Maurice Read
Encyclopedia
John Maurice Read was an English
professional cricketer
. Wrote Harry Altham of him in that truly magisterial work, A History of Cricket, "Maurice Read had been recognised as a dashing player up to Test Match form, to say nothing of being a wonderful fielder in the country." A hard-hitting and, according to Lord Hawke, "magnificent batsman who never had pretensions to be even a moderate change bowler", Read did little trundling except in 1883, when he claimed 27 first-class wickets including his career best of 6-41 against Kent
.
Read joined his local Thames Ditton Cricket Club in 1879, made his first-class
debut for Surrey County Cricket Club
in 1880, and played regularly for his county for fifteen years. His most productive year was 1886, when he scored 1,364 runs at an average
of 34.97, including two centuries and seven fifties. He was also extremely productive in the first half of 1889, and was recognised by being named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1890, but his season was affected later in the year by a bad finger injury.
(his home ground) Test Match
against Australia
in 1882, the match famous for bringing about the Ashes. According to the Manchester Guardian, Read's selection "was admittedly something of an experiment. He has played two or three lucky innings lately, but these do not make a cricketer any more than two or three swallows make a summer." A week or so prior the Test, however, Read had shared in a 158-run partnership against the tourists with fellow professional and England player Billy Barnes. Read finished on 130 and, like most of his team-mates, went into the match in good form.
In England's first innings, the local boy was cheered affectionately all the way to the middle by an avid Oval crowd. Fred Spofforth
, however, soon walloped the hero three excruciating blows -- one in the ribs, another on the knee and one more on the elbow. Read was compelled to hold up the game on two of these occasions to take time to convalesce, and it was, by all reports, an exceptionally valiant knock. Read finished unbeaten on nineteen, the second best score of the innings, and the masses cheered him all the way back to the pavilion just as they had cheered him from it; indeed, they it patently apparent right through this game that he was an authentic darling of the people.
There are copious examples in this match which serve to support Altham's affirmation that Read was "a wonderful fielder in the country" (i.e. outfield). He is frequently recorded in contemporary accounts of the game as chasing the ball down as fast as he could, and he certainly managed to bring to a halt plenty of potential Australian boundaries.
In the second innings, Read was one of the many victims of England captain Monkey Hornby's spectacular alteration of the batting order, promoted in front of the apparently nerveless CT Studd. When he came into view from the pavilion, Read was again cheered stridently all the way to the wicket, but, when Spofforth bowled him for a duck, the Australians were the ones, wrote Charles Pardon in Bell's Life, who "exhibited to the full their increasing delight".
This, of course, was the game which launched the legend of The Ashes
after the Australians won it by seven runs.
When he came back to Australia in 1886/87, Read was flabbergasted at the pickiness of the Australian public, and he wrote of it: "If you have a bit of bad luck and make nothing two or three times, you are not of much account in Australia, and out of the team you should go, even if you have scored excellently on occasions." In England, however, it was different. "There," he reckoned, "if you are a recognised player, half a dozen successive noughts will not exclude you from a team."
Read remained a regular selection for England
until 1893, being awarded that year's Oval Test (against South Africa
) as a benefit. Although his batting at this level was not spectacular - he passed fifty only twice in his 29 Test innings - his fielding at third man
was excellent. He also appeared for the Players
against the Gentlemen on 17 occasions.
, the man whom WG Grace placed second only to himself. Indeed, Read and Lohmann were extremely good friends, and they even shared a few personal jokes. ("Look out!" Lohmann would say to Read; "I'm going to bowl at the sticks now!" -- and Read would watch with amusement as his comrade sent down all manner of strange deliveries to tempt the batsman into hitting out.)
Read was sent along to South Africa
with Lohmann in 1892 to be of assistance to the great bowler in his recuperation following a ghastly (but altogether foreseeable) physical collapse as a result of overbowling. The pair sailed from Southampton on Christmas Eve, and, in March 1893, when Lohmann was healthy enough to be left on his own, Read made his homecoming for the start of the new season. (Lohmann later broke down again, however, eventually dying in South Africa.)
Incidentally, another colleague of Read's who suffered the effects of being overbowled was Tom Richardson, a Surrey and Thames Ditton team-mate. Read was one of the first to forecast what would eventually happen to this great fast bowler, conjecturing ominously about the strenuous effects that the 1897/98 tour might have on Richardson's body. He was, of course, proven correct.
by an innings
in 1895, Read retired from first-class cricket at the age of 36 - relatively young by 19th century standards - to work on the Tichbourne Park estate in Hampshire
, although he continued to bat with great success in minor cricket for the Tichbourne side for some years thereafter. He died at the age of 70 in Winchester
after a long illness. George Giffen
called him "one of the most genuine cricketers I met".
Read's uncle (by marriage) Heathfield Stephenson had a long career with Surrey, and his brother Frederick Read also played one first-class game for the county.
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...
professional cricketer
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"....
. Wrote Harry Altham of him in that truly magisterial work, A History of Cricket, "Maurice Read had been recognised as a dashing player up to Test Match form, to say nothing of being a wonderful fielder in the country." A hard-hitting and, according to Lord Hawke, "magnificent batsman who never had pretensions to be even a moderate change bowler", Read did little trundling except in 1883, when he claimed 27 first-class wickets including his career best of 6-41 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...
.
