Roger Iddison (15 September 1834 – 19 March 1890) 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 striki ...

er, and the original

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...

. He made seventy two first-class appearances for Yorkshire between 1855 and 1876, scoring 1,916 runs at an average of 20.60, and taking 102 wickets at 15.09. Born in

Bedale Bedale ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the district of Hambleton, North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is north of Leeds, south-west of Middlesbrough and south-west of the county town of ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, to Roger and Jane Iddison, Iddison was a right-handed batsman who also bowled right-arm underarm slow lobs. He was noted for his fielding at point. His father was a

guano Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...

merchant with a shop in Market Place, Bedale. Roger had a younger brother, William Holdsworth Iddison, who also 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 officiall ...

. Roger Iddison was first a butcher by trade, then kept a shop for cricket articles in Manchester (1864). He was part of the first team of English cricketers to tour Australia. The team travelled on the

SS Great Britain SS ''Great Britain'' is a museum ship and former passenger steamship that was advanced for her time. She was the largest passenger ship in the world from 1845 to 1854. She was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859), for the Great W ...

. Each player was paid £150.00 and guaranteed first class travelling expenses by the sponsors, Melbourne based businessmen Spiers and Pond. They played 15 matches in Australia between 1 January and 22 March 1862. He played his first match at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

between 9 and 11 June 1862. In 1869, Iddison played in 27 first-class matches and made 1,059 runs. Together with George Freeman he founded the United North of England Eleven in 1869. He was the professional at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

from 1871-2; and joint secretary with C D Barstow of the Yorkshire United Eleven in 1874. He was a commission agent at York from 1870, until his death in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

in 1890.

References

External sources

CricketArchive

Iddison Family Tree

References

External sources

Further reading