Andrew Stoddart
Encyclopedia
Andrew Ernest Stoddart was an English cricketer
and rugby union
player. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1893.
, County Durham
, he was the youngest son of a wine merchant, who moved the whole family to Marylebone, London, in 1877. Stoddart made his reputation in club cricket and was playing for Middlesex by 1885. He played 16 Test match
es captaining England in 8 games of which he won 3, lost 4 and drew 1. He was a flamboyant right-handed batsman and a medium fast bowler.
When he was 23, just a year after his first class debut, he was toying with the idea of giving up his amateur career in England to join his brother in Colorado
. His plans changed when he took the record for the highest ever score in cricket at the time with an innings of 485 for Hampstead
against Stoics on 4 August 1886. No declarations were allowed in the game and the Stoics, living up to their name, fielded all day without a chance to bat. Stoddart was seventh out, having batted six hours and ten minutes and clubbed one eight, three fives, and 64 fours. The runs were scored at a rapid pace - the score was 370 for 3 at lunch after 150 minutes of play. He made 207 for Hampstead in the next match three days later and on August 9 was playing for Middlesex and made 98, a grand total of 790 runs in a week. Stoddart was a man with a great zest for life in his younger days. He had danced then played cards till dawn before the Stoics game, batted almost through Hampstead's innings of 813, then played tennis, went to the theatre and turned in at 3 a.m. His next innings was against Kent when he posted his maiden first class century in scoring 116.
Punch celebrated the Stoddart Ashes win in 1894-95 with a poem which contained the lines -
Seventy years later, David Frith
used My dear victorious Stod as the title of his acclaimed biography of Stoddart.
A talented all round sportsman, like most men who have held the record for the highest individual score, he also played in 10 rugby union
internationals for England. During his footballing career, Stoddart was at the forefront of many rugby firsts. In 1888, with fellow cricketers Alfred Shaw
and Arthur Shrewsbury
he helped organise what became recognised as the first British Lions
rugby union tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1888
. The team played 55 matches, winning 27 of 35 rugby union games and 6 out of 19 matches and drawing 1 played under Australian rules with Stoddart one of the outstanding players. He took over the captaincy early in the tour when the R. L. Seddon died in a sculling
accident. In 1890 Stoddart again showing his openness to new ventures, became a founding member of the Barbarians
, the invitational rugby club. On 27 December, Stoddart was given the captaincy of the very first Barbarian team, in a game against Hartlepool Rovers.
in 1915. A street in South Shields
is named after him.
Cricketer
A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....
and rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1893.
Cricket career
Born in South ShieldsSouth Shields
South Shields is a coastal town in Tyne and Wear, England, located at the mouth of the River Tyne to Tyne Dock, and about downstream from Newcastle upon Tyne...
, County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
, he was the youngest son of a wine merchant, who moved the whole family to Marylebone, London, in 1877. Stoddart made his reputation in club cricket and was playing for Middlesex by 1885. He played 16 Test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
es captaining England in 8 games of which he won 3, lost 4 and drew 1. He was a flamboyant right-handed batsman and a medium fast bowler.
When he was 23, just a year after his first class debut, he was toying with the idea of giving up his amateur career in England to join his brother in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. His plans changed when he took the record for the highest ever score in cricket at the time with an innings of 485 for Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
against Stoics on 4 August 1886. No declarations were allowed in the game and the Stoics, living up to their name, fielded all day without a chance to bat. Stoddart was seventh out, having batted six hours and ten minutes and clubbed one eight, three fives, and 64 fours. The runs were scored at a rapid pace - the score was 370 for 3 at lunch after 150 minutes of play. He made 207 for Hampstead in the next match three days later and on August 9 was playing for Middlesex and made 98, a grand total of 790 runs in a week. Stoddart was a man with a great zest for life in his younger days. He had danced then played cards till dawn before the Stoics game, batted almost through Hampstead's innings of 813, then played tennis, went to the theatre and turned in at 3 a.m. His next innings was against Kent when he posted his maiden first class century in scoring 116.
Punch celebrated the Stoddart Ashes win in 1894-95 with a poem which contained the lines -
- Then wrote the queen of England
- Whose hand is blessed by God
- I must do something handsome
- For my dear victorious Stod.
Seventy years later, David Frith
David Frith
David Edward John Frith is a leading cricket writer and historian. Cricinfo describes him as "an author, historian, and founding editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly".-Life and career:...
used My dear victorious Stod as the title of his acclaimed biography of Stoddart.
Rugby career
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
internationals for England. During his footballing career, Stoddart was at the forefront of many rugby firsts. In 1888, with fellow cricketers Alfred Shaw
Alfred Shaw
Alfred Shaw was an eminent Victorian cricketer and rugby footballer, who bowled the first ball in Test cricket and was the first to take five wickets in a Test innings . He who organised the first British Isles rugby tour to Australasia in 1888...
and Arthur Shrewsbury
Arthur Shrewsbury
Arthur Shrewsbury was an English cricketer, and rugby football administrator, who organised the first British Isles rugby tour to Australasia in 1888, and who was widely rated as competing with W. G...
he helped organise what became recognised as the first British Lions
British and Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
rugby union tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1888
1888 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia
The 1888 British Isles tour to New Zealand and Australia was a series of rugby union games played by an unofficial British team against invitational teams in New Zealand and Australia...
. The team played 55 matches, winning 27 of 35 rugby union games and 6 out of 19 matches and drawing 1 played under Australian rules with Stoddart one of the outstanding players. He took over the captaincy early in the tour when the R. L. Seddon died in a sculling
Sculling
Sculling generally refers to a method of using oars to propel watercraft in which the oar or oars touch the water on both the port and starboard sides of the craft, or over the stern...
accident. In 1890 Stoddart again showing his openness to new ventures, became a founding member of the Barbarians
Barbarian F.C.
The Barbarian Football Club, usually referred to as the Barbarians and nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team based in Britain...
, the invitational rugby club. On 27 December, Stoddart was given the captaincy of the very first Barbarian team, in a game against Hartlepool Rovers.
Later life
Like many wholehearted sportsmen, including fellow England captain Arthur Shrewsbury with whom he had opened the batting in Australia in 1893, he found life difficult after leaving the arena. In failing health and burdened by debt he committed suicide, by firearm, in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1915. A street in South Shields
South Shields
South Shields is a coastal town in Tyne and Wear, England, located at the mouth of the River Tyne to Tyne Dock, and about downstream from Newcastle upon Tyne...
is named after him.