Black Country Bugle

Earl’s unusual cricket match

GEORGE Harry Boothgrey, 7th Earl of Stamford and 3rd Earl of War- rington was an English cricketer and peer, who sat on the Whig benches in the House of Lords.

He was born at Enville, near Kinver on January 7, 1827 and educated at Eton between 1840 and 1843 before going up to Trinity College, Cambridge, for one year. On the death of his grandfathe­r George Harry Grey in April 1845 he suceeded to the titles of Earl of Stamford, Earl of Warrington and Baron Delamer of Dunham Massey. He married twice but didn’t produce any children, marrying his first wife Elizabeth King Billage (daughter of a shoemaker at Cambridge) in 1848 and his second in 1855. She was called Catherine Cox, the daughter of Henry Cox, and was not only a commoner but a bareback rider in a circus.

Kitty Cox had married a peer of the realm and they set up home in the grand Dunham Massey in Cheshire surrounded by art, fine clothes and fine furniture befitting a seat of an earl. The earl was a sporty type who was enjoying a cricket career with the MCC. He played 8 first class matches for them between 1851 and 1858, making 81 runs at an average of 7.36 with his highest score being 17. He was also a prominent patron of The Turf, master of the Quorn Hunt between 1856 and 1863, and whilst he did not have any notable successes with his racehorses, his colt Diophantus won the Two Thousand Guineas in 1861.

No expense was spared to make his new bride feel at home in a social arena she had no concept of. Such riches Kitty could have only dreamed about, but here they were at her feet. But local society was so scandalise­d with the marriage of an earl to a circus wench that they snubbed poor Kitty at every chance they got, turning their backs on her at the Knutsford Races and refusing to pay any calls on the newly weds. Harry was furious at their attitude and without a second thought packed all their belongings and moved into Enville Hall. It would be fifty years before the family would return to Dunham.

Safely ensconced at Enville the Earl continued his pursuit of sport, and it was in the summer of 1857 that he organised a very unusual cricket match in Stourbridg­e. It was billed as the match of the decade because the Earl of Stamford’s XI were to play a Stourbridg­e Club XXII. Played over two days this most unusual contest took place on what is now known as the War Memorial Ground, home of Stourbridg­e F.C. and Stourbridg­e Cricket Club. In the 17th century the land was known as Gibbon’s Piece and was originally one of the open fields in the manor of Amblecote known as ‘Watery Fields’. From the early 19th century cricket had been played on the field, land owned by the Earl of Stamford, and Stourbridg­e Cricket Club was establishe­d there in 1842.

The aftermath of the match was reported in the Brierley Hill Advertiser on Saturday August 29 1857 and the preamble was as follows: “Earl of Stamford’s Eleven v Twenty-two of the Stourbridg­e Club - on Monday and Tuesday a match was played between the Earl of Stamford’s Eleven and 22 of the Stourbridg­e Club, on the new ground opposite Amblecote Church, given to the club by his lordship. The ground which they formerly rented at Oldswinfor­d has consequent­ly been given up. Both days were fine and hundreds of spectators were present.”

It would appear the Earl’s XI won the toss and elected to bat, but was there skulldugge­ry in the final outcome of the match? The Earl’s openers Crossland and Brampton scored 12 between them to be followed by Tinley and Payne who almost scored a century partnershi­p before Payne was bowled by Gibson for 25. Tinley proceeded to carry his bat through the rest of the innings finishing with 70 not out. The pick of the bowlers for Stourbridg­e were Gibson with 6 wickets and Walker with 3. Willsher for the Earl’s XI was run out for nought. The Earl of Stamford contribute­d 4 to the score, perhaps a flashing drive on the onside to the boundary, before he succumbed to the accurate medium pace of Gibson.

The Earl’s XI was Crossland, Brampton, Tinley, Payne, Willsher, Earl of Stamford, Homfray, Brown, Morier, Bickley, Lawson.

There is no clue as to how long this first innings lasted, but a healthy total of 163 all out was registered.

The scorers had their work cut out as the Stourbridg­e 22 began their innings. The Earl of Stamford opened the bowling at the church end and immediatel­y bowled Hickman for 2, Oscroft l.b.w. for a duck and Addenbrook­e also for a duck. At the other end Willsher made Gennings edge to slip, caught by none other than the Earl himself, bowled Walker for 3 and Richards for a duck. In normal circumstan­ces that would have been half the side back in the pavilion, but there was plenty of batting to come, 16 players in fact.

The question has to asked though, was the Earl of Stamford’s bowling that good, or were the wickets given away cheaply to engineer a favourable result for the Earl’s XI? Thankfully there has been a lot of water passed under the bridge since then and that particular controvers­y will remain a mystery.

Back to the match and Gibson, the hero of Stourbridg­e’s bowlers was also having a useful knock with the bat and reached 35 when he too was bowled by the Earl. Apart from Wharton l.b.w. b Tinley 31, none of the other 14 players got into double figures. The final total was 117 all out. Bowling wise, Tinley bagged 4 wickets, Willsher 4, Payne 3, and the Earl on 5 was the top wicket taker.

With a lead of 46 runs the Earl’s XI began their second innings confident of a win. Brampton carried his bat to finish 38 not out and Tinley scored 11 before he was caught and bowled by the prolific Gibson. But the second main contributo­r to the second innings was the Earl who reached 19 before being bowled by Gibson. 88 was the final score, leaving Stourbridg­e to get 135 runs to win.

In their second innings it was downhill all the way. There were nine ducks, not one player managed double fugures and the highest score was registered by Cresswell who was bowled by Brampton for 9. Willsher ended with 12 wickets, Brampton 5 and the Earl of Stamford 1, who had Bullock caught Tinley for 4.

The match had been a resounding victory for the Earl’s XI by 83 runs and if there was a man of the match it would probably have gone to the Earl with 6 wickets, 23 runs and a catch. He had also given the new ground to Stourbridg­e Cricket Club, which is still used to this day, and on that summer’s day in August 1857 he was no doubt cheered from the pitch by both sets of players and those spectators present to a rendition of: “Oh he’s a jolly good fellow!”