William Yalden
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | William Yalden |
| Born | c. 1740 Chertsey, Surrey |
| Died | January 1824 (aged 83–84) Chertsey |
| Nickname | The Yold |
| Batting | Right-handed |
| Role | Wicket-keeper-batsman |
William Yalden (c. 1740 – January 1824) was an English cricketer who played in the second half of the 18th century and was one of the earliest known players to be classed as a wicket-keeper-batsman. Yalden played mainly for Chertsey and Surrey. He was a regular member, sometimes as captain, of England teams.[note 1] In addition, he played as a "given man" for both Hampshire and Kent. He was known as 'The Yold' and this nickname was occasionally used in match scorecards. As Yalden was born in about 1740, it may be assumed that he began his career in the 1760s, but the earliest mention of him is in 1772 when he was 32. He is known to have played in 49 matches until his last in 1785.[note 2]
Cricket career[edit]
Yalden is known to have played in 49 matches between 1772 and 1785, but surviving match records to 1825 are incomplete because matches were not always recorded in the press or other media.[4] Although scorecard information is in short supply, Yalden was credited with one stumping dismissal. Stumpings are difficult to identify in eighteenth century sources because they were often recorded as run outs. In October 1778, when Surrey played Hampshire at Laleham Burway, the dismissal of Hampshire's Henry Bonham was recorded as "put out behind The Yold" — i.e., stumped by Yalden, who was nicknamed "The Yold". According to Scores & Biographies, this was the second-ever record of a stumping following one in 1744; although stumpings did occur, they were "not written down as such in the score".[5]
Yalden's best known performance with the bat was in September 1773 when he played for Surrey against Hampshire at Broadhalfpenny Down. Surrey won convincingly by an innings and 60 runs. Hampshire were dismissed for 83 and 82. Both their totals were beaten by Yalden on his own as he scored 88 in Surrey's innings of 225. Yalden's score was the highest recorded in 1773 and it equalled the known record for the highest individual innings in a senior match — Richard Newland had scored 88 playing for England against Kent in 1745.[6][7]
According to Arthur Haygarth, Yalden gave up cricket for one season because he thought his eyesight was failing, but the Earl of Tankerville (Surrey's patron) said to him: "Try again, Yalden". So he resumed his career with continued success. The story may be apocryphal as Yalden certainly played continuously from 1772, though the incident could have occurred before then. Haygarth also reports that once, when fielding, Yalden had to jump over a fence and ended up on his back, but still caught the ball.[5]
The Cricketers of My Time[edit]
In The Cricketers of My Time, Yalden was briefly mentioned by John Nyren who described him as "a thin, dark-looking man (and) not a fine, but a very useful and steady batter".[8] Hambledon's Tom Sueter was Yalden's rival as both a wicket-keeper and a batter. They are the first two players in cricket history to be recognised as wicket-keeper-batters (both were specialist wicket-keepers who nevertheless justified selection for their batting alone). Nyren held Sueter in high regard and chose to denigrate Yalden in comparison by saying: "I must place Sueter above Yalden" (as a wicket-keeper) before going on to claim that Yalden "was in other respects an inferior man to Sueter".[8] Yalden's word, according to Nyren, was "not always to be depended on when he had put a man out (as) he would now and then shuffle (sic) and 'resort to trick'".[8] Nyren then asserts that Sueter and the other Hambledon players would not "resort to trick" because of their "estimation", "honour", and "trust". He insists that the Hambledon players never questioned the decision of the umpire.[8]
In the introduction to the 1998 edition of The Cricketer's of my Time, Nyren's editor provides some balance by pointing out that Nyren was heavily biased in favour of the Hampshire teams that were promoted by the Hambledon Club: "Yalden – the England wicketkeeper and captain, no less – is dismissed in a few words" while several other notable players are not mentioned at all.[9] Elsewhere, the editor discusses Nyren's undoubted plagiarism of an earlier work by William Lambert and it is widely agreed that Nyren's account of Hambledon's players is hagiographic, often at the expense of their opponents, and Yalden is one player who was not given a fair hearing by Nyren.[9]
Outside cricket[edit]
Yalden was a licensed victualler in Chertsey and, like Lumpy Stevens, was a long-time member of the local club. He managed the Laleham Burway ground situated close to the town, supplying refreshments during the big matches.[5]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Teams called England or All-England had been formed since the 1730s.[1] They were by no means international or even national. Top-class cricket in the 18th century was confined to the south-eastern counties around London and an England team of the time consisted of players from these counties. The teams were in the nature of "Rest of England" and were formed to play against a strong club or county team.[2]
- ^ Surviving match records to at least 1825 are incomplete and any statistical compilation of a player's career in that period can only be based on the known details. Some eleven-a-side matches played 1772–1863 have been unofficially rated "first-class" by certain sources, particularly CricketArchive, but there was no such standard at the time. First-class cricket was formally defined in May 1894 by a meeting at Lord's of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and the county clubs which were then competing in the County Championship. The ruling was effective from the beginning of the 1895 season. However, pre-1864 matches which are included in the ACS' Important Match Guide may generally be regarded as top-class.[3]
References[edit]
- ^ Waghorn 1899, pp. 22–23.
- ^ ACS 1982, p. 23.
- ^ ACS 1981, pp. 1–40.
- ^ Haygarth 1862, pp. 4–60.
- ^ a b c Haygarth 1862, p. 38.
- ^ Ashley-Cooper 1924, p. 179.
- ^ "Match scorecard: Hampshire v Surrey, 27–28 September 1773". CricketArchive. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
- ^ a b c d Nyren 1998, p. 75.
- ^ a b Nyren 1998, p. 36.
Sources[edit]
- ACS (1982). A Guide to First-class Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles. Nottingham: ACS.
- ACS (1981). A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863. Nottingham: ACS.
- Ashley-Cooper, F. S. (1924). Hambledon Cricket Chronicle 1772–1796. Jenkins. ASIN B0008BXCH4.
- Buckley, G. B. (1935). Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket. Birmingham: Cotterell & Co. ISBN 978-19-00592-48-2.
- Buckley, G. B. (1937). Fresh Light on pre-Victorian Cricket. Birmingham: Cotterell & Co. ISBN 978-19-00592-49-9.
- Haygarth, Arthur (1862). Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826). Kennington: Frederick Lillywhite. ISBN 978-19-00592-23-9.
- Major, John (2007). More Than A Game. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-00-07183-64-7.
- Nyren, John (1998). The Cricketers of my Time. London: Robson Publishing. ISBN 978-18-61051-68-4.
- Waghorn, H. T. (1899). Cricket Scores, Notes, &c. From 1730–1773. Edinburgh: Blackwood. ISBN 978-09-47821-17-3.
- Waghorn, H. T. (1906). The Dawn of Cricket. London: Electric Press. ISBN 978-09-47821-17-3.
Further reading[edit]
- Bowen, Rowland (1970). Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN 978-04-13278-60-9.