James "Jem" Broadbridge (1795–1843) 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 is widely considered the outstanding

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 ...

in England during the 1820s. He played mainly for Sussex teams and made 102 known appearances in

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 ...

from 1814 to 1840,Jem Broadbridge
CricketArchive. Retrieved 28 June 2009. being best remembered for his part in the introduction of

roundarm bowling In cricket, roundarm bowling is a bowling (cricket), bowling style that was introduced in the first quarter of the 19th century and largely superseded underarm bowling by the 1830s. Using a roundarm action, the bowler (cricket), bowlers extend th ...

. He played for the Players in the

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of cricket matches that began in July 1806 and was abolished in January 1963. It was a match between a team consisting of amateurs (the Gentlemen) and a team consisting of professionals (the Players ...

series and the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

in the North v. South series.

Cricket career

Born on 25 June 1795 in

Duncton Duncton is a village and civil parish in the Chichester (district), District of Chichester in West Sussex, England. The village is in the South Downs south of Petworth on the A285 road. The civil parish is about long north – south and less ...

Petworth Petworth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Chichester (district), Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 road, A272 east–west road from Heathfield, East Sussex, Heat ...

, Sussex, Jem Broadbridge had a known career spanning the 1814 to 1840 English seasons. In 102 matches, he scored 2,671 runs at a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of 16.59 runs per innings with a highest score of 135. He took 51 catches and at least 324 wickets. He had an outstanding season in 1825 when inter-county cricket was revived for the first time since 1796, with Sussex playing two matches each against

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

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 ...

. Broadbridge scored the most runs in the season with 552 at an average of 46.00 and also took the most wickets with 31. This was the first time that one player had led both the batting and bowling rankings in a single season. Broadbridge repeated the feat in 1828, the year after the roundarm trial matches, when he scored 316 runs at 19.75 and took 46 wickets. Although roundarm had not yet been formally legalised, it was noted that Broadbridge and his Sussex colleague William Lillywhite constantly bowled with arm outstretched and the umpires did not no-ball them. Roundarm became known as "Sussex bowling" and this nickname stuck for a long time. Broadbridge had been arguably the best player in England during the 1820s but he was past his best in the 1830s, although he still had much to offer in terms of knowledge and experience. He continued playing until the 1840 season.

Roundarm controversy

Broadbridge and Lillywhite were innovators who did much to have

legalised. In the 1827 season, three roundarm trial matches were staged between Sussex and All-England to evaluate roundarm ''vis-à-vis''

underarm The axilla (: axillae or axillas; also known as the 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 ...

. Broadbridge and Lillywhite were allowed to bowl roundarm for Sussex but the All-England players had to bowl underarm. The result of the "trial" was inconclusive but in practice, with umpires turning a blind eye, Broadbridge and Lillywhite continued to bowl roundarm without penalty.

Style and technique

Known to his fellow cricketers as "Our Jem", Broadbridge was arguably the outstanding

of his time. According to Arthur Haygarth in ''Scores and Biographies'', he was "considered for some seasons the best general cricketer in England, both as a batsman, bowler and

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 ...

player". Arthur Haygarth (1862) ''Scores & Biographies'', Volume 1, p. 403. Lillywhite. He bowled right-arm fast-medium and batted right-handed. He was described by Haygarth as "an extremely hard hitter". The bowling of Broadbridge and Lillywhite was the key factor in the success of Sussex, which was hailed as the Champion County in the 1820s. Haygarth says that Broadbridge began as a "slinging" bowler who afterwards delivered roundarm. He was quicker than medium pace but varied his length and speed "with effect". Broadbridge was described as "one of the most fox-headed fellows that ever bowled and was enough to worry and puzzle any man alive". H S Altham (1963) ''A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914)'', p. 65. Allen & Unwin. In the third of the roundarm trial matches in 1827, Broadbridge was out to one of the most unusual dismissals ever recorded. Despite his team having been told to bat steadily in their second innings when chasing 120 to win, Broadbridge at the start literally threw his bat out of his hands at a wide delivery. Bat and ball made contact and the ball flew off to point where it was caught by William Ward and Broadbridge was out. England then won by 25 runs.

Family and personal life

Broadbridge belonged to a farming family and lived all his life at Duncton. He regularly walked from Duncton to Brighton and back, a round trip, to play cricket.Jem Broadbridge

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. Retrieved 29 June 2009. He was the son of William and Mary Broadbridge. His height was and he weighed about . He died at Duncton in 1843 having not married. His elder brother William Broadbridge (1790–1860) was an occasional Sussex player in 25 matches between 1817 and 1830. His younger brother Robin (born 1797) played four matches between 1822 and 1824. The Broadbridge brothers were cousins of their Sussex colleague George Millyard. Broadbridge's home village of Duncton has a pub named ''The Cricketers'' in honour of Broadbridge and his colleague Jemmy Dean, another lifelong resident.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broadbridge, Jem 1795 births 1843 deaths English cricketers English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 English cricketers of 1826 to 1863 Players cricketers Sussex cricketers North v South cricketers Suffolk cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Kent cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Left-Handed v Right-Handed cricketers Married v Single cricketers Godalming Cricket Club cricketers The Bs cricketers A to K v L to Z cricketers George Osbaldeston's XI cricketers People from Duncton Cricketers from West Sussex