William Bedster

William Bedster (1734 – 1805) was an English cricketer who played during the late 18th century.

William Bedster
Personal information
Born1734
Walberton, Chichester, Sussex
Died1805 (aged 70–71)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1777–1792England XI
FC debut8 September 1777 England v Hampshire XI
Last FC13 August 1794 MCC v Oldfield
Source: CricInfo, 23 June 2022

Bedster was born in 1734 at Walberton near Chichester in Sussex.[1][2] He made his first appearance in first-class cricket in 1777, playing in an England side[lower-alpha 1] against a Hampshire XI. In a career which lasted until 1794 he played in 59 matches which have been given first-class status, scoring 1,335 runs and taking at least 26 wickets.[lower-alpha 2] He played for a wide variety of sides, appearing most frequently for England and Middlesex sides in first-class matches.[2]

Bedster was employed as a butler for five years by Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville at his Mount Felix estate at Walton-on-Thames.[5][6][7] During this time he played for Chertsey Cricket Club.[8] He was frequently used as a given man by other sides. After his playing career was over, Bedster moved to Chelsea where he was an innkeeper.[5] He died in 1805.[1][2] A road in Molesey in Surrey is named after him.[5]

Notes
  1. During the time Bedster played, England sides were not representative of the country. Instead, they were sides composed of players from a range of locations brought together to play against another side.[3]
  2. In the period during which Bedster played, wickets taken by bowlers were normally only recorded if they were bowled. Other means of dismissal were not credited to any bowler.[4] As a result the number of wickets he took is uncertain, with the total of 26 being a minimum.

References
  1. William Bedster, CricInfo. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  2. William Bedster, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2022-06-23. (subscription required)
  3. Birley D (1999) A Social History of English Cricket, p. 364. London: Aurum Press. ISBN 978 1 78131 1769
  4. Carlaw D (2020) Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914 (revised edition), p. 31. (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-12-21.). Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  5. Hutton J (2012) Sport on the Hurst - Cricket, Molesey Local History Society. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  6. Portrait of Emma, Countess of Tankerville (1752–1836), Philip Mould Fine Paintings. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  7. Haygarth A Memoirs of the Old Players, p. 212 in Lucas EV ed (1907) The Hambledon Men. London: Henry Frowde. (Available online at Wikisource. Retrieved 2022-03-20.)
  8. The History of Chertsey Cricket Club, Chertsey Cricket Club. Retrieved 2022-06-23.


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