Thomas Faulkner (c.1719–1785), known as 'Long Tom', was a noted 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 and

prizefighter Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. A Surrey man, he was a prominent single wicket player who is recorded playing in challenge matches at 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 ...

. He played regularly for the prestigious

Addington Cricket Club Addington Cricket Club fielded one of the strongest cricket teams in England from about the 1743 season to the 1752 season although the village of Addington is a very small place in Surrey about three miles south-east of Croydon. The team was ...

in Surrey and appears in the records from 1744 until 1761. He often played in single wicket matches against

Stephen Dingate Stephen Dingate (birth and death details unknown) was a leading English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period. He is believed to have begun playing in the 1720s and was one of the best known players in England through the 1740s. Dingate was born a ...

Cricket career

Faulkner's first recorded appearance was on 2 June 1744 when he played in an eleven-a-side match for

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

against a combined Surrey and Sussex team at the

. Surrey and Sussex won by 55 runs and the match is now famous for the world's oldest known match scorecard, which lists individual scores but no details of dismissals. London, whose team included

given men A given is a statement or a condition assumed to be true or known, often to explain or give an example of something; for related topics, see: * Presumption (in law) * Axiom (in formal logic) * Givenness (in discourse) * Conditional probability, u ...

, was the host club and their opponents were all from the counties of Surrey and Sussex. The visitors batted first and scored 102. London replied with 79 and Faulkner, who was number 6 in the batting order, was out for 1. Surrey and Sussex had a first innings lead of 23. In their second innings, Surrey and Sussex reached 102/6 and then apparently declared their innings closed, although the ''

Laws of Cricket The ''Laws of Cricket'' is a code which specifies the rules of the game of cricket worldwide. The earliest known code was drafted in 1744 and, since 1788, it has been owned and maintained by its custodian, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in Lond ...

'' did not allow for

declaration Declaration may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Declaration'' (book), a self-published electronic pamphlet by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri * ''The Declaration'' (novel), a 2008 children's novel by Gemma Malley Music ...

s in 1744. In the final innings, London needed 126 to win but were all out for 70. Faulkner was dismissed without scoring. The scorecard was kept by the 2nd Duke of Richmond at Goodwood House."At the Sign of the Wicket"
F. S. Ashley-Cooper, ''Cricket'', issue 531, 22 February 1900, p. 22.

Prizefighting

As a prizefighter, Faulkner's first recorded bout was at Long Fields, Bloomsbury, roughly the site of modern

Russell Square Russell Square is a large garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, built predominantly by the firm of James Burton. It is near the University of London's main buildings and the British Museum. Almost exactly square, to the ...

, on 16 February 1757, against a Frenchman, Monsieur Petit. Faulkner won after ten rounds and 39 minutes. One of his last fights was against the Irishman Rossemus Gregory on 28 April 1777, which Faulkner won after twenty rounds and a gruelling 116 minutes. He was known to have had a broken nose.

Retirement and death

Faulkner retired to manage the ''Welsh Harp'' public house at 28, Aylesbury Street, St James Clerkenwell. He died on 14 March 1785, at a stated age of 66 years, and was buried in St James' churchyard.''The Gentleman's Magazine'' (London, 1785), issue 55, p. 237; TNA PROB 11/1127/309.

References

1719 births 1785 deaths English cricketers English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 Surrey cricketers Single wicket cricketers Non-international England cricketers {{England-cricket-bio-1710s-stub