Edmund Chapman (cricketer)

Chapman is one of the earliest cricketers whose name has survived in 18th century records. In 1763, a newspaper report announced his death at Chertsey in his 69th year, and said of him that he was "an eminent master bricklayer" and "accounted one of the most dextrous cricket players in England". The report added that his mother was "then living at the same place, in her 103rd year".^[1] There are no known references to Chapman earlier than his obituary notice but, given his age, he must have been an active player from the 1710s until perhaps the 1730s, presumably playing for Chertsey, and perhaps for Surrey as his county team.^[1][2]

With the exception of William Bedle, Chapman is cricket's earliest known accomplished player. Like Bedle, he is renowned solely for his expertise as a player. Few details of cricket matches in the 17th and early 18th centuries have survived, and so what is known about Chapman's career, as with Bedle, has been pieced together by historical analysis as contemporary newspaper reports rarely mentioned a player by name.^[3] The reason for this lack of surviving data is that freedom of the press was not allowed in England until 1696, around the time of Chapman's birth, and the infant newspaper industry gradually introduced coverage of sporting events, though for many years their emphasis was on betting rather than on the matches themselves.^[4] During the period of Bedle's and Chapman's careers, cricket reports were not only brief but few and far between.^[5]

Even without written record of his exploits, the reputation of players like Bedle and Chapman were known, and shared by a public that was growing increasingly interested in cricket.^[3] As Bowen comments in his history, it is significant that these players were remembered some thirty to forty years after their careers ended.^[3]

Chapman used a bat that was shaped like a modern hockey stick, this being the ideal shape for addressing a ball that was "trundled" or "skimmed" along the ground, as in lawn bowls, and given that he was "a most dextrous player", he was effective in the timing and variety of his strokes.^[6] Bowlers in the 18th century used the underarm style exclusively, but at varying pace, and it is unknown if Chapman was a bowler at all, fast or slow. The ball was either rolled along the ground or, if a fast bowler, skimmed across the surface; pitching was not introduced until about 1760.^[6]