William Martingell (20 August 1818 – 29 September 1897), also known as Will Martingell, was an English professional

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 who played first-class cricket between 1839 and 1860. He played primarily for

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

and

Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South London ...

, making over 180 first-class appearances during his career.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), pp. 371–373.
Available online
at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-12-21.)

Early life

Martingell was born at Nutfield in

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. ...

in 1818, the eldest child of Russell Martingell and his wife Sarah. His father was a shoemaker who played one first-class match for a Surrey team in 1828 and who had a reputation as a good fast underarm bowler.Bateson JH (2009
William Martingell 1818–1897
The RH7 History Group. Retrieved 2018-12-19.

CricInfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

. Retrieved 2018-12-19.Russell Martingell
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-12-19. Denison W (1846) ''Cricket: Sketches of the Players'', pp.62–64. London: Simpkin Marshall.
Available online
Retrieved 2018-12-19.) Martingell learned the trade of shoemaking from his father and also worked as a gamekeeper.

Cricket career

Martingell is first recorded as a cricketer in July 1839, playing for

Lingfield Cricket Club Representing Lingfield in Surrey, Lingfield Cricket Club was prominent in the 18th century, known to have taken part in important matches between 1739 and 1785. They were especially noted in the mid-1740s. According to surviving records, the ...

against Montpelier Cricket Club in a match at

Dormansland Dormansland is a large village and civil parish with a low population approximately one mile south of Lingfield in Surrey, England. It was founded in the 19th century and is bordered on the east by the county of Kent and on the south by West S ...

. A report in the ''Sussex Agricultural Express'' called his bowling "splendid" and reported that he was a "most promising" cricketer who was due to be employed at the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).Quoted in Bateson ''op. cit.'' He made his first-class cricket debut later the same month playing for a Surrey side against MCC 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 ...

, taking five wickets in the MCC second innings as they were dismissed for 15 runs.William Martingell
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-12-19. After being unable to find sponsorship to play as a professional at MCC or in Surrey, Martingell moved to Kent in 1841 and was "engaged" working under Fuller Pilch at Canterbury.Brown RJ ''The Cricketer''. Reproduced a
CricInfo
Retrieved 2018-12-19. Pilch, who was one of the leading cricketers of the time, had managed the

Old County Ground The Old County Ground is cricket ground, located at West Malling, historically called Town Malling, in the English county of Kent.

Town Malling West Malling ( , historically Town Malling) is a market town in the Tonbridge and Malling district of Kent, England. It has a population of 2,590. Landmarks West Malling contains several historic buildings, including St Leonard's Tower, a Norma ...

before moving to do the same at the

Beverley Ground The Beverley Ground was a cricket ground in Canterbury in Kent. It was in use in the mid-19th century, with recorded matches taking place between 1839 and 1846. It was the home ground of Beverley Cricket Club and was where the first Kent County ...

at Canterbury. Under Pilch's tuition Martingell quickly became established as one of the best professionals playing at the time and played for Kent, both before and after the formation of the first county club in 1842, and in matches at Lord's for a variety of sides. In 1844 he was employed by the Earl of Ducie at

Woodchester Park Woodchester Mansion is an unfinished, Gothic revival mansion house in Nympsfield, Gloucestershire, England. It is on the site of an earlier house known as Spring Park. The mansion is a Grade I listed building. The mansion was abandoned by its ...

in Gloucestershire and played for West of England teams four times in two years. In 1846 Martingell was one of the first two professionals to be employed by the newly formed

at The Oval, Leveson Gower HDG (1946
Hundred Years of Surrey Cricket
'' Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1946. Retrieved 2018-12-19. Dulcie having sold his property in Gloucestershire. He played for both Kent and Surrey until 1852 and, as a professional, turned out for a wide variety of other sides: MCC, England sides, William Clarke's All-England Eleven and played in 12 Gentlemen v Players matches between 1844 and 1858. Birley D (1999) ''A Social History of English Cricket'', p.80. London: Aurum Press. He made his last appearance for Kent in 1854 and for Surrey in 1859, with his final first-class matches in 1860 being played for MCC. In total Martingell played in 182 first-class matches, 49 of which were for Kent and 49 for Surrey. He was considered one of the best professional players of his era, with both his batting and bowling considered to "rank high", although his bowling was his greater strength. The ''Sporting Review'' of 1846 considered him "a most excellent player, and a thoroughly well-conducted man".''The Sporting Review'', July 1846, p.310.
Available online
Retrieved 2018-12-19.) He was considered a "fine judge of the game" and held many coaching appointments, including at Bradfield College, Rugby School and Eton College. A benefit match held for him at The Oval in 1860 raised over £260.

Personal life

Martingell married Caroline Evans at Monks Kirby in Warwickshire in 1850. He was known by the nickname "Grannie" and died at

Eton Wick Eton Wick is a village in Berkshire, England (historically Buckinghamshire), on the River Thames in the civil parish of Eton, close to the historic towns of Windsor and Eton, Slough and Dorney Lake, the rowing venue for the 2012 Summer Olympics. ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

in September 1897 aged 79.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martingell, William 1818 births 1897 deaths English cricketers English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 People from Nutfield, Surrey All-England Eleven cricketers Kent cricketers Surrey cricketers Players cricketers Hampshire cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers North v South cricketers Surrey Club cricketers Married v Single cricketers West of England cricketers Non-international England cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Cricketers from Surrey