Arthur William Cursham (14 March 1853 – 24 December 1884) was an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er and

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He played football for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

between 1876 and 1883. He played cricket for

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

from 1876 to 1879 and for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

from 1879 to 1880.

Early life

Cursham was born in

Wilford Wilford is a village in the city of Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. The village is to the northeast of Clifton, Nottinghamshire, Clifton, southwest of West Bridgford, northwest of Ruddington and southwest of Nottingham city centre. It i ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

the son of William Cursham, later vicar of

Cropwell Butler Cropwell Butler is a village and civil parish in the borough of Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom, one mile east of the A46, under the NG12 postcode. It shares a parish council with Tithby and is adjacent to the south to Cropwell B ...

. He attended

Oakham School (Like runners, they pass on the torch of life) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , president ...

and became a mine manager.British Census 1881

Football career

He played football for

, between 1876 and 1883 and made his

footballing debut in March 1876 in a 3–0 home defeat at the hands of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. A photograph of this team is believed to be the first ever photograph of an English team. However Cursham does not appear in the picture – it is believed he was behind the camera. He made six international footballing appearances in total, four coming against Scotland and two against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Cricket career

Cursham made his County Cricket debut during the 1876 season, playing his first game for

in a low-scoring victory against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. He, along with the rest of the Nottinghamshire team, failed to impress in a match in which only one player would reach double figures in each of the first three innings, himself scoring just three runs from the middle order. Cursham, a right-handed batsman and a round-arm bowler, appeared extensively for Nottinghamshire during the 1877 and 1878 seasons, scoring a maiden career half-century against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

in 1877. Cursham moved to play briefly for

during the 1879 season. He played regularly in the Derbyshire lower order, scoring a duck in his debut innings, though failing to break into the side as a bowler. He played for Derbyshire again in the 1880 season, retiring from the game at the age of 27. Three years after the end of his cricketing career, Cursham played two further games for the England national football team, a victory against Wales in which he scored his second and final international goal, and a defeat against Scotland. Cursham emigrated to the United States at the end of his footballing career, just a year after his final international footballing appearance. He died in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

at just 31 years of age from

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

. His brother

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

was also an

international footballer.

References

External links

Arthur Cursham at England F.C.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cursham, Arthur 1853 births 1884 deaths English men's footballers England men's international footballers Notts County F.C. players English cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers Derbyshire cricketers Men's association football forwards Deaths from yellow fever Cricketers from Nottingham