Valentine Romney (1718 – December 1773) 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 str ...

er who played during the 1740s. Considered a specialist

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

, he was mainly associated with Kent sides but also played for England sides. Information about his career is limited by a lack of surviving data, although he is known to have made 11

single wicket Single wicket cricket is a form of cricket played between two individuals, who take turns to bat and bowl against each other. The one bowling is assisted by a team of fielders, who remain as fielders at the change of innings. The winner is the one w ...

and 14 eleven-a-side appearances between 1743 and 1751.

Cricket career

First mention

The first definite mention of Val Romney is dated 11 July 1743, when he took part in a single wicket "threes" match at the

Artillery Ground The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is an open space originally set aside for archery and later known also as a cricket venue. Today it is used for military exercises, cricket, rugby and football matches. It belongs to the Honourable Artillery Com ...

and the six players were stated to be "the best in England".Ashley-Cooper, p.21. They were

William Hodsoll William Hodsoll (1718; christened 28 October 1718 at Ash-next-Ridley, Kent – 30 November 1776 at Ash-next-Ridley), was a noted English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period. Hodsoll lived at Dartford for some years and was a tanner. F S Ashle ...

, John Cutbush and Romney playing as Three of Kent; and Richard Newland, William Sawyer and John Bryant playing as Three of All-England. Hodsoll and Newland were the captains. Kent won by 2 runs. The ''London Evening Post'' says the crowd was computed (''sic'') to be 10,000. A return match was arranged at

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 ...

on 27 July but "it did not come off".

1744 to 1745

Romney was lauded as a "mighty play'r" in ''Cricket, An Heroic Poem'' (1745) by James Love.Love, ''Cricket, An Heroic Poem'' This poem was written to commemorate a celebrated match between

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and

All-England The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the Badminton World Federation, BWF's latest grading system, it was given BWF Super Series, Super Series st ...

at the

on 18 June 1744,Haygarth, p.1. in which Romney was captain of the Kent XI.Underdown, p.66. In August and September of the same year, Romney played for the

London Cricket Club The original London Cricket Club was formed in 1722 and was one of the foremost clubs in English cricket over the next four decades, holding important match status. It is closely associated with the Artillery Ground, where it played most of i ...

in three matches against Surrey.Ashley-Cooper, p.36. At the end of the 1744 season, Romney played in two "threes" matches at the Artillery Ground. The first was billed as "Long Robin's Side v Richard Newland's Side", the teams being

Robert Colchin Robert Colchin (1713 – 1750) was an English cricketer and match organiser of the mid-Georgian period at a time when the single wicket version of the game was popular. He was christened at Chailey in Sussex in 1713 and buried at Deptford in ...

, Romney and John Bryant against Richard Newland, Edward Aburrow senior (replacing John Mills) and Joe Harris. The stake was two hundred guineas and the players involved were stated to be the "best in England". In the second match on 1 October, the sides were Colchin, James Bryant and Joe Harris ''versus'' Romney, John Bryant and

Thomas Waymark Thomas Waymark (probably born 17 June 1705) was an English professional cricketer in the first half of the 18th century. He is one of the earliest known players on record and is widely accounted the sport's first great all-rounder. Cricket car ...

. In the 1745 season, Romney again played in a major "threes" match at the Artillery Ground on 24 June, when he was teamed with Hodsoll and Newland against Colchin, John Bryant and one of the Harris brothers. Hodsoll, Newland and Romney won by 7 runs. Another first-class match took place two days later between Long Robin's XI and Richard Newland's XI at the Artillery Ground. Long Robin's XI, including Romney, won "by over 70 runs".

1746 to 1750

Romney is not mentioned in 1746 sources. In 1747, he played for Kent against All-England on 31 August, at the Artillery Ground; and on 2 September, on Bromley Common.Ashley-Cooper, p.51. On 5 September, there was a "threes" game at the Artillery Ground billed as "Long Robin's Side versus Stephen Dingate's Side". The teams were Colchin, John Harris and Romney against

Stephen Dingate Stephen Dingate (birth and death details unknown) was a leading English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period. He is believed to have begun playing in the 1720s and was one of the best known players in England through the 1740s. Dingate was born a ...

