The Reverend Reynell Cotton (1717–1779) was President of the Hambledon Club

Hambledon Club

The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England.-Foundation:...

 in 1773 and 1774. It is not known if he played in any of the 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...

 matches organised by the club on behalf of Hampshire cricket

Hampshire county cricket teams

Hampshire county cricket teams have been traced back to the 18th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that...

, but he is believed to have been an active player in the period before records were consistently maintained .

He is believed to have been a schoolmaster 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...

 .

Cotton is best known for his Hambledon Club Song , written in about the 1771 season

1771 English cricket season

The 1771 English cricket season is notable for the infamous wide bat affair which resulted in a rule being established within the Laws of Cricket whereby the maximum width of the bat has ever since been four and a quarter inches....

.