Arthur Ward (cricketer)

Arthur Robert Ward (29 December 1829 – 25 September 1884) was an English clergyman, cricketer and cricket administrator who played in 12 first-class cricket matches for Cambridge University and amateur sides in the 1850s.[1] He was born at Bloomsbury in London and died at Cambridge.

Ward was the son of William Ward, a director of the Bank of England, Member of Parliament for the City of London and himself a famous cricketer.[2] He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge and graduated from Cambridge University in 1855 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, which converted to a Master of Arts in 1858.[2]

As a cricketer, Ward was a middle-order batsman, though it is not known whether he was right- or left-handed.[1] His best innings was an unbeaten 53 for Cambridge University against the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in 1853, and that year he also won a Blue by appearing in the University Match against Oxford University.[3] He should have had a second Blue in 1854 as he was captain of the Cambridge University team, but he missed the University Match through illness.[2] In addition to games for Cambridge University, he also played in 1853 and 1854 for the MCC and in 1853 for a "Gentlemen of England" side.[1]

After graduating from Cambridge, Ward was ordained as a deacon in the Church of England and then as a priest, both in 1856.[2] He served as curate at All Saints' Church, Cambridge to 1860, and from then until his death in 1884 as vicar of St Clement's Church, also in Cambridge.[2] He maintained his links with Cambridge University cricket, serving as President between 1873 and 1884, during which time he also served as treasurer to his death.[2] Many years after his death, The Times published a reminiscent letter from the eminent late Victorian cricketer C. I. Thornton which recalled Ward as a "very stout" man and remarked on his capacity for refreshment: "At a big dinner... Ward took 11 bottles Apollinaris [German carbonated water], two bottles champagne, one bottle port. It had no deleterious effect on him at all."[4]