 255. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7470-2209-7
- ^ Milton H (1983) Kent Cricketers 1834–1983, p. 23. Nottingham: The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. (Available online. Retrieved 2022-06-07.)
- ^ Carlaw, op. cit., attributes both Stearman's profession and his recruitment for Kent to Arthur Haygarth in Scores and Biographies.
- ^ Moore, op. cit., p. 24.
- ^ Birley D (1999) A Social History of English Cricket, p. 364. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 978 1 78131 1769.
- ^ Heaton T (2014) Top-hatted star who put Norfolk on the sporting map, Eastern Daily Press, 28 June 2014. Retrieved 2024-04-14.
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