John Small

Who was John Small?

John Small was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket from c. 1756 to 1798, one of the longest careers on record.

Small is generally regarded as the greatest batsman of the 18th century and was the first to master the use of the modern straight bat which was introduced in the 1760s. He scored the earliest known century in first-class cricket and was acclaimed as the greatest player of the famous Hambledon Club. In 1997, he was named by The Times as one of its 100 Greatest Cricketers of All Time. He is the first person known to have been described in literature in terms that attest him to have been a superstar.

He was a very influential player who was involved in the creation of two major and permanent additions to the Laws of Cricket: the maximum width of the bat and the introduction of the middle stump.