William Harrington (27 December 1869 – 2 January 1940)
/ref> was an Irish

cricketer 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 ...

. A right-handed batsman and

off spin Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right arm, right-handed spin bowling, spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal Delivery (cr ...

bowler, he played 28 times for the Ireland cricket team between 1894 and 1921,CricketEurope Stats Zone profile
/ref> including fifteen first-class matches.First-class matches played by Bill Harrington at Cricket Archive
/ref>

Playing career

Harrington made his debut for Ireland against

I Zingari I Zingari (from dialectalized Italian , meaning "the Gypsies"; corresponding to standard Italian ') are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs, founded in 1845 and 1888 respectively. It is the oldest and perhaps the most famous of the 'wa ...

in July 1894, and soon became a regular member of the team. He played seven further times for Ireland until 1901, playing against I Zingari, the MCC,

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. ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, amongst others. In 1902, he made his first-class debut for Ireland, playing against London County in May. He played three further first-class matches that month, against the MCC,

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He took 11 wickets in the match against Cambridge University, the only time he took more than ten wickets in a match for Ireland. His figures of 7/76 in the first

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

were his best innings bowling figures for Ireland. His career continued over the next ten years, playing against Scotland, South Africa, Cambridge University and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, amongst others. He went with the Gentlemen of Ireland on a tour to the US in 1909. The tour started well for the Gentlemen of Ireland with a five wicket win against New York on

Staten Island Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...

but disaster struck in the next match against

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Bart King John Barton "Bart" King (October 19, 1873 – October 17, 1965) was an American cricketer, active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. King was part of the Philadelphia team that played from the end of the 19th century until the outbreak ...

ripped through the Irish batting line up, taking all ten wickets in the first innings and a hat-trick in the second as the Gentlemen of Ireland lost by an innings and 168 runs. Harrington stood tall in the second innings with 27

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 ...

, the highest score of that innings for the Irish. Ireland also lost the last match of the tour, also against Philadelphia by an innings.Scorecard
of Philadelphia v Gentlemen of Ireland match, 24 September 1909 at Cricket Archive After the American tour, he played three first-class matches against Scotland in 1910, 1911 and 1912. He then came back to the Irish side nine years later for a final match against Scotland in August 1921 at the age of 51.

Statistics

In all matches for Ireland, he scored 270 runs at an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

of 8.44 with a high score of 30 against Cambridge University in 1904. He took 112 wickets at an

of 16.62. He took

five wickets in an innings In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Taki ...

eight times and

ten wickets in a match In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bowle ...

once.

References

External links

CricketEurope Stats Zone profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington, William 1869 births 1940 deaths Cricketers from County Dublin Irish cricketers Gentlemen of Ireland cricketers