Edward "Lumpy" Stevens (1735 – 7 September 1819) 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 s ...

er who played

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 officia ...

in the 18th century. He was an outstanding bowler who is generally regarded as the first great bowler in the game's history. He was universally known by his nickname and was always called "Lumpy" in contemporary scorecards and reports.

Cricket career

Stevens was born in 1735 at Send, Surrey. The beginning of Stevens' career, in 1756, was before scorecards began to be kept on a regular basis. It is not known if Stevens was the first to "give the ball air", but he was certainly around when that particular revolution occurred, probably before 1770. What is known is that Stevens was the bowler who made the most careful study of flight and worked out all the implications of variations in pace, length and direction mentioned above. He became a master of his craft. Stevens is normally 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. ...

teams. He continued as a player until he was 54, playing his last match in 1789 for England against

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 ...

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 ...

. It is not known what took place in his career following this game, but

John Major Sir John Major (born 29 March 1943) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1997, and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Huntingdon, formerly Huntin ...

suspected that Stevens enlisted in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

: on 20 May 1793 a letter signed by 'A Kentish Cricketer' written to ''Sporting Magazine'' describes an incident where an Ensign Hamilton, a member of the Sevenoaks Vine Club, had a cannonball deflected away from his head by a Sergeant. The magazine and the ''Maidstone Journal'' both linked the story to Stevens.

Style and technique

How he came by his legendary nickname is uncertain but it may have been because he was adept at choosing a pitch to suit his very subtle variations of pace, length and direction. In the 18th century, choice of pitch was granted to one team according to agreement and it was generally the leading bowler on that team who chose the place where the wickets would be pitched. According to the famous verse:

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 nu ...

, ''Scores & Biographies'', Volume 1 (1744–1826), Lillywhite, 1862.

Family and personal life

Stevens was a gardener by trade and his bowling prowess earned him a job on the Walton-on-Thames estate of the

Earl of Tankerville Earl of Tankerville is a noble title drawn from Tancarville in Normandy. The title has been created three times: twice in the Peerage of England, and once (in 1714) in the Peerage of Great Britain for Charles Bennet, 2nd Baron Ossulston. His f ...

, a noted patron of the game.

Legacy

It is known that in a single wicket match in May 1775, Stevens beat the Hambledon batsman John Small three times with the ball going through the two stump wicket of the day. Partly as a result, a third stump was agreed.

References

Bibliography

Harry Altham Harry Surtees Altham (30 November 1888 – 11 March 1965) was an English cricketer who became an important figure in the game as an administrator, historian and coach. His '' Wisden'' obituary described him as "among the best known personalitie ...

, ''A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914)'', George Allen & Unwin, 1926. *

Derek Birley Sir Derek Birley (31 May 1926 – 14 May 2002) was a distinguished English educationalist and a prize-winning writer on the social history of sport, particularly cricket. Life and career Born in a mining community in West Yorkshire, Birley atten ...

, ''A Social History of English Cricket'', Aurum, 1999. *

Rowland Bowen Major Rowland Francis Bowen (27 February 1916 – 4 September 1978) was a British Army officer and a cricket researcher, historian and writer. Educated at Westminster School, Bowen received an emergency commission in April 1942 into the In ...

, ''Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development'', Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970. * G. B. Buckley, ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'', Cotterell, 1935. *

David Frith David Edward John Frith (born 16 March 1937) is a cricket writer and historian. Cricinfo describes him as "an author, historian, and founding editor of '' Wisden Cricket Monthly''". Life and career David Frith was born in Gloucester Place in L ...

, ''The Fast Men'', Van Nostrand Rheinhold, 1975. *

, ''Scores & Biographies'', Volume 1 (1744–1826), Lillywhite, 1862. * Ashley Mote, ''The Glory Days of Cricket'', Robson, 1997. * John Nyren, ''The Cricketers of my Time'' (ed. Ashley Mote), Robson, 1998. * David Underdown, ''Start of Play'', Allen Lane, 2000. * H. T. Waghorn, ''Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730–1773)'', Blackwood, 1899. * H. T. Waghorn, ''The Dawn of Cricket'', Electric Press, 1906. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Lumpy 1735 births 1819 deaths Chertsey cricketers English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 Hambledon cricketers Hampshire cricketers Kent cricketers Non-international England cricketers Surrey cricketers West Kent cricketers White Conduit Club cricketers