Thomas Boxall (dates unknown) was a noted English
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
er who played during the late 18th century. He is considered to have been "one of the finest professional cricketers" of his day.
Boxall was a noted bowler and is believed to be the first player to have bowled
leg breaks.
[ Rajan A (2011) ''Twirlymen: The Unlikely History of Cricket's Greatest Spin Bowlers'', p. 24. London: Yellow Jersey Press. ] Bowling
underarm
The axilla (also, 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 the thoracic cage, bounded sup ...
, he took more than 300 wickets in 89
first-class matches, playing between 1789 and 1803.
[Thomas Boxall]
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2022-06-29. As a professional he played for a wide variety of sides, most frequently appearing for England sides and for
Kent county cricket teams
Kent county cricket teams have played matches since the early 18th century. The county's links to cricket go back further with Kent and Sussex generally accepted as the birthplace of the sport. It is widely believed that cricket was first played ...
, although he played as a
given man for both
Brighton and
Middlesex teams.
[ According to '' Scores and Biographies'', Boxall was around tall, strong and muscular and may have been born at ]Ripley, Surrey
Ripley is a village in Surrey, England. The village has existed since Norman times – the chancel of the church of St. Mary Magdalen shows construction of circa 1160 there and supporting feet of fines and ecclesiastical records mention th ...
. He was employed by Stephen Amherst, who organised matches featuring Kent sides, at his estate in Kent. Amherst constructed an indoor practice area in a converted barn so that Boxall could bowl during the winter.[
In 1790, Boxall published one of the earliest cricket instructional books, ''The Cricket Guide''. In 1801, towards the end of his playing career, he published ''Rules and Instructions for Playing at the Game of Cricket''. Early editions of the book are considered to be "extremely scarce" and are prized by collectors of early cricket literature. The book, which was printed in London by E Billing and was pocket sized, has been described as "perhaps the most rare and coveted" example of early cricket literature, and "the rarest of all cricket items". A copy of the second edition of the book, thought to have been printed in 1802, sold at auction for £2,600 in 2010.][Allen DR (2011) Cricketana, in '']Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
''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" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
'', 2011. London: Bloomsbury.
Notes
References
Year of death missing
English cricketers
Kent cricketers
English cricketers of 1787 to 1825
Surrey cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Middlesex cricketers
R. Leigh's XI cricketers
Brighton cricketers
Non-international England cricketers
West Kent cricketers
Colonel C. Lennox's XI cricketers
Lord Yarmouth's XI cricketers
T. Mellish's XI cricketers
Place of birth missing
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