List of English cricketers (1598–1787)

This is a list of people who are known to have been involved in the historical development of cricket from its earliest known mention in 1598 to the opening of the original Lord's and the formation of Marylebone Cricket Club in 1787. The list is by season, this being the season in which the person's name first appears in surviving sources. The first name is John Derrick, who made a legal deposition in January 1598 which includes the earliest mention of cricket on record. The last name, and the only one in 1787, is Thomas Lord whose new ground was opened at the beginning of that season; MCC was founded soon afterwards.
In the 17th century, the names are those of people who may or may not have been regular players. Many are referenced only in court cases, or are people who witnessed the sport. The town or village given is where their involvement occurred. In the 18th century, more information is available in the sources so it is easier to identify the active players and the clubs or county teams with which they are most usually associated. Although some people like the Dukes of Richmond are remembered primarily as patrons, they were invariably players too and generally captained their own teams. Cricket underwent radical changes during the 18th century. Patronage and popular support enabled it to outgrow its roots as a village pastime and develop into a major sport in southeast England which had begun its spread through the rest of the country by 1787. The Laws of Cricket were first written in 1744 and revised in 1774. In the early 1760s, pitched delivery bowling was introduced and this necessitated the invention of the straight bat: an evolution in bowling and batting techniques.
Much of our knowledge about 18th century players has come from match scorecards. The earliest known scorecards date from 1744 but only a handful exist from then until 1772 when they began to be completed and, more importantly, preserved on a regular basis. As such, the sport's statistical record begins in 1772 but scorecards until the Lord's Pavilion fire in July 1825 are often incomplete and, for many matches, are lost.
The key historical sources are the works of Arthur Haygarth, F. S. Ashley-Cooper, H. T. Waghorn, G. B. Buckley, Rowland Bowen, and Ian Maun, among others.