Read joined his local Thames Ditton Cricket Club in 1879, made his first-class
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...
debut for Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
in 1880, and played regularly for his county for fifteen years. His most productive year was 1886, when he scored 1,364 runs at an average
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
of 34.97, including two centuries and seven fifties. He was also extremely productive in the first half of 1889, and was recognised by being named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1890, but his season was affected later in the year by a bad finger injury.
Test debut and career
Read made his debut in the OvalThe Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
(his home ground) 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...
against Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
in 1882, the match famous for bringing about the Ashes. According to the Manchester Guardian, Read's selection "was admittedly something of an experiment. He has played two or three lucky innings lately, but these do not make a cricketer any more than two or three swallows make a summer." A week or so prior the Test, however, Read had shared in a 158-run partnership against the tourists with fellow professional and England player Billy Barnes. Read finished on 130 and, like most of his team-mates, went into the match in good form.
In England's first innings, the local boy was cheered affectionately all the way to the middle by an avid Oval crowd. Fred Spofforth
Fred Spofforth
Frederick Robert "Fred" Spofforth , also known as "The Demon Bowler", was arguably the Australian cricket team's finest pace bowler of the nineteenth century and was the first bowler to take 50 Test wickets, and the first to take a test hat-trick in 1879...
, however, soon walloped the hero three excruciating blows -- one in the ribs, another on the knee and one more on the elbow. Read was compelled to hold up the game on two of these occasions to take time to convalesce, and it was, by all reports, an exceptionally valiant knock. Read finished unbeaten on nineteen, the second best score of the innings, and the masses cheered him all the way back to the pavilion just as they had cheered him from it; indeed, they it patently apparent right through this game that he was an authentic darling of the people.
There are copious examples in this match which serve to support Altham's affirmation that Read was "a wonderful fielder in the country" (i.e. outfield). He is frequently recorded in contemporary accounts of the game as chasing the ball down as fast as he could, and he certainly managed to bring to a halt plenty of potential Australian boundaries.
In the second innings, Read was one of the many victims of England captain Monkey Hornby's spectacular alteration of the batting order, promoted in front of the apparently nerveless CT Studd. When he came into view from the pavilion, Read was again cheered stridently all the way to the wicket, but, when Spofforth bowled him for a duck, the Australians were the ones, wrote Charles Pardon in Bell's Life, who "exhibited to the full their increasing delight".
This, of course, was the game which launched the legend of The Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
after the Australians won it by seven runs.
When he came back to Australia in 1886/87, Read was flabbergasted at the pickiness of the Australian public, and he wrote of it: "If you have a bit of bad luck and make nothing two or three times, you are not of much account in Australia, and out of the team you should go, even if you have scored excellently on occasions." In England, however, it was different. "There," he reckoned, "if you are a recognised player, half a dozen successive noughts will not exclude you from a team."
Read remained a regular selection for England
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
until 1893, being awarded that year's Oval Test (against South Africa
South African cricket team
The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...
) as a benefit. Although his batting at this level was not spectacular - he passed fifty only twice in his 29 Test innings - his fielding at third man
Fielding (cricket)
Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out.Cricket fielding position...
was excellent. He also appeared for the Players
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
against the Gentlemen on 17 occasions.
Read and Lohmann
George Lohmann, for one, preferred watching Read (and even AE Stoddart) to Arthur ShrewsburyArthur 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...
, the man whom WG Grace placed second only to himself. Indeed, Read and Lohmann were extremely good friends, and they even shared a few personal jokes. ("Look out!" Lohmann would say to Read; "I'm going to bowl at the sticks now!" -- and Read would watch with amusement as his comrade sent down all manner of strange deliveries to tempt the batsman into hitting out.)
Read was sent along to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
with Lohmann in 1892 to be of assistance to the great bowler in his recuperation following a ghastly (but altogether foreseeable) physical collapse as a result of overbowling. The pair sailed from Southampton on Christmas Eve, and, in March 1893, when Lohmann was healthy enough to be left on his own, Read made his homecoming for the start of the new season. (Lohmann later broke down again, however, eventually dying in South Africa.)
Incidentally, another colleague of Read's who suffered the effects of being overbowled was Tom Richardson, a Surrey and Thames Ditton team-mate. Read was one of the first to forecast what would eventually happen to this great fast bowler, conjecturing ominously about the strenuous effects that the 1897/98 tour might have on Richardson's body. He was, of course, proven correct.
Career's end
After scoring 131 to help Surrey defeat HampshireHampshire 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...
by an innings
The result in cricket
The result in a game of cricket may be a win for one of the two teams playing, a draw or a tie. In the case of a limited overs game, the game can also end with no result...
in 1895, Read retired from first-class cricket at the age of 36 - relatively young by 19th century standards - to work on the Tichbourne Park estate in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, although he continued to bat with great success in minor cricket for the Tichbourne side for some years thereafter. He died at the age of 70 in Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
after a long illness. George Giffen
George Giffen
George Giffen was a cricketer who played for South Australia and Australia. An all-rounder who batted in the middle order and often opened the bowling with medium-paced off-spin, Giffen captained Australia during the 1894–95 Ashes series and was the first Australian to score 10,000 runs and...
called him "one of the most genuine cricketers I met".
Read's uncle (by marriage) Heathfield Stephenson had a long career with Surrey, and his brother Frederick Read also played one first-class game for the county.