James Wootton (9 March 1860 – 21 February 1941) was an English

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er. Wootton was a left-handed

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 ...

who bowled left-arm medium pace. Wootton made his first-class debut for

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in 1880 against

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. Wootton represented Kent in 115 first-class matches in from 1880 to 1890, with his final match for the county coming against the Marylebone Cricket Club. In his 115 matches for the county he scored 1,021 runs at a batting average of 7.34 and a high score of 40. With the ball he took 597 wickets at a

bowling average In cricket, a player's bowling average is the number of runs they have conceded per wicket taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers, commonly use ...

of 17.14, with 49

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Taking ...

s, 15

ten wicket haul In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bowle ...

s in a match and best figures of 8/27 against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

in 1886. Wootton passed the 100 wickets mark in 1884, 1886 and 1887. Out of those the 1886 season was his best as he took 143 wickets at an average of 15.95, with 14 five wicket hauls, 10 five wicket hauls in a match and best figures of 8/27. In the field he took 62

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for Kent.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), pp. 607–612.
Available online
at the

Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

. Retrieved 2020-12-21.) In 1884 Wootton made his debut for 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 ...

against

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 ...

. Wootton played 18 first-class matches for the club from 1884 to 1891, with his final match for the club coming against

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_ ...

. In his 18 matches for the club, he took 62 wickets at an average of 15.72, with 5 five wicket hauls, 2 ten wicket hauls in a match and best figures of 6/20. Four years would pass before his next first-class appearance, during which time he served as the cricket

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

. In 1895 Wootton joined

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, making his debut in the

1895 County Championship The 1895 County Championship was the sixth officially organised running of the County Championship, and ran from 6 May to 2 September 1895. Surrey claimed their fifth title, which was decided by the percentage of completed matches by each side. T ...

against Somerset. From 1895 to 1900 Wootton played 24 first-class matches for the county, with his final appearance coming in 1900 against Kent. In his 24 matches he scored 391 runs at an average of 12.62, with a single half century score of 53 against Somerset in 1896. With the ball he took 69 wickets at an average of 27.05, with 5 five wicket hauls and best figures of 5/37 against in 1895 against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

. As well as playing first-class cricket for the above teams, Wootton also played first-class cricket for CI Thornton's XI, an England XI, H Philipson's XI, Lord March's XI at the Priory Park Ground, Players of the South and the South of England. In Wootton's overall first-class career he scored 1,628 runs at an average of 7.98, with a single half century score of 53. With the ball he took 761 wickets at a

of 18.16, with 60 five wicket hauls, 17 ten wicket hauls in a match and best figures of 8/27. In the field Hosie took 92

. Wootton died at

Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, S ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

on 21 February 1941.Jimmy Wootton

Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

. Retrieved 2022-08-08.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wootton, Jimmy 1860 births 1941 deaths People from Sutton-at-Hone English cricketers Kent cricketers North v South cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Hampshire cricketers English cricket coaches Players of the South cricketers C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers H. Philipson's XI cricketers Lord March's XI cricketers Cricketers from Kent