William Brockwell (21 January 1865 – 1 July 1935) 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. Although primarily remembered as a

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

, he began his career as a fast-medium bowler. With

George Lohmann George Alfred Lohmann (2 June 1865 – 1 December 1901) was an English cricketer, regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Statistically, he holds the lowest lifetime Test bowling average among bowlers with more than fifteen wicke ...

, Tom Richardson and William Lockwood carrying all before them, Brockwell had few opportunities until they declined. However, from 1897 onwards, he was a very useful bowler and took 105 wickets in the 1899 season when Richardson was out of form and Lockwood never fully fit. Even in 1902, he took six for 37 on an excellent pitch in the last match of the season against Warwickshire. Born in

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, Brockwell played his

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...

for the very strong

side of the last years of the 19th century. He made his first-class debut against

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 ...

in 1886. He played only occasionally up to 1890, but established himself in 1891 and 1892, when Surrey were at the height of their powers as a county side. However, it was not until 1893 that Brockwell became a vital member of the Surrey eleven, when he took 51 wickets at the same cost as the incomparable Richardson and, despite often going in late, proving to be one of the most consistent batsmen. In the very wet 1894 season, Brockwell, despite the consistently treacherous pitches, made a remarkable advance. He scored more runs (1,491) than any other player, and hit five centuries, and consequently was named as a

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

. He declined a great deal in 1895, but from the following year up to 1899, formed a formidable batting trio with

Bobby Abel Robert Abel (30 November 1857 – 10 December 1936), nicknamed "The Guv'nor", was a Surrey and England opening batsman who was one of the most prolific run-getters in the early years of the County Championship. He was the first England player ...

and

Tom Hayward Thomas Walter Hayward (29 March 1871 – 19 July 1939) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Surrey and England between the 1890s and the outbreak of World War I. He was primarily an opening batsman, noted especially for the qual ...

that made Surrey invincible on the perfect

Oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.) it is given a more precise definition, which may include either one or ...

pitches. Brockwell played seven

Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

es 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 ...

, all against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

– one in 1893, five on the 1894/95 tour and a final match in 1899 – but was not a success at this level and

averaged In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean ( ) or arithmetic average, or just the ''mean'' or the ''average'' (when the context is clear), is the sum of a collection of numbers divided by the count of numbers in the collection. The colle ...

under 17 with a highest score of just 49. He played on for Surrey until 1903, but from 1900 his powers as a batsman declined severely and after two final first-class matches for London County he retired from cricket. Brockwell was homeless in his last years and he died in poverty at

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, Surrey.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brockwell, Billy 1865 births 1935 deaths England Test cricketers London County cricketers Surrey cricketers Griqualand West cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year North v South cricketers Players cricketers Players of the South cricketers A. E. Stoddart's XI cricketers