__NOTOC__ William Bullen was a leading 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 throughout the last quarter of the 18th century, his known career spanning the years 1773 to 1800. He was an

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

who probably batted right-handed. He played mainly for Kent sides although he also appeared for England XIs and a variety of other sides.

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 ...

, writing in the 1860s, describes Bullen as a "close set, strong built man" and a "crack" (i.e. expert) player, who was a "renowned batsman and bowler".Haygarth, p. 8. He was a

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. ...

, in 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, and a hard-hitting batsman who was a "powerful" player. He is reputed to have "frequently bowled the sixth part of a mile (about 300 yards), or the whole length of 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 ...

in London". He was possibly a native of

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...

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 is known to have played for

Dartford Cricket Club Dartford Cricket Club is one of the oldest cricket clubs in England with origins which date from the early 18th century, perhaps earlier. The earliest known match involving a team from Dartford took place in 1722, against London, but the club's ...

as well as teams organised by landowners from the western parts of the county. Bullen is known to have played in 113 matches retrospectively recognised as first-class.William Bullen
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2020-08-06. In these matches, Bullen totalled 1,777 runs with a highest score of 54, his only half-century. He held 119 catches and is credited with 181

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. ...

s. His best known performance was six wickets in an innings. Bullen played in nearly every season from 1773 to 1800. The first match he is known to have played in was for an England XI against a Hampshire side on the Artillery Ground in July 1773. He batted in both the England innings, scoring 1 in each. In July 1774, playing again for England against Hampshire 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 ...

, he took five wickets in Hampshire's first innings, the earliest recorded instance of a bowler taking

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 ...

. He played for Kent sides from 1774, including matches against Maidstone teams in 1777,Waghorn, p. 48. and his final known matches were in four odds matches for Kent sides against England teams in 1800.

Notes

References

Sources

Derek Birley Sir Derek Birley (31 May 1926 – 14 May 2002) was a distinguished English educationalist and a prize-winning writer on the social history of sport, particularly cricket. Life and career Born in a mining community in West Yorkshire, Birley attend ...

(1999) ''A Social History of English Cricket''. London: Aurum Press. * Derek Carlaw (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition).
Available online
at

The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Statis ...

. Retrieved 2020-12-21.) *

(1862) ''Scores & Biographies'', Vol. I (1744–1826). Lillywhite. * H. T. Waghorn (1906) ''The Dawn of Cricket''. Electric Press.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bullen, William Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown English cricketers English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 Gentlemen of Kent cricketers Hampshire cricketers Kent cricketers Left-Handed v Right-Handed cricketers Non-international England cricketers Old Etonians cricketers R. Leigh's XI cricketers West Kent cricketers