William Swain (cricketer)

William Swain (8 September 1827 – 5 October 1910) was an English first-class cricketer, businessman and inventor.

The son of William and Jane Swain, he was born in September 1830 at Burley, Yorkshire.[1] A fast bowler, he adopted the roundarm style of bowling in 1836, at the age of eleven.[2] Swain was a successful cricket coach and was engaged by Christ Church, Oxford in 1857, where he coached for the next nine years.[2][3] During this time he coached the future King Edward VII, whose connections he would use to expand his business contacts.[1] As a club cricketer, he was employed by a number of clubs between 1857 and 1876, predominantly in the North of England, often coaching alongside playing.[4] A benefit match was held between Otley and a United All-England Eleven for Robinson and fellow Otley cricketer Caleb Robinson in 1863, with the Otley side featuring Tom Emmett.[5] He was engaged by the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1864, playing two first-class matches for the club at Lord's against Cambridge University and Oxford University,[6] scoring 22 runs.[7] He was described by Scores and Biographies as a player who "bats in good style, is a nice field, either at point or long-stop".[8] His fielding was so well regarded that he was described by Bell's Life as "the best fielder in Yorkshire, if not in all England".[2] He went into business twice, running a cricket outfitters shop at Halifax in the late 1860s and a tailoring business in the early 1880s at Bradford. Swain invented one of the first mechanical bowling machines in 1870, calling it a cricket battery.[1]

He emigrated to Australia with his family in 1884, settling in Queensland. There he continued his connection to cricket, coaching many future players of the Queensland cricket team.[2] Swain died at East Brisbane in October 1910.[8]