John Sparks (1778 – 5 March 1854) was an English professional

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. He bowled slow underarm.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), pp. 498–500.
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.) Sparks was mainly associated with

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. ...

and he made 50 known appearances in first-class matches from 1803 to 1829.

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as well as num ...

, ''Scores & Biographies'', Volume 1 (1744-1826), Lillywhite, 1862 Sparks played for the Players in the second

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 ...

match in 1806.CricketArchive – scorecard of second Gentlemen v Players match
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References

1778 births 1854 deaths English cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 Kent cricketers Surrey cricketers Players cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers William Ward's XI cricketers George Osbaldeston's XI cricketers Non-international England cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Second 10 with 1 Other cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club First 9 with 3 Others cricketers {{England-cricket-bio-1770s-stub