Clement Booth (11 May 1842 – 14 July 1926) was an English first-class

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er and administrator. Booth played

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 of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for several teams, but was largely associated with

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

and the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

. He was Hampshire County Cricket Club's second

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

at first-class level. As an administrator, he was the honorary secretary of both Lincolnshire and Hampshire.

Early life and cricket career

The son of The Reverend Thomas Willingham Booth, he was born in May 1842 at Friskney, Lincolnshire. Booth was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

, where he was coached in cricket by Alfred Diver and Daniel Hayward. From there, he matriculated to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. At Cambridge, Booth excelled at sport, gaining

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

in both cricket and athletics. As a member of

Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club, established in 1820, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. The club was recognised as holding first-class cricket, first-class status until 2020. The university played ...

, he made his debut in

for the University against the

(MCC) at

Fenner's Fenner's is Cambridge University Cricket Club's ground. History Cambridge University Cricket Club had previously played at two grounds in Cambridge, the University Ground and Parker's Piece. In 1846, Francis Fenner leased a former cherry orc ...

in 1862. He played first-class cricket for the University until 1865, making ten appearances, which included four in

The University Match The University Match is an annual cricket fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club. First played in 1827, it is the oldest varsity match in the world. Until 2001, when first-class cricket was reorga ...

. Booth played minor matches for an early Lincolnshire county organisation, acting as its honorary secretary from 1867 until the end 1871, when he resigned. In the same year as his resignation from Lincolnshire, played first-class cricket for the MCC. His first appearance for the MCC came against Cambridge University at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

in 1871, with him making 40 appearances for the MCC from 1871 to 1886. Booth scored 1,013 runs for the MCC at an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 15.58; he made one half century, a score of 78.

Hampshire cricket and later life

In 1872, Booth had moved to

where he was a farmer at New House Farm in Kilmeston. Upon moving south, he played minor matches for

Hampshire County Cricket Club Hampshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Hamp ...

from 1873, later captaining the club against

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, which was their first appearance in first-class cricket since 1870; Booth was the club's second captain, after the late

George Ede George Matthew Ede (22 February 1834 – 13 March 1870) was an English first-class cricketer and a Grand National winning jockey. A founding member of Hampshire County Cricket Club, he was the club's first captain from 1864 to 1869. In horse ...

. He played first-class cricket for Hampshire until 1880, making 20 appearances. In these, he scored 620 runs at an average of 17.71; he made three half centuries, recording a highest score of 78. Booth was captain until 1878, being replaced by Arthur Wood in 1879. In addition to playing cricket for Hampshire, he also served as the club's honorary secretary from 1874 to 1879, being succeeded by Russell Bencraft. Upon his appointment to the position, Booth endeavoured to improve the fortunes of Hampshire cricket, although he was unsuccessful in improving the Hampshire's fortunes. Besides his lengthy associations with Cambridge University, the MCC and Hampshire, Booth also played first-class cricket on three occasions for the South in the

North v South The North of England and South of England cricket teams appeared in first-class matches between the 1836 and 1961 seasons, most often playing against each other but also individually in games against touring teams, Marylebone Cricket Club ( ...

match, as well as making a single appearance each for the Gentlemen of England and an Oxford and Cambridge Universities Past and Present team. ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' described Booth's as a "sound free batsman, with strong back play and a fine cut, and an excellent

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

at long-leg and cover". By March 1881, his farm had encountered financial difficulties, with Booth being declared bankrupt. Following his bankruptcy, he returned to farming in Lincolnshire at Hundleby Grange near

Spilsby Spilsby is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The town is adjacent to the main A16 road (England), A16, east of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln, north-east of Boston ...

. He played

club cricket Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are obse ...

for Spilsby in the 1880s and was associated with Skegness Cricket Club into the 1890s and the turn of the century, helping to organise matches for the club against the MCC and acting as the club's president. In March 1917, Booth and his wife celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, having married at Elkstone near

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

in March 1867. Booth died at Spilsby in July 1926.Famous cricketer death. ''Louth Standard''. 10 July 1926. p. 15

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Booth, Clement 1842 births 1926 deaths People from Spilsby People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English cricketers Cambridge University cricketers English cricket administrators 19th-century English farmers Hampshire cricketers Hampshire cricket captains Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers North v South cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Oxford and Cambridge Universities Past and Present cricketers 20th-century English farmers Cricketers from Lincolnshire