William Bowra (1752 – 7 May 1820) 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 in 50 first-class matches between 1775 and 1792.William Bowra
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-12-21. William Bowra
CricInfo. Retrieved 2022-06-28. Bowra, whose name was pronounced "Borra", Nyren J '' The Cricketers of My Time'' in Lucas EV ed (1907) ''The Hambledon Men'', pp. 188–190. London: Henry Frowde.
Available online
at Wikisource. Retrieved 2022-03-20.), pp. 42–93. was christened at

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter main line railway into London. Sevenoaks is from Charing Cross, the traditio ...

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 ...

on 1 May 1752. He was one of a number of cricketers employed by

John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, KG (25 March 174519 July 1799) was the only son of Lord John Philip Sackville, second son of Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset. His mother was the former Lady Frances Leveson-Gower. He succeeded ...

at his

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 ...

estate near Sevenoaks, in Bowra's case as a gamekeeper.A Brief History of The Vine
Sevenoaks Vine Cricket Club, 2002-05-10. Retrieved 2022-03-20.Moore D (1988) ''The History of Kent County Cricket Club'', p. 21. London: Christopher Helm.

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 his '' The Cricketers of My Time'', recounts that the Duke would sit on the railing round the

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 ...

ground, often exclaiming "Bravo, my little Bowra".Quoted in Lucas, pp. 188–189. Although he is known to have played for a team organised by Dorset as early as 1769, Bowra made his first-class debut in a 1775 match between a Kent XI and a Hampshire side at

Broadhalfpenny Down Broadhalfpenny Down (pronounced /ˌbrɔ:dˈheɪpniː/; '' brawd-HAYP-nee'') is a historic cricket ground in Hambledon, Hampshire. It is known as the "Cradle of Cricket" because it was the home venue in the 18th century of the Hambledon Club, ...

, the ground used 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 a ''Hampshire Chronicle'' report of the game, his name is spelt "Bower".

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 ...

(1862) ''

Scores & Biographies 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 ...

'', vol. 1 (1744–1826). Lillywhite. He went on to make 50 appearances in matches which have been given first-class status, 19 of which were for Kent sides and 15 for England teams. He played for

West Kent Kent is a traditional county in South East England with long-established human occupation. Prehistoric Kent Kent has been occupied since the Lower Palaeolithic as finds from the quarries at Fordwich and Swanscombe attest. The Swanscombe sku ...

twice, for a combined Hampshire and Kent side once and three times for teams put together by Dorset in first-class matches against teams organised by

Sir Horatio Mann Sir Horatio (Horace) Mann, 2nd Baronet (2 February 1744 – 2 April 1814) was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1774 and 1807. He is remembered as a member of the Hambledon Club in Hampshire and a patron of Kent cricket ...

, another Kent cricket patron. He played twice for Surrey sides against Hampshire in 1776 as a

given man This is a general glossary of the terminology used in the sport of cricket. Where words in a sentence are also defined elsewhere in this article, they appear in italics. Certain aspects of cricket terminology are explained in more detail in cr ...

and twice for Hampshire against England sides in 1779 in the same role. After making his final appearance for Kent in 1788, he played in five more first-class matches in 1791 and 1792 for

Brighton Cricket Club Brighton Cricket Club was based at Brighton, Sussex and was briefly a top-class team, playing seven matches between 1791 and 1814 which have been given first-class cricket status. It is often seen as being representative of Sussex as a county.

. His highest first-class score of 60

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

was made in one of these matches against MCC at

Lord's Old Ground Lord's Old Ground was a cricket venue in London that was established by Thomas Lord in 1787. It was used mainly by Marylebone Cricket Club for major matches until 1810, after which a dispute about rent caused Lord to relocate. Matches The first ...

. He scored 1,138 runs and took at least four wickets in first-class matches. He returned to Knole in 1807, again as gamekeeper, and it is believed he stayed there until his death in 1820.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowra, William English cricketers English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 Kent cricketers 1752 births 1820 deaths Surrey cricketers Hampshire cricketers Brighton cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers West Kent cricketers Non-international England cricketers