Joseph Grout

{{Short description|English cricketer (1816–1875)}} {{Use British English|date=February 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Joseph Grout | image = A cricket match on Parker's Piece - geograph.org.uk - 1333315.jpg | caption = A cricket match on Parker's Piece, where Grout played many of his matches, | country = England | fullname = Joseph Grout | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1816|08|01}} | birth_place = Puckeridge, Hertfordshire | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1875|10|11|1816|08|01}} | death_place = Forest Hill, London | nickname = | heightft = | heightinch = | heightm = | batting = | bowling = | role = Batsman

| date = 21 June | year = 2013 | source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/13942.html CricInfo }}

'''Joseph Grout''' (1 August 1816 – 11 October 1875) was an English first-class cricketer. An alumnus of St John's College, Cambridge,<ref>{{acad|id=GRT836J|name=Grout, Joseph}}</ref> Grout played eight first-class matches for the University cricket team during his time there.<ref name="cricpro">{{cite web | url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/13942.html | title=Player Profile: Joseph Grout | publisher=ESPN CricInfo | accessdate=21 June 2013}}</ref> He played for the University's Second XI in 1837 – scoring six and six, and then for the First XI in an unofficial match scoring 20 and 12 – before graduating to first-class cricket in May 1838 in time to face the Marylebone Cricket Club.<ref name="MISCELLANEOUS MATCHES PLAYED BY JOSEPH GROUT">{{cite web | url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/36/36916/Miscellaneous_Matches.html | title=Miscellaneous Matches Played by Joseph Grout | publisher=Cricket Archive | accessdate=21 June 2013}}</ref> He played seven more matches in the summers of 1838 and 1839 for both the Cambridge University team and the Cambridge Town cricket club, facing the MCC and Oxford University teams.<ref name="FIRST-CLASS MATCHES PLAYED BY JOSEPH GROUT">{{cite web | url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/36/36916/First-Class_Matches.html | title=First-Class Matches Played by Joseph Grout | publisher=Cricket Archive | accessdate=21 June 2013}}</ref>

==Career==

Grout was born in August 1816 in Puckeridge, a hamlet in East Hertfordshire, England.<ref name="cricpro" /> He attended Cambridge University in 1837 and made two appearances for the Second XI of the University Cricket Club. In first, on 13 May, he scored six runs in both innings as the Second XI faced the First XI at Parker's Piece cricket ground, a square green common located near the centre of Cambridge known primarily as the birthplace of the rules of Association Football.<ref name="MISCELLANEOUS MATCHES PLAYED BY JOSEPH GROUT" /> He played a week later, on 20 May, for the First XI against an invitational side entitled Lincoln's Inn and Temple, a team who played several non-first-class games against Cambridge and the MXX in the 1830s and 1840s.<ref name="OTHER MATCHES PLAYED BY LINCOLN'S INN AND TEMPLE">{{cite web | url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Teams/13/13520/Other_Matches.html | title=Other Matches Played by Lincoln's Inn and Temple | publisher=Cricket Archive | accessdate=21 June 2013 | archive-date=10 October 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131010095059/http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Teams/13/13520/Other_Matches.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> He made scores of 20 and 12.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/341/341607.html | title=Cambridge University v Lincoln's Inn and Temple Other matches in England 1839 | publisher=Cricket Archive | accessdate=21 June 2013}}</ref>

Graduating to first-class cricket in 1838, Grout made his first appearance against the MCC on 17 May at Parker's Piece, where he made 14 as Cambridge took a decisive nine-wicket victory.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/0/583.html | title=Cambridge University v Marylebone Cricket Club University Match 1838 | publisher=Cricket Archive | accessdate=21 June 2013}}</ref> He then moved down the batting order and scored one and 17 in a rain-affected match against Cambridge Town cricket club,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/0/584.html | title=Cambridge Town Club v Cambridge University University Match 1838 | publisher=Cricket Archive | accessdate=21 June 2013}}</ref> followed by five and 15 against Oxford University on 6 July.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/0/589.html | title=Oxford University v Cambridge University University Match 1838 | publisher=Cricket Archive | accessdate=21 June 2013}}</ref> In total he scored 69 runs across his four matches in the summer of 1838, at a batting average of 11.50.<ref name="FIRST-CLASS BATTING AND FIELDING IN EACH SEASON BY JOSEPH GROUT">{{cite web | url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/36/36916/f_Batting_by_Season.html | title=First-Class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Joseph Grout | publisher=Cricket Archive | accessdate=21 June 2013}}</ref>

Grout continued to play for the University team in the summer of 1839. He faced Cambridge Town once more on 16 May, making 14 and zero,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/0/598.html | title=Cambridge Town Club v Cambridge University University Match 1839 | publisher=Cricket Archive | accessdate=21 June 2013}}</ref> followed by 19 – then a career best – against the MCC on 23 May.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/0/599.html | title=Cambridge University v Marylebone Cricket Club University Match 1839 | publisher=Cricket Archive | accessdate=21 June 2013}}</ref> Following a score of 18 against Oxford University, Grout then made his career-best score in what would be his final match. Against the MCC at Lord's Cricket Ground he made 28 in the first innings before falling to James Cobbett, followed by a duck in the second.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/0/604.html | title=Marylebone Cricket Club v Oxford and Cambridge Universities Other First-Class matches in England 1839 | publisher=Cricket Archive | accessdate=21 June 2013}}</ref> His second and final season had yielded 79 runs at 13.16.<ref name="FIRST-CLASS BATTING AND FIELDING IN EACH SEASON BY JOSEPH GROUT" />

==Notes== {{reflist|2}}

==External links== * {{cricinfo|ref=ci/content/player/13942.html}} * {{cricketarchive|ref=Archive/Players/36/36916/36916.html}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grout, Joseph}} Category:1816 births Category:1875 deaths Category:People from East Hertfordshire District Category:English cricketers Category:Cambridge University cricketers Category:Cambridge Town Club cricketers Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Category:Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricketers Category:Cricketers from Hertfordshire Category:19th-century English sportsmen