Henry Martyn (16 July 1877 – 8 August 1928) 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 who made 97 first-class appearances for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

between 1899 and 1908. He is described in his ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' obituary as "one of the finest wicket-keepers ever seen in first-class cricket". In his 1981 article,

John Arlott Leslie Thomas John Arlott, OBE (25 February 1914 – 14 December 1991) was an English journalist, author and cricket commentator for the BBC's ''Test Match Special''. He was also a poet and wine connoisseur. With his poetic phraseology, he bec ...

selected Martyn as the best English wicket-keeper never to play for England.

Cricket career

After an education at

Exeter Grammar School Exeter School is an independent co-educational day school for pupils between the ages of 7 and 18 in Exeter, Devon, England. In 2019, there were around 200 pupils in the Junior School and 700 in the Senior School. History The School traces its ...

, where he played two matches for

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

against the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC) in August 1896 and 1897, Martyn went up to

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...

. He played in the freshman's match in 1897, and played as part of the University eleven in 1899 and 1900. His performance in his first match for the University, against

A J Webbe Alexander Josiah Webbe (16 January 1855 – 19 February 1941) was a cricketer who played for Oxford University and Middlesex. He also played one Test match for England. After being schooled at Harrow School, he went on to Trinity College, Oxfor ...

's XI, led ''Wisden'' to note that "it was obvious that a great wicketkeeper had been discovered". In this match, which Oxford University won by an innings and 85 runs, Martyn made two

stumpings Stumped is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket, which involves the wicket-keeper putting down the wicket while the batsman is out of his ground. (The batsman leaves his ground when he has moved down the pitch beyond the popping crease, ...

and took two catches. While at Oxford, Martyn made his first appearance for the Gentlemen in the

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...

fixture, taking two catches. In total, Martyn made 15 appearances for Oxford University, making four half-centuries and making twelve stumpings. He made two performances against Oxford University in 1901, representing AJ Webbe's XI in May, and a few weeks later made his debut for

against his old team. Martyn didn't appear again for Somerset until July 1902, when he was part of the team to face the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

, a match in which he played as a specialist batsman, making a half-century in the first-innings. He played regular

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 Somerset from 1902 until 1906, averaging 24.86 with the bat in 74 matches. Martyn's top-score in first-class cricket came in a 1905 match against the Australians, when opening the batting whilst following-on, he made an unbeaten 130. He was praised for his performance in the Gentlemen v Players match in 1906, when he was behind the wicket for

fast bowlers Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

Walter Brearley Walter Brearley (11 March 1876 – 30 January 1937) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Lancashire and England. Brearley was a fast bowler with what ''Wisden'' described as "a rolling gait" who put his full – and substantial ...

and

Neville Knox Neville Alexander Knox (10 October 1884 - 3 March 1935) was an English fast bowler of the late 1900s and effectively the successor to Tom Richardson and William Lockwood in the Surrey team. Because of his profession as a singer, Knox's cricket ...

. Although he retired from first-class cricket at the conclusion of the 1906 season, he returned to play one last match for the county in 1908 for

Len Braund Leonard Charles Braund (18 October 1875 – 23 December 1955) was a cricketer who played for Surrey, Somerset and England. Len Braund was an all-rounder, a versatile batsman who could defend or attack according to the needs of the game and a l ...

's benefit match.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martyn, Henry 1877 births 1928 deaths English cricketers Somerset cricketers Oxford University cricketers Cornwall cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers People educated at Exeter School Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford A. J. Webbe's XI cricketers