{{short description|English cricketer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Use British English|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Stephen Amherst | birth_date = 1750 | birth_place = | death_date = 6 May {{death year and age|1814|1750}} | death_place = West Farleigh, Kent | batting = | bowling = | role = | family = | club1 = Kent | year1 = {{nowrap|1786–1795}} }} '''Stephen Amherst''' or '''Amhurst''' (1750 – 6 May 1814), was an English cricketer and organiser of cricket matches.
Amherst was born in 1750.<ref name=ci>[https://www.espncricinfo.com/player/stephen-amherst-535347 Stephen Amherst], CricInfo. Retrieved 8 April 2022.</ref> He is most associated with organising matches involving Kent towards the end of the 18th century.<ref name=jubilee>Ranjitsinhji KS ed. (1897) ''The Jubilee Book of Cricket'', p. 394. London: William Blackwood and Sons. ([https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Jubilee_Book_of_Cricket/Chapter_10 Available online] at Wikisource. Retrieved 9 April 2022.</ref><ref name=pycroft>Pycroft J The Hambledon Club and the Old Players, in Lucas EV ed (1907) ''The Hambledon Men'', p. 136, p. 142. London: Henry Frowde. ([https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Hambledon_Men/The_Hambledon_Club_and_the_Old_Players Available online] at Wikisource. Retrieved 20 March 2022.)</ref> Amherst employed cricketers such as Thomas Boxall, a noted bowler who is believed to have been the first player to bowl legbreaks,<ref name=rajan>Rajan A (2011) ''Twirlymen: The Unlikely History of Cricket's Greatest Spin Bowlers'', p. 24. London: Yellow Jersey Press. {{isbn|9780224083232}}</ref> and John Crawte, who he persuaded to move from the Hambledon Club in Hampshire.<ref name=pycroft/><ref name=arlott>John Arlott (1978) [http://www.alresfordhistandlit.co.uk/9%20Alresford%27s%20Famous%20Cricketers.pdf Alresford's Famous Cricketers], Alresford Historical and Literary Society. Retrieved 21 March 2022.</ref> Both men played for Kent whilst employed by Amherst who built an indoor training centre in a converted barn for Boxall to use.<ref name=rajan/>
As well as organising matches, Amherst played in 31 matches between 1783 and 1795.<ref name=ci/><ref name=ca>[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/79/79355/79355.html Stephen Amherst], CricketArchive. Retrieved 10 April 2018. {{subscription required}}</ref> He played most frequently for Kent, also for West Kent, East Kent, and the Gentlemen of Kent. He is known to have played in minor matches until at least 1800, including many for Rochester Cricket Club.<ref name=ca/>
Amherst died at West Farleigh near Maidstone in Kent in 1814.<ref name=ci/><ref name=ca/> Arthur Haygarth quoted from a tablet in the parish church at West Farleigh to confirm his view that the spelling of Amherst's name was correct, rather than Amhurst which is used in a number of other sources.<ref name=wkvek1783>[https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/england-domestic-season-1783-535342/west-kent-vs-east-kent-535351/full-scorecard West Kent vs East Kent, Jun 25–26 1783] – scorecard, CricInfo. Retrieved 21 March 2022.</ref> A Stephen Amhurst is recorded as the owner of Court Lodge in the village in 1798, a house his family had lived in since the 17th century,<ref>Hasted E (1798) ''The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 5'', pp. 136–145. Canterbury: Bristow. ([https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol5/pp136-145#h3-0003 Available online] at British History Online. Retrieved 9 April 2022.)</ref><ref>[https://eastfarleigh-pc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/A-brief-history-of-east-farleigh.pdf East Farleigh: a brief history], p. 19, p. 27. East Farleigh Parish Council (2016).</ref> and it is possible that both spellings of the name were used by the same family.<ref name=wkvek1783/>
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{cricinfo|id=535347}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amherst, Stephen}} Category:English cricketers Category:Kent cricketers Category:English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 Category:English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 Category:1750 births Category:1814 deaths Category:Middlesex cricketers Category:English amateur cricketers Category:Non-international England cricketers Category:Gentlemen of England cricketers Category:Gentlemen of Kent cricketers Category:Cricket patrons Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Category:West Kent cricketers Category:East Kent cricketers Category:Place of birth missing