John Platts
Encyclopedia
John Thomas Brown Dumelow Platts (23 November 1848 — 6 August 1898) was an English
cricket
er who played for Derbyshire
between 1871 and 1884. He was a member of the team that played Derbyshire's first match in May 1871.
Platts was born to Robert and Alice Platts (née Dumelow) in Chellaston
, Derbyshire
. In his youth, he worked in the local gypsum mines, and in his spare time would pretend to play cricket by bowling stones at imaginary batsmen. An early game was for Hallam and Staveley in 1861 against an All England Eleven. He was a wheelwright by trade, but by 1868 was a professional at Ipswich School. In 1869 he played for Dudley and also for the Gentlemen of Worcester when he took 8 wickets in an innings.
In 1870, Lord Coventry
helped raise a subscription for Platts to join the Marylebone Cricket Club
. Platts played a single first class game for MCC against Nottinghamshire
in June 1870 which resulted in tragedy. He was fast bowling on a badly laid wicket at Lords when the ball struck the batsman George Summers
on the head. Summers retired hurt and appeared to recover, but died four days later. W. G. Grace
was also playing for MCC in the match and commented on the incident "...the bowler was not in the least to blame for the catastrophe, but he was terribly cut up, and I shall never forget his mental distraction." Platts later turned out against All England XI's, first for Lichfield when he took 10 wickets in the match, and then for Wirksworth where he was upstaged by another future Derbyshire player Dove Gregory
.
After Derbyshire County Cricket Club
was established, Platts played in the club's first match in the 1871 season
against Lancashire
in May, and for thirteen years thereafter. Although undistinguished in the first game, he came in to bowl in the second match that season and took 5 for 34. During the 1872 season
he took 5-51 in the first innings of the second match against Lancashire. He took four wickets in the 1873 season
, while his batting scores improved significantly in the 1874 season
. All through these early years Platt appeared in matches involving All England XIs and United South of England XIs sometimes for them and sometimes against them. He was usually against the side in which W. G. Grace was playing. At Birmingham in 1874 he was bowled by Grace, but in 1876, turning out for an assortment of clubs including Swansea, Barrow, Birmingham and Stockport, he took Grace's wicket twice. For Derbyshire in the 1876 season
he was top scorer with 235. His first-class bowling took a step forward and he took 6-68 for Derbyshire against Kent
. In the 1877 season
he made his top score of 115 against Hampshire
, which was the club's first century, and topped the scoring for Derbyshire again with 432. He took 5-18 against Lancashire that year. He continued playing other matches for and against other clubs, although this tailed out in the early 1880s. By 1881 he was running the "Rose and Crown" public house at Chellaston as well as being a professional cricketer.
In the 1880 season
he took 5-26 against Yorkshire
, in the 1881 season
6-39 against Lancashire and in the 1882 season
5-48 against Lancashire. Platts played against a lineup of Australians several times during the early part of the decade, fixtures intended to help the young members of the international side do their homework for possible upcoming Test fixtures against England. After the final one of these in which he participated, Platts played one final game, and, having continued steadily up the order during his career, played his penultimate game in the 1884 season
as an opener.
Platts was a left-handed batsman and a right-arm round-arm slow bowler, with the added bonus of some occasionally fiendish pace to his straight-arm action.
Platts started umpiring in 1885 immediately after he stopped playing and took 69 first class games until 1896.
Later, John Platts was diagnosed with tuberculosis and died at his home in August 1898, at the age of 49.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cricket
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...
er who played for Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
between 1871 and 1884. He was a member of the team that played Derbyshire's first match in May 1871.
Platts was born to Robert and Alice Platts (née Dumelow) in Chellaston
Chellaston
Chellaston is a suburb of the City of Derby, which is in the East Midlands in England in the United Kingdom. It is on a natural hill, and has recently expanded due to several new housing estates....
, Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
. In his youth, he worked in the local gypsum mines, and in his spare time would pretend to play cricket by bowling stones at imaginary batsmen. An early game was for Hallam and Staveley in 1861 against an All England Eleven. He was a wheelwright by trade, but by 1868 was a professional at Ipswich School. In 1869 he played for Dudley and also for the Gentlemen of Worcester when he took 8 wickets in an innings.