, Richard Newland and Thomas Jure. It was played for sixty guineas per side and the players were especially chosen from those who had played in the two Kent v All-England games. In 1748, Romney is recorded in two single wicket matches. On 8 August, he and Colchin opposed

Tom Faulkner Thomas Faulkner (c.1719–1785), known as 'Long Tom', was a noted English cricketer and prizefighter. A Surrey man, he was a prominent single wicket player who is recorded playing in challenge matches at the Artillery Ground. He played regular ...

and Joe Harris at "twos" in the Artillery Ground for twenty guineas a side.Ashley-Cooper, p.52. On 29 August, he took part in a "fives" game at the Artillery Ground in which Tom Faulkner's Side won against Long Robin's Side by four runs. The prize was 200 pounds. Romney was injured but chose to play, possibly because rules stated one was to either "play or pay". The teams were Faulkner, Joe Harris, James Bryant, John Bryant and Durling versus Colchin, Romney, John Larkin, Jones and Maynard. In 1749, Romney made first-class appearances for All-England against Surrey at

Dartford Brent Dartford Brent was an extensive area of common land on the outskirts of Dartford in Kent. Historically, it was the scene of a confrontation between King Henry VI and Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York in 1452 and in 1555 thousands of spectato ...

and for Long Robin's XI against Stephen Dingate's XI at the

. In July he played for All-England in a "fives" match" against Addington.Ashley-Cooper, p.53. There is one mention of Romney in 1750 when he played in the Kent side that defeated Surrey by 3 wickets in a first-class match at Dartford Brent.Ashley-Cooper, p.68.

Last known season

1751 is Romney's last known season although there is a possibility he may have continued for a few more years. Surviving data about matches in the 1750s is scarce and there was a general reduction in matches, caused initially by the deaths of key patrons and then compounded by the impact of the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (175 ...

. Romney made two first-class appearances in May 1751 when he played for Kent against All-England. Kent, weakened by the recent death of

, were defeated in both games. Val Romney's last recorded appearance was in a single wicket "fives" match for Kent against Surrey at the Artillery Ground on 3 June 1751. Kent won "although the betting was in favour of Surrey".Waghorn, p.26.

Cricket in Romney's time

In Romney's career, the cricket bat was shaped like a modern hockey stick, this being the ideal shape for addressing a ball that was "trundled" along the ground, as in

lawn bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-gre ...

. The

wicket In cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch. The fielding team's players can hit the wicket with the ball in a number of ways to get a batsman out. ...

consisted of two stumps and a single bail. Bowlers used the

underarm The axilla (also, armpit, underarm or oxter) is the area on the human body directly under the shoulder joint. It includes the axillary space, an anatomical space within the shoulder girdle between the arm and the thoracic cage, bounded superior ...

style exclusively but at varying pace. The ball was either rolled along the ground or skimmed across the surface by a fast bowler; pitching was not introduced until about 1760 and by then Romney had likely retired.

Legacy

F S Ashley-Cooper says of Romney that "he was a most famous player, his name being found in nearly all the great matches of his time" and that "as a batsman and single wicket player he was very celebrated".Ashley-Cooper, p.84.

Personal life

Romney lived mostly at Sevenoaks and was employed by the 1st Duke of Dorset as head gardener at

Knole House Knole () is a country house and former archbishop's palace owned by the National Trust. It is situated within Knole Park, a park located immediately to the south-east of Sevenoaks in west Kent. The house ranks in the top five of England's larg ...

, a post later occupied by

John Minshull John Minshull (c.1741 – 23 October 1793), also known as John Minchin, was a famous English cricketer during the 1770s. He scored the first definitely recorded century in cricket. He was born at Acton in Middlesex. According to John Nyren, Min ...

. By 1768, the Sackvilles continued rewarding him with a Christmas gratuity of two guineas.Underdown, p.70.

References

Bibliography

* F S Ashley-Cooper, ''At the Sign of the Wicket: Cricket 1742–1751'', Cricket Magazine, 1900 *

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 1 (1744–1826), Lillywhite, 1862 * James Love, ''Cricket, An Heroic Poem'' (ed. F. S. Ashley-Cooper), Richards, 1922 *

David Underdown David Edward Underdown (19 August 1925 – 26 September 2009) was a historian of 17th-century England, English politics and culture and Professor Emeritus at Yale University. Born at Wells, Somerset, Underdown was educated at The Blue School, Well ...

, ''Start of Play'', Allen Lane, 2000 *

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 ...

, ''The Dawn of Cricket'', Electric Press, 1906 {{DEFAULTSORT:Romney, Val 1718 births 1773 deaths English cricketers English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 Kent cricketers Non-international England cricketers Place of birth missing