Thomas Marsden (12 September 1803 – 27 February 1843) was a noted early 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 whose career spanned the 1826 to 1841 seasons.
Born in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
, Marsden was an all-rounder who batted left-handed and bowled either left-arm fast (underarm) or slow left-arm orthodox (roundarm). He played mostly for
Sheffield Cricket Club
The Sheffield Cricket Club was founded in the 18th century and soon began to play a key role in the development of cricket in northern England. It was the direct forerunner of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and some of the teams fielded by Sheffi ...
at a time when it was representative of Yorkshire as a county and he was one of the first great Yorkshire cricketers.
Marsden's known career record consists of 55
first-class matches. He played 99 innings and scored 1724 runs. He made two centuries and three fifties. His highest score was 227 for Sheffield & Leicester versus Nottingham at
Darnall New Ground
Darnall New Ground at High Hazels Park, Darnall, Sheffield was a first-class cricket venue in the 1820s. It was the home ground of Sheffield Cricket Club
The Sheffield Cricket Club was founded in the 18th century and soon began to play a ke ...
, Sheffield in 1826.
He is believed to have been an outfielder and took 44 catches. As a bowler, he took 97 wickets with a best performance of seven wickets in one innings.
In 1833, Marsden came up against
Fuller Pilch
Fuller Pilch (17 March 1804 – 1 May 1870) was an English first-class cricketer, active from 1820 to 1854. He was a right-handed batsman who bowled at a slow pace with a roundarm action. Pilch played in a total of 229 first-class matches for a ...
in a single-wicket competition for the Championship of England. Although Pilch had little interest in such abbreviated forms of the game, he won comfortably. Marsden died in Sheffield in 1843.
References
;Notes
;Sources
*
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 ...
, ''Scores & Biographies, Volume 2-3 (1827-1848)'', Lillywhite, 1862
English cricketers
English cricketers of 1826 to 1863
1803 births
1843 deaths
North v South cricketers
Cricketers from Sheffield
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Players cricketers
Left-Handed v Right-Handed cricketers
Sheffield Cricket Club cricketers
Non-international England cricketers
{{England-cricket-bio-1800s-stub