Joseph Potter (13 January 1839 – 2 June 1906), also known as Joe Potter,Coldham JD (1958

''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''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 ...

'', 1958. Retrieved 2018-10-24. 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 who played between the 1860 and 1890. He played most of his

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 ...

for

Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South London ...

but also represented a variety of other teams. Potter was born at

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

in 1839, the son of Thomas and Matilda Potter.Joseph Potter

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 2018-10-24.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), pp.453–454.
Available online
at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-03-24.) By trade he was an iron worker, as his father had been, but was employed as a professional at Northampton Cricket Club between 1860 and 1865 before moving to New Brompton in

Chatham, Kent Chatham ( ) is a town located within the Medway unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Gillingham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. The town developed around Chatham ...

.Ambrose D (2003
Brief profile of Joseph Potter
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-10-24.Coldham J
Northamptonshire Memories
Retrieved 2018-10-23. He ran the ''Cricketers Inn'' in New Brompton and was employed in Clapham by the officers of the

Royal Engineers Cricket Club Garrison 1 Cricket Ground is a cricket ground in Chatham, Kent. The ground is owned by the Ministry of Defence and has been used by military teams throughout its history, being linked with the various military establishments at Chatham. It has be ...

, again as a professional cricketer. During 1871 he played twice in first-class matches for

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

, the team having a strong link with the RE who had bases at Chatham and

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...

in the county.Joseph Potter
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-10-23. Potter was described in his '' Wisden'' obituary as being a "fair batsman and a useful right-hand medium-paced bowler".Joseph Potter
Obituaries in 1906, ''

'', 1907. Retrieved 2018-10-23. During 1873 Potter moved to

Prince's Cricket Ground Prince's Cricket Ground in Chelsea, London was a cricket ground, created by the brothers George and James Prince as part of the Prince's Club, on which 37 first-class matches were played between 1872 and 1878. The ground was built on in 1883. The ...

in London before he was employed at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

, playing 35 first-class matches for Surrey between 1875 and 1881. He took 78 wickets for Surrey in 1880 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 16 runs a wicket, including taking seven wickets for the cost of 31 runs against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

. He had scored his only county cricket century the previous year, making 105 runs 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 a match which did not have first-class status. His highest score in first-class matches was 27

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

. Potter also played one first-class match for the South and played non-first-class cricket for Northampton until 1880. In 1882 he moved to become a cricket coach at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. Between 1882 and 188 he played occasionally for

and more frequently for his native

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, taking 131 wickets for Northants at an average of less than 10 runs per wicket. He later coached Northants, and umpired 37 first-class matches between 1891 and 1897. Potter married Jane Belham in 1859; the couple had nine children. In retirement he ran ''The Cricketers' Arms'' in Northampton and established a financially unsuccessful iron foundry in the town. He died at Northampton in 1906 aged 67.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Joseph 1839 births 1906 deaths English cricketers Kent cricketers Surrey cricketers North v South cricketers Cricketers from Northampton