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 ...
's earliest well-known fast bowlers and a leading player for
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 ...
when its team was organised by 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 the 1770s. Noted for his pace and his accuracy, Brett was a leading wicket-taker in the 1770s and was lauded 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''. Writing half a century later, Nyren described Brett as "beyond all comparison, the fastest as well as straitest bowler that ever was known".
Career
Brett was born at
Catherington
Catherington is a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 1 mile (1.8 km) northwest of Horndean. The village is also close to Cowplain and Clanfield. It is situated about 10 miles north of Portsmouth and eight mi ...
in
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 ...
. An unusual feature of his career at a time when players often swapped sides as
given men
A given is a statement or a condition assumed to be true or known, often to explain or give an example of something; for related topics, see:
* Presumption (in law)
* Axiom (in formal logic)
* Givenness (in discourse)
* Conditional probability, u ...
was that he always played for Hampshire. As he lived at Catherington, he was ineligible to represent Hambledon's Parish XI and so played only for the county team.
Brett featured in the
Monster Bat Incident 1771
A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and f ...
as the bowler who led the protest and it is almost certain that he wrote out the formal objection to Thomas White's huge bat. This document, which has been preserved, was countersigned by his captain
Richard Nyren
Richard Nyren (1734 – 1797) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the heyday of the Hambledon Club. A genuine all-rounder and the earliest known left-hander of note, Nyren was the captain of Hampshire when ...
and Hampshire's senior batsman John Small. The protest resulted in the maximum width of the bat being set at four and one quarter inches in the
Laws of Cricket
The ''Laws of Cricket'' is a code which specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744 and, since 1788, it has been owned and maintained by its custodian, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lond ...
.
Brett is known to have made 38 appearances for Hampshire from 1769 to 1778. He is first recorded in the match against
Caterham
Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valley but rises to equal ...
at
Guildford Bason
Guildford Bason (or Basin) is a former cricket ground on Merrow Down, on the outskirts of Guildford, Surrey.
Cricket was played on the ground between 1730 and 1786.1777 season but, with
catches
Catch may refer to:
In sports
* Catch (game), children's game
* Catch (baseball), a maneuver in baseball
* Catch (cricket), a mode of dismissal in cricket
* Catch or reception (gridiron football)
* Catch, part of a rowing stroke
In music
* Cat ...
, the true figure for wickets taken is almost certainly higher.
Brett's last recorded match was for Hampshire against
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. ...
at
Laleham Burway
Laleham Burway is a tract of water-meadow and former water-meadow between the River Thames and Abbey River in the far north of Chertsey in Surrey. Its uses are varied. Part is Laleham Golf Club. Semi-permanent park homes in the west forms reside ...
in October 1778 when he was still only 31. It seems he went to live in Portsmouth so a change of occupation may have been the reason for his apparently early retirement.Haygarth, p. 39. He died at Kingston Cross,
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...