James Aylward (1741 – December 1827) 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 str ...

er who played during the 18th-century. A prominent left-handed batsman, Aylward played in a total of 107 first-class matches between 1773 and 1797.James Aylward
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2022-03-20. James Aylward
CricInfo. Retrieved 2022-03-20. He was born at

Warnford Warnford is a village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. The parish covers 1283 hectares (3170 acres). The population in 2019 was estimated at 220. The village lies on the A32 in the upper valley of the ...

, near Droxford in

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

and is first recorded as a cricketer in 1773, playing for the

Hambledon Club The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England. Foundation The origin of the club, based near Hambledon in rural Hampshire ...

in Hampshire. Aylward was 32 at the time, and

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 ...

suggests that it is likely he played cricket prior to this. He played a total of 33 matches for Hampshire sides. In 1777 Aylward set a record score of 167 runs whilst playing for a Hampshire XI against an England side at

Sevenoaks Vine The Vine Cricket Ground, also known as Sevenoaks Vine, is one of the oldest cricket venues in England. It was given to the town of Sevenoaks in Kent in 1773 by John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset (1745–1799) and owner of nearby Knole ...

. This remained the record first-class score until 1820. In 1779

Sir Horatio Mann Sir Horatio (Horace) Mann, 2nd Baronet (2 February 1744 – 2 April 1814) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1807. He is remembered as a member of the Hambledon Club in Hampshire and a patron of Kent cricket ...

, a noted Kent cricket patron, employed Aylward as a water bailiff at Bourne Park House in Bishopsbourne near

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

,Moore, p. 22.Kent's First Foreigner
Kent Cricket Heritage Trust, 2021-06-28. Retrieved 2022-03-20. after which he played mainly for Kent sides as "Kent’s first batsman of true class".Carlaw, p. 556. As well as 32 matches for Kent, he played four times for

East Kent Kent is a traditional county in South East England with long-established human occupation. Prehistoric Kent Kent has been occupied since the Lower Palaeolithic as finds from the quarries at Fordwich and Swanscombe attest. The Swanscombe sku ...

, once for both the

Gentlemen of Kent 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 ...

and a combined Kent and Hampshire side and three times for Mann's XI as well as 22 times for England sides. Aylward later became the landlord of ''The White Horse'' at

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

close to Bishopsbourne. He lived in London later in his life and died at Edward Street in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it me ...

in December 1827 aged 85 or 86. He was buried on 27 December at St John's Wood Churchyard, close to Lord's Cricket Ground.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Birley D (1999) ''A Social History of English Cricket''. London: Aurum Press. *Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition).
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 Statis ...

. Retrieved 2020-12-21.) * Lucas EV ed (1907) ''The Hambledon Men''. London: Henry Frowde.
Available online
at Wikisource. Retrieved 2022-03-20.) Includes: ** Nyren J '' The Cricketers of My Time'', pp. 42–93. ** Haygarth A ''Memoirs of the Old Players'', pp. 185–219. *Moore D (1988) ''The History of Kent County Cricket Club''. London: Christopher Helm. {{DEFAULTSORT:Aylward, James English cricketers Hampshire cricketers Hambledon cricketers English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 1741 births 1827 deaths Surrey cricketers Kent cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 Left-Handed v Right-Handed cricketers Non-international England cricketers Gentlemen of Kent cricketers London Cricket Club cricketers East Kent cricketers