George Brown

Who was George Brown?

George Brown was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1819 to 1838.

A right-handed batsman and fast underarm bowler who played for Hampshire and Sussex, he made 51 known appearances in first-class matches. He represented the Players in the Gentlemen v Players series.

Brown was credited with 89 wickets in his career with a best return of six in one innings. He had a reputation for extreme pace and was widely known as "Brown of Brighton". He is said, though the story may be apocryphal, to have once killed a dog when a ball he had bowled went past the stumps and through a coat held by the longstop, hitting the dog which was behind the coat. Another of his longstops, a man called Dench, insisted on fielding with a sack of straw tied to his chest for protection. E H Budd played against both Brown and Walter Marcon, who had a similar reputation, and Budd said that "Brown was not more terrific in his speed than Marcon", an elaborate way of saying that they were both extremely fast. Brown was a useful batsman and made 1053 runs at 11.44 with a top score of 70 which he scored during the first of the three roundarm trial matches. He died in Sompting, Sussex.