William Percival Pickering (25 October 1819 – 16 August 1905) was an English

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er with amateur status. He was one of the founders of

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 ...

in 1845 and later, having emigrated to Canada, played a significant role in the beginnings of international cricket especially through his proposal to fund an English tour of North America. Pickering is recorded in 29 matches from 1840 to 1848 which are designated first-class by ''CricketArchive'', totalling 445 runs at the low average of 9.67 with a highest score of 51

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 ...

, holding 17 catches and taking 7 wickets.

Eton

Born in

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

, London, Pickering was the youngest son of Edward Rowland Pickering of Clapham and was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

where, according to his obituary in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'', "he is believed to be one of the youngest cricketers who ever took part in the great public school matches at Lord's between Eton, Harrow and Winchester". He played for Eton in 1834, 1835, 1837 and 1838, captaining the side in the last two years but missing the 1836 season entirely. The obituary claims that Pickering's strength was his fielding: "He generally fielded at cover-point, and, being ambidextrous, ran out, by returning the ball with his left hand, many batsmen who had forgotten this peculiarity." After Eton he went up to

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

Surrey

Pickering was instrumental in the foundation of

, speaking at a meeting of Surrey cricketers in October 1845 to explain the objectives of the newly formed club: i.e., to develop the cricketing strength of the county and provide it with "a local habitation and a name". Pickering played in two of Surrey's earliest matches in 1846 and 1848; also representing the

Surrey Club The purpose of this list is to identify all historically significant English cricket clubs and teams which played in significant matches, some of which may have been given first-class status. It concentrates on those which are now defunct or not ...

against

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

Lord's Cricket Ground 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 ...

in 1846.

Canada

After 1848, Pickering's playing career diminished and he made only two recorded appearances, both in minor matches for

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 ...

, from 1849 to 1851. He then emigrated to Canada and was active as a player there until he returned to England in either 1859 or 1860. Pickering played for the Canadian national team against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on four occasions between 1853 and 1857. Pickering was involved with the Montreal Cricket Club, which was the leading cricket body in North American cricket in the 1850s. In 1856, he proposed that an English team should tour North America on the guarantee of the Montreal Club. Negotiations between various parties lasted three years and were finally concluded during Canterbury Week in August 1859. As a result, George Parr led the first English touring team to North America in September and October that year, the twelve players receiving £50 each plus expenses from the Montreal Club.Altham, p.129. Pickering made four appearances in matches involving Parr's team. Pickering had returned to England by the summer of 1860 and was a frequent member of I Zingari teams until 1872. He became a member of the

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but at the time of his death "had emigrated to Canada some years ago". He was recorded in five matches in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

between 1877 and 1879. He died 16 August 1905 in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, British Columbia.

Eton

Surrey

Canada

Notes

Further reading