In 1870, Lord Coventry
George Coventry, 9th Earl of Coventry
George William Coventry, 9th Earl of Coventry PC , styled Viscount Deerhurst until 1843, was a British Conservative politician...
helped raise a subscription for Platts to join the Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
. Platts played a single first class game for MCC against Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club
Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...
in June 1870 which resulted in tragedy. He was fast bowling on a badly laid wicket at Lords when the ball struck the batsman George Summers
George Summers (cricketer)
George Summers was an English cricketer. He played all his first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire. Summers was known for his habit of reaching 50 and then promptly getting out .In the match against MCC at Lord's in 1870, Summers was hit by a short delivery from John Platts, at the time a...
on the head. Summers retired hurt and appeared to recover, but died four days later. W. G. Grace
W. G. Grace
William Gilbert Grace, MRCS, LRCP was an English amateur cricketer who is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time, having a special significance in terms of his importance to the development of the sport...
was also playing for MCC in the match and commented on the incident "...the bowler was not in the least to blame for the catastrophe, but he was terribly cut up, and I shall never forget his mental distraction." Platts later turned out against All England XI's, first for Lichfield when he took 10 wickets in the match, and then for Wirksworth where he was upstaged by another future Derbyshire player Dove Gregory
Dove Gregory
Dove Gregory was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire in 1871 and 1872. He was a member of the team that played Derbyshire's first match in May 1871 and his early death in 1873 robbed the side of an outstanding bowler.Dove was born in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire...
.
After Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
was established, Platts played in the club's first match in the 1871 season
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1871
Derbyshire county cricket opening season was in 1871 when Derbyshire County Cricket Club first competed in the county competition, having been founded the previous November.-Foundation:...
against Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
in May, and for thirteen years thereafter. Although undistinguished in the first game, he came in to bowl in the second match that season and took 5 for 34. During the 1872 season
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1872
Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1872 was the second cricket season which the English club Derbyshire played. They had been unable to arrange further first-class fixtures than the two against Lancashire and lost both.-1872 season:...
he took 5-51 in the first innings of the second match against Lancashire. He took four wickets in the 1873 season
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1873
Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1873 was the third cricket season which the English club Derbyshire played. Officials and supporters were disappointed that they had been unable to arrange further first-class fixtures than the two against Lancashire, but they managed to arrange an extra match...
, while his batting scores improved significantly in the 1874 season
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1874
Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1874 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire earned the title of Champion County in their fourth year playing as a club. Kent joined Lancashire to make the second County side to play first class matches against Derbyshire in 1874...
. All through these early years Platt appeared in matches involving All England XIs and United South of England XIs sometimes for them and sometimes against them. He was usually against the side in which W. G. Grace was playing. At Birmingham in 1874 he was bowled by Grace, but in 1876, turning out for an assortment of clubs including Swansea, Barrow, Birmingham and Stockport, he took Grace's wicket twice. For Derbyshire in the 1876 season
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1876
Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1876 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire played their sixth season.Hampshire replaced Nottinghamshire as the third county to play Derbyshire, together with Lancashire and Kent. Derbyshire also played their first match against an MCC side, which...
he was top scorer with 235. His first-class bowling took a step forward and he took 6-68 for Derbyshire against Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
. In the 1877 season
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1877
Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1877 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire played their seventh season.Yorkshire joined Hampshire, Lancashire and Kent as the fourth county to play Derbyshire. John Platts became the first cricketer to score a century for Derbyshire.-1877...
he made his top score of 115 against Hampshire
Hampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
, which was the club's first century, and topped the scoring for Derbyshire again with 432. He took 5-18 against Lancashire that year. He continued playing other matches for and against other clubs, although this tailed out in the early 1880s. By 1881 he was running the "Rose and Crown" public house at Chellaston as well as being a professional cricketer.
In the 1880 season
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1880
Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1880 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire played their tenth season.Derbyshire played Lancashire and Yorkshire who they had played in the previous season...
he took 5-26 against Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
, in the 1881 season
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1881
Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1881 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for ten years. The team played nine first class matches and won two of them-1881 season:...
6-39 against Lancashire and in the 1882 season
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1882
Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1882 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for eleven years. The team played eight first class matches and won one of them-1882 season:...
5-48 against Lancashire. Platts played against a lineup of Australians several times during the early part of the decade, fixtures intended to help the young members of the international side do their homework for possible upcoming Test fixtures against England. After the final one of these in which he participated, Platts played one final game, and, having continued steadily up the order during his career, played his penultimate game in the 1884 season
Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1884
Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1884 represents the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for thirteen years. They lost all ten county matches and their only victory was against MCC.-1884 season:...
as an opener.
Platts was a left-handed batsman and a right-arm round-arm slow bowler, with the added bonus of some occasionally fiendish pace to his straight-arm action.
Platts started umpiring in 1885 immediately after he stopped playing and took 69 first class games until 1896.
Later, John Platts was diagnosed with tuberculosis and died at his home in August 1898, at the age of 49.