Cricketers

1598 to 1725

year	name	location	notes
1598	John Derrick	Guildford, Surrey	75px The earliest known mention of cricket was made by John Derrick, who played as a boy when he was a pupil at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford some fifty years earlier.
1611	Bartholomew Wyatt	Sidlesham, Sussex	Both were prosecuted for "breaking the Sabbath" by playing cricket on a Sunday.
1611	Richard Latter	Sidlesham, Sussex	Both were prosecuted for "breaking the Sabbath" by playing cricket on a Sunday.
1617	Oliver Cromwell	London	The earliest known reference to cricket in London concerns the future Lord Protector, who played the game there when training at the Inns of Court.
1622	Edward Hartley	Boxgrove, Sussex	All were prosecuted for "breaking the Sabbath" by playing cricket on a Sunday.
1622	Anthony Ward	Boxgrove, Sussex	All were prosecuted for "breaking the Sabbath" by playing cricket on a Sunday.
1622	Raphe West	Boxgrove, Sussex	All were prosecuted for "breaking the Sabbath" by playing cricket on a Sunday.
1622	Richard Martin senior	Boxgrove, Sussex	All were prosecuted for "breaking the Sabbath" by playing cricket on a Sunday.
1622	Richard Martin junior	Boxgrove, Sussex	All were prosecuted for "breaking the Sabbath" by playing cricket on a Sunday.
1622	Richard Slaughter	Boxgrove, Sussex	All were prosecuted for "breaking the Sabbath" by playing cricket on a Sunday.
1622	Thomas West	Boxgrove, Sussex	All were prosecuted for "breaking the Sabbath" by playing cricket on a Sunday.
1622	William Martin	Boxgrove, Sussex	All were prosecuted for "breaking the Sabbath" by playing cricket on a Sunday.
1624	Jasper Vinall	West Hoathly, Sussex	Vinall died as the result of an injury during a game, caused by a blow on the head from Tye's bat; he is the sport's earliest known fatality.
1624	Edward Tye	West Hoathly, Sussex	Vinall died as the result of an injury during a game, caused by a blow on the head from Tye's bat; he is the sport's earliest known fatality.
1628	Edward Taylor	East Lavant, Sussex	Both were prosecuted for "breaking the Sabbath" by playing cricket on a Sunday.
1628	William Greentree	East Lavant, Sussex	Both were prosecuted for "breaking the Sabbath" by playing cricket on a Sunday.
1629	Henry Cuffin	Ruckinge, Kent	Prosecuted for "breaking the Sabbath" by playing cricket on a Sunday.
1636	Henry Mabbinck	West Horsley, Surrey	Testified in a tithe dispute that cricket was played in West Horsley.
1646	Samuel Filmer	Coxheath, Kent	Filmer and Harlackenden played and defeated the other four but had to resort to litigation when their winnings were not paid.
1646	Thomas Harlackenden	Coxheath, Kent	Filmer and Harlackenden played and defeated the other four but had to resort to litigation when their winnings were not paid.
1646	Richard Marsh	Maidstone, Kent	Filmer and Harlackenden played and defeated the other four but had to resort to litigation when their winnings were not paid.
1646	Robert Sanders	Maidstone, Kent	Filmer and Harlackenden played and defeated the other four but had to resort to litigation when their winnings were not paid.
1646	Walter Franklyn	Maidstone, Kent	Filmer and Harlackenden played and defeated the other four but had to resort to litigation when their winnings were not paid.
1646	William Cooper	Maidstone, Kent	Filmer and Harlackenden played and defeated the other four but had to resort to litigation when their winnings were not paid.
1647	Henry Brand	Selsey, Sussex	Brand was killed after being struck on the head by Latter's bat during a game.
1647	Thomas Latter	Selsey, Sussex	Brand was killed after being struck on the head by Latter's bat during a game.
1652	John Rabson	Cranbrook, Kent	Prosecuted for "breaking the Sabbath" by playing cricket on a Sunday.
1665	John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough	St Paul's School, London	Churchill attended the school as a teenage pupil in the 1660s and is known to have played there. Following Cromwell in 1617, this is the second known reference to cricket in London and both concern young men who became famous generals.
1666	75px Sir Robert Paston	Richmond, Surrey	In a letter, he mentioned a "cricketting" on Richmond Green.
1671	Edward Bound	Shere, Surrey	Prosecuted for "breaking the Sabbath" but he was exonerated.
1673	Thomas Salmon	University of Oxford	In the earliest reference to cricket at Oxford, Salmon is criticised for his love of the game by his rival John Phillips.
1676	Henry Tonge	British Mission, Aleppo, Turkey	Provided the earliest known record of cricket being played outside England.
1677	Thomas Lennard, 1st Earl of Sussex	Herstmonceux, Sussex	His personal accounts refer to him receiving £3 when he attended a match.
1694	Sir John Pelham	Lewes, Sussex	His personal accounts refer to him paying for a wager when he attended a match.
1702	75px Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond	Sussex	The sport's earliest known leading patron.
1709	William Bedle	Dartford and Kent	Bedle's 1768 obituary states that he was the "most expert cricket player in England".
1717	Thomas Marchant	Hurstpierpoint, Sussex	Perhaps not a player himself, though his son Will was, Marchant was a Sussex farmer who kept a diary in which he made numerous references to cricket from 1717 to 1727.
1724	Edwin Stead	Kent	A leading patron of Kent cricket who died young in 1735.
1724	William Goodwin	Sunbury and Middlesex	Described as "able to play at Cricket with most People". Sunbury had a noted team.
1725	Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet	Slindon and Sussex	The two leading patrons of Sussex cricket in general and of the Slindon club in particular. The earliest known mention of both in a cricket connection is via a letter sent by Gage to Richmond in July 1725.
1725	75px Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond	Slindon and Sussex	The two leading patrons of Sussex cricket in general and of the Slindon club in particular. The earliest known mention of both in a cricket connection is via a letter sent by Gage to Richmond in July 1725.
1725	Edmund Chapman	Chertsey and Surrey	His 1763 obituary described him as "one of the most dextrous cricket players in England".