James Dearman (born c.1808 and christened 31 January 1808 at

Darnall Darnall is a suburb of eastern Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Darnall is approximately east-north-east of Sheffield city centre. History Darnall was initially a small hamlet usually included with Attercliffe. William Walker, a residen ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

; died 3 September 1854) was an English professional

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 who made 22 known appearances in top-class matches from 1826 to 1846. 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 cons ...

and occasional

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

, he was mainly associated with

Sheffield Cricket Club The Sheffield Cricket Club was founded in the 18th century and soon began to play a key role in the development of cricket in northern England. It was the direct forerunner of Yorkshire County Cricket Club and some of the teams fielded by Sheffi ...

. Dearman represented the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

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 ( ...

series. A small man, 5 ft 4in tall, he and his brother Charles played in Sheffield matches up to 1846, and one of them may have appeared in a Marsden match in 1826. Originally a filesmith living in Sheffield, he moved to Darnell in 1835, where he kept the inn and cricket ground, his wife continuing to run the ground after his death. In 1838, Dearman challenged

Alfred Mynn Alfred Mynn (19 January 1807 – 1 November 1861) was an English first-class cricketer during the game's "Roundarm Era". He was a genuine all-rounder, being both an attacking right-handed batsman and a formidable right arm fast bowler. Cricket ...

for the

single wicket Single wicket cricket is a form of cricket played between two individuals, who take turns to bat and bowl against each other. The one bowling is assisted by a team of fielders, who remain as fielders at the change of innings. The winner is the one w ...

"championship of England". They played two matches at Town Malling and Sheffield. Both were won by Mynn. Dearman was so small beside Mynn that they were dubbed "David and Goliath".Altham, p. 74.

References

Sources

* H. S. Altham, ''A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914)'', George Allen & Unwin, 1962 *

Arthur Haygarth Arthur Haygarth (4 August 1825 – 1 May 1903) was a noted English 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 wel ...

, ''Scores & Biographies'', Volumes 1–3 (1744–1848), Lillywhite, 1862 1800s births 1854 deaths English cricketers English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 North v South cricketers Single wicket cricketers Cricketers from Sheffield Sheffield Cricket Club cricketers People from Darnall {{England-cricket-bio-1800s-stub