John Frame (cricketer)
John Frame (1733 at Warlingham, Surrey – 11 October 1796 probably at Dartford, Kent) was an English cricketer and arguably the first great fast bowler in the game's history. His first-class career spanned the 1749 to 1774 English cricket seasons.
He was described by John Nyren as one of the Hambledon Club’s greatest opponents and as "the other principal with Lumpy" (i.e., Edward "Lumpy" Stevens). Nyren says he remembers little of Frame, except that he was an unusually stout man for a cricketer.[1]
Frame was only 16 when he first played in an important match on Friday 2 & Saturday 3 June 1749 for Surrey v All-England at Dartford Brent. Surrey won by 2 wickets.[2] In 1750, he played for Surrey in three matches against Kent and his brother was in the same team each time.[2]
Frame moved to Dartford while still a young man and was chiefly associated with Dartford Cricket Club and the Kent county team.[3]
His last known top-class appearance was for All-England v Hampshire at Sevenoaks Vine on Friday 8 & Saturday 9 July 1774. Hampshire, who had Lumpy as a given man, won by 169 runs.[4]
References
- ↑ Ashley Mote, John Nyren's "The Cricketers of my Time", Robson, 1998
- 1 2 F S Ashley-Cooper, At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742-1751, Cricket Magazine, 1900
- ↑ From Lads to Lord's – profile at the Wayback Machine (archived 10 October 2012).
- ↑ Arthur Haygarth, Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744-1826), Lillywhite, 1862