Richard Aubrey Veck (1756 at

New Alresford New Alresford or simply Alresford ( or ) is a market town and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. It is northeast of Winchester and southwest of the town of Alton. New Alresford has independent shops, a ...

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 ...

– 13 November 1823 at

Bishops Waltham Bishop's Waltham (or Bishops Waltham) is a medieval market town situated at the source of the River Hamble in Hampshire, England. It has a foot in the South Downs National Park and is located at the midpoint of a long-established route betwee ...

, Hampshire) was a famous 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 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 ...

. He is one of the first cricketers whose full name is known and in fact it is not absolutely clear if he was addressed as Richard or Aubrey, so the full name is used in the title of this article. Veck was a very successful batsman but was strangely overlooked by

John Nyren John Nyren (15 December 1764 – 30 June 1837) was an English cricketer and author. Nyren made 16 known appearances in first-class cricket from 1787 to 1817. He achieved lasting fame as the author of '' The Cricketers of My Time'', which was fir ...

in ''The Cricketers of my Time''. Indeed, his omission is one of the main reasons why many historians regard Nyren as unreliable. The statistical record and contemporary reports both show that Veck was one of the outstanding batsmen of his time. Veck was a regular Hampshire player for nine seasons until 1784, but then left the game at age 28, apparently because he set up a business interest at Bishops Waltham, where he died in 1823. He made 35 known first-class appearances between 1776 and 1784.

References

* ''Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket'' by G B Buckley (FL18) * ''The Dawn of Cricket'' by

H T Waghorn Henry Thomas Waghorn (11 April 1842 – 30 January 1930), was a cricket statistician and historian. He is best known for his two classic researches into cricket's early history: ''The Dawn of Cricket'' and Cricket Scores, Notes, etc. (1730 - 1773 ...

(WDC) * ''Scores & Biographies, Volume 1'' by

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 ...

(SBnnn) * ''The Glory Days of Cricket'' by

Ashley Mote Ashley Mote (25 January 1936 – 30 March 2020) was a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 2004 to 2009. Elected representing the UK Independence Party, he became a non-inscrit one month into his term after ...

(GDC) * ''John Nyren's "The Cricketers of my Time"'' by

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veck, Richard Aubrey English cricketers Hampshire cricketers English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 1756 births 1823 deaths Hambledon cricketers Kent cricketers East Kent cricketers