Burton Cricket Club

The name of Abram Bass, a local solicitor, was synonymous with cricket in the Midlands in the early part of the nineteenth century. He was instrumental in starting a club in Burton in the 1820s. The early records owe their survival partly to members of the Evershed family, notably Frank Evershed (secretary and later president of the Club) who collected together cuttings, fixture lists and scorecards from the 1880s onwards, with a mixture of local, regional and national material.

The club celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1977 with a publication. This brings together some of the early highlights of the club's activities, including a number of visits by the All-England XI to the ground in 1861, 1865 and 1869. The club's professional from 1854 was R.C. Tinley, an All-England player, which probably influenced this. In 1882 eleven of England (including Dr W.G. Grace) played 22 of Burton over two days, resulting in a draw, so the Burton club was still able to attract high-standard oppositions then.

On a few occasions in 1889, they also attracted the former Australian Test player Frederick ("the Demon bowler") Spofforth. After retiring from international cricket, he married an English girl and became a tea merchant, later managing the London Star Tea Company. While based in Derbyshire, he looked to play some local cricket and turned out for Burton against Lichfield and Stafford.

Score book, 1835-1847

Score card, 1859

John Peace, 1850s

Score book, Spofforth, 1889

Club balance sheet, 1900

Fixture list, 1908

 

Last Modified: 01/09/2008 13:38:20
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