John Kirwan (cricketer)
Encyclopedia
John Henry Kirwan was an English amateur cricketer
who played first-class cricket
from 1836 to 1842. Mainly associated with Cambridge University Cricket Club
, he made 18 known appearances in first-class matches and had three brothers who all played first-class cricket.
, his outstanding performance being to take all ten MCC wickets (all bowled) in 1835. He took a total of 26 wickets in just two matches for Eton that season. He went up to King's College, Cambridge
in the same year, and played for the University team thereafter, his cricket career ending when he finally left Cambridge in 1842 to become a curate at St Feock
in Cornwall.
Kirwan had an outstanding first-class debut in May 1836 when he played for the university versus Cambridge Town Club
at Parker's Piece
and took 15 wickets (all bowled) with six in the first innings and nine in the second.
Kirwan's overall first-class career record was 108 wickets (i.e., bowled only) in just 18 matches, a very high rate of six wickets per game. His 9 wickets on debut was his best single performance. He took 5 wickets in an innings 11 times and 10 wickets in a match 3 times. He was less successful as a right-handed batsman, scoring just 293 runs with a highest of 41. He is credited with only 3 catches and so was almost certainly an outfielder.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
who played first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
from 1836 to 1842. Mainly associated with Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
, he made 18 known appearances in first-class matches and had three brothers who all played first-class cricket.
Career
Kirwan, a right arm fast roundarm bowler, was known as "Wacky". He "bowled jerkily with a low arm, but at a very fast pace". He made his name as a schoolboy player at Eton CollegeEton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
, his outstanding performance being to take all ten MCC wickets (all bowled) in 1835. He took a total of 26 wickets in just two matches for Eton that season. He went up to King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
in the same year, and played for the University team thereafter, his cricket career ending when he finally left Cambridge in 1842 to become a curate at St Feock
Feock, Cornwall
Feock is a coastal civil parish and village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately 5 miles south of Truro at the head of Carrick Roads on the River Fal. To the south, the parish is bounded by Restronguet Creek and to the east by Carrick Roads and the River Fal...
in Cornwall.
Kirwan had an outstanding first-class debut in May 1836 when he played for the university versus Cambridge Town Club
Cambridge Town Club
Cambridge Town Club was a first-class cricket club established in Cambridge before 1819. As with other leading town clubs, its team was representative of the county of Cambridgeshire as a whole and it ultimately evolved into Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club...
at Parker's Piece
Parker's Piece
Parker's Piece is a flat and very roughly square green common located near the centre of Cambridge, England. The two main walking and cycling paths across it run diagonally, and the single lamp-post at the junction is commonly known as Reality Checkpoint...
and took 15 wickets (all bowled) with six in the first innings and nine in the second.
Kirwan's overall first-class career record was 108 wickets (i.e., bowled only) in just 18 matches, a very high rate of six wickets per game. His 9 wickets on debut was his best single performance. He took 5 wickets in an innings 11 times and 10 wickets in a match 3 times. He was less successful as a right-handed batsman, scoring just 293 runs with a highest of 41. He is credited with only 3 catches and so was almost certainly an outfielder.
External links
Further reading
- Derek BirleyDerek BirleySir Derek Birley was an English educator and writer who had a strong interest in sport, especially cricket.He was educated at grammar school in Hemsworth, West Yorkshire, and at Queens' College, Cambridge University....
, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999 - Rowland BowenRowland BowenMajor Rowland Francis Bowen was a cricket researcher, historian and writer....
, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970