John Bayton (date of birth unknown; died 1797 at West Dean,

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

) was an English

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

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 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 ...

during the 1760s and 1770s. Bayton, a noted

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

, was chiefly associated with the

Hambledon Club The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England. Foundation The origin of the club, based near Hambledon in rural Hampshire, ...

and played for both

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

. His career was virtually over by the time detailed scorecards began to be kept in the 1772 English cricket season and so little is known about his personal history. He is variously called Bayton, Boyton or Boynton by different sources but his exact name was John Bayton.Ashley-Cooper, pp. 185–186. He was an outstanding batsman for Hampshire in both the 1768 season and the 1769 season, after which he became an occasional player who had left Hambledon by 1771. Bayton was due to play for

against

in a cancelled match of the 1773 season.

Timothy J McCann Timothy John McCann (4 June 1944 – 26 June 2022) was an English archivist. Tim McCann joined the West Sussex Record Office in Chichester in 1967. He wrote several books about the history of Sussex including a classic work on cricket: ''Sus ...

, ''Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century'', Sussex Record Society, 2004 Two verses from the ''Hambledon Club Song'', written by Reverend Reynell Cotton in about the 1771 season, indicate a certain bravado about the loss of John Bayton but there seems little doubt from the known records that he was a fine batsman and not the sort any club would wish to lose. The verses go: :::::''Then why should we fear either Sackville or Mann,'' :::::''Or repine at the loss of both Bayton and Land?''

Ashley Mote Ashley Mote (25 January 1936 – 30 March 2020) was a British politician who was a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 2004 to 2009. Elected representing the UK Independence Party, he became a non-inscrit one mo ...

, ''The Glory Days of Cricket'', Robson, 1997

References

Bibliography

* F S Ashley-Cooper, ''The Hambledon Cricket Chronicle'', Herbert Jenkins, 1924 *

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'', Volume 1 (1744–1826), Lillywhite, 1862 *

, ''Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century'', Sussex Record Society, 2004 *

, ''The Glory Days of Cricket'', Robson, 1997 1797 deaths People from West Dean, West Sussex English cricketers English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 Hampshire cricketers Hambledon cricketers Sussex cricketers Year of birth unknown {{england-cricket-bio-stub