William Hampton

Who was William Hampton?

William Marcus Hampton was an English cricketer who played 13 first-class games in the 1920s. He attended, and played for the XI at, Clifton College.

Born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, Hampton made his debut for Warwickshire against Northamptonshire in August 1922, making a useful 34 in the first innings. However, his next first-class appearances were not for three years, and were for Worcestershire. In his second match for his new county, against Warwickshire, Hampton made his highest score of 57 and took his only first-class wicket, that of Leonard Bates. However, Worcestershire lost by the little matter of 359 runs, which remained the county's second-worst defeat in terms of runs until 2001.

Hampton played a number of further matches for Worcestershire in 1925, hitting 55 against Hampshire in late July, but he was too often dismissed for small scores, being dismissed for single figures in 13 of his 22 innings. He made only one further first-class appearance, in July 1926, when he suffered the indignity of making a pair against Derbyshire.

Eden later taught at Winchester School. He died in Fordingbridge, Hampshire at the age of 61.