John William Sharpe (9 December 1866 – 19 June 1936) was a bowler who was

George Lohmann George Alfred Lohmann (2 June 1865 – 1 December 1901) was an English cricketer, regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time. Statistically, he holds the lowest lifetime Test bowling average among bowlers with more than fifteen wickets ...

's partner in the formidable Surrey sides that dominated the first years of the ''official'' cricket

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

. However, because softer and more primitive wickets meant backup bowlers were often unnecessary, Sharpe could never get into form once William Lockwood began developing as a bowler late in 1891, and his county career was, for his time, quite short despite some notable successes in Australia. Though born at

Ruddington Ruddington () is a large village in the Borough of Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire, England. The village is south of Nottingham and northwest of Loughborough. It had a population of 6,441 at the United Kingdom census, 2001, 2001 Census, increas ...

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

to the cricketer

Samuel Sharpe Samuel Sharpe, or Sharp (1801 – 23 May 1832), also known as Sam Sharpe, was an enslaved Jamaican who was the leader of the widespread 1831–32 Baptist War slave rebellion (also known as the Christmas Rebellion) in Jamaica. He was procla ...

, Sharpe was overlooked by his native county in the 1880s when bowlers such as Shaw and Attewell could do everything needed to win matches, and he qualified for Surrey in the late 1880s. He emerged in 1889 with 5 for 5 against

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, but was always overshadowed by Lohmann in purely county cricket. However, in 1890 Sharpe developed so much that he took 102 wickets in county matches for just 12.08 each – beating Lohmann in the averages. Because of his superb work in the "short spells of fine weather" (''

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 ...

'' 1891) it was thought Sharpe was the best hard-wicket bowler in England. In 1891, Sharpe fully maintained his reputation for three months, with 9 for 47 on a bumpy wicket against Middlesex being outstanding, but he fell off in August as Lockwood showed some deadly form. However, his reputation on hard wickets meant he was already an automatic choice for the 1891/1892 Ashes tour and he worked remarkably hard – often with considerable success, as when he took 6 for 84 off 51 overs in the First Test at the

MCG The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as the 'G, is a sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere, the el ...

. In 1892, though, Sharpe could never get into form and he was dropped from the Surrey side long before the season ended. Though he was recalled in 1893 when Richardson was injured, he did nothing and Surrey released him at the end of the year. He played for Nottinghamshire a couple of times in 1894, but any hopes he would strengthen their weakening bowling were destroyed very quickly: he took only ten wickets at 28.40 under conditions tremendously favourable to bowlers, and retired at the then-remarkably young age of 28. Sharpe bowled fast-medium and could make the ball break back to an unusual degree on hard pitches. His extra-fast yorker was often deadly. Having lost an eye, he had no pretensions as a batsman, but he was quite active in the field for a player in that time. As

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

he played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

. He died at Ruddington in 1936.John Sharpe
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2023-05-11.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpe, John 1866 births 1936 deaths England Test cricketers English cricketers Nottinghamshire cricketers Surrey cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year People from Ruddington Cricketers from Nottinghamshire North v South cricketers Players cricketers English disabled sportspeople British disabled sportspeople English men's footballers Notts County F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football forwards Footballers from Nottinghamshire