# William Brazier > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Brazier > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/William_Brazier.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brazier > Source revision: 1352170097 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|English cricketer (1755–1829)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}} {{Use British English|date=December 2025}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = William Brazier | birth_date = 1755 | birth_place = [Cudham](/source/Cudham), [Kent](/source/Kent) | death_date = 7 October {{death year and age|1829|1755}} | death_place = Cudham, Kent | batting = Right-handed | bowling = Right arm fast (underarm) | role = [All-rounder](/source/All-rounder) | club1 = [Kent](/source/Kent_county_cricket_team_(pre-1843)) | year1 = 1774–1794 | club2 = [Surrey](/source/Surrey_county_cricket_team_(pre-1846)) | year2 = 1776 }} '''William Brazier''' (1755 – 7 October 1829) was an English [cricket](/source/cricket)er of the late 18th century. He was an [all-rounder](/source/all-rounder) who [batted](/source/batting_(cricket)) right-handed. Using an [underarm](/source/underarm_bowling) action, he was a right arm [fast bowler](/source/fast_bowling). He played mostly for [Kent](/source/Kent_county_cricket_team_(pre-1843)). Brazier also played for [Surrey](/source/Surrey_county_cricket_team_(pre-1846)), [England](/source/Rest_of_England_cricket_teams), and various ''ad hoc'' teams. He was born at [Cudham](/source/Cudham), [Kent](/source/Kent) village {{convert|6|mi|km}} north-west of [Sevenoaks](/source/Sevenoaks).{{cite web |url=https://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/79/79360/79360.html |title=William Brazier |publisher=CricketArchive |access-date=8 December 2025 |url-access=subscription}} ==Cricket career== Brazier is first mentioned in sources when he played for [Kent](/source/Kent_county_cricket_team_(pre-1843)) against [Hampshire](/source/Hampshire_county_cricket_team_(pre-1864)) at [Sevenoaks Vine](/source/Sevenoaks_Vine) in 1774. He was then either 18 or 19 years old. He appeared frequently from then until 1776 but, apart from one [single wicket](/source/single_wicket_cricket) match in 1777, he was not recorded again until 1782. Brazier continued to play frequently until 1790. After that, there is only a single appearance in 1794.{{cite web |url=https://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/79/79360/First-Class_Matches.html |title=First-Class Matches played by William Brazier |publisher=CricketArchive |access-date=8 December 2025 |url-access=subscription}} Brazier's recorded career spanned the [1774](/source/1774_English_cricket_season) to [1794 seasons](/source/1794_English_cricket_season), and he is known to have played in more than sixty matches. The exact number cannot be computed because of missing or incomplete [match scorecards](/source/scoring_(cricket)). The ''CricketArchive'' database, for example, lists 54 but their collection is limited to those matches from which they have a scorecard on the database, and there are more matches without scorecards in which Brazier is known to have played. Using ''CricketArchive's'' fifty matches, Brazier scored 1,216 [runs](/source/run_(cricket)) in these with a highest score of 79, and took 42 [wicket](/source/wicket)s with a best performance of five in one [innings](/source/innings). He held 15 [catches](/source/caught).{{refn|group=note|name=status|Any match listed in [the ACS](/source/The_Association_of_Cricket_Statisticians_and_Historians)' ''Important Match Guide'' (1981) is [historically important](/source/First-class_cricket), and therefore of the highest standard, whether or not a scorecard might exist. The same applies to numerous matches discovered by researchers since 1981.{{sfn|ACS|1981|pp=1–40}}
For further information, see [First-class cricket](/source/First-class_cricket).}} Brazier played as a [given man](/source/given_man) for [Surrey](/source/Surrey_county_cricket_team_(pre-1846)) in 1776.{{refn|group=note|name=given|A given man was a player who didn't normally play for a particular team, but was recruited (or "given" by the opposition) to even the balance between the teams.{{sfn|Moore|1998|p=21}}}} He made several appearances for teams called [England](/source/Rest_of_England_cricket_teams).{{refn|group=note|name=England|Teams called England, or England, had been formed since the 1730s.{{sfn|Waghorn|1899|pp=22–23}} They were by no means international or even national. Cricket in the 18th century was largely confined to the south-eastern counties around London, and England of the time consisted of players from these counties. The teams were in the nature of "Rest of England", and were formed to play against a strong club or county team.{{sfn|ACS|1982|p=23}}}} Although Brazier played for a left-handed team in 1790, ''[Scores and Biographies](/source/Scores_and_Biographies)'' says he was a right-handed batsman who bowled fast and was a powerful hitter. The same source described him as a farmer at Cudham who continued to play village cricket until 1819.{{sfn|Haygarth|1996|p=}} He was a "useful all-rounder" who "hit the ball particularly hard", according to [Ashley Mote](/source/Ashley_Mote).{{sfn|Mote|1997|p=}} [James Pycroft](/source/James_Pycroft), writing in 1851, described him as one of Kent's three best players.{{sfn|Pycroft|1854|p=79}} Brazier died at Cudham in 1829. ==Notes== {{notelist|group=note}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==Bibliography== * {{cite book |last=ACS |author-link=Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians |title=A Guide to Important Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles 1709–1863 |year=1981 |publisher=[ACS](/source/Association_of_Cricket_Statisticians_and_Historians) |location=Nottingham |url=https://archive.acscricket.com/online_library/match_guides/bi_imp_match_guide/index.html |oclc=85045528}} * {{cite book |author=ACS |date=1982 |title=A Guide to FC Cricket Matches Played in the British Isles |publisher=[ACS](/source/Association_of_Cricket_Statisticians_and_Historians) |location=Nottingham |url=https://archive.acscricket.com/online_library/match_guides/bi_match_guide/index.html |oclc=10586869}} * {{cite book |last=Haygarth |first=Arthur |author-link=Arthur Haygarth |title=Scores & Biographies, Volume 1 (1744–1826) |publisher=[Frederick Lillywhite](/source/Frederick_Lillywhite) |location=Kennington |year=1996 |orig-year=1862 |isbn=978-19-00592-23-9}} * {{cite book |last=Moore |first=Dudley |title=The History of Kent County Cricket Club |publisher=Christopher Helm |location=London |year=1998 |isbn=978-07-47022-09-1}} * {{cite book |last=Mote |first=Ashley |title=The Glory Days of Cricket |publisher=Robson |location=London |year=1997 |isbn=978-18-61051-11-0}} * {{cite book |last=Pycroft |first=Rev. James |author-link=James Pycroft |title=The Cricket Field |year=1854 |publisher=Longman |location=London |oclc=1480847561}} * {{cite book |last=Waghorn |first=H. T. |author-link=H. T. Waghorn |title=Cricket Scores, Notes, &c. From 1730–1773 |publisher=Blackwood |location=Edinburgh |year=1899 |oclc=1086375331}} ==External links== * {{cricinfo|id=535034}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Brazier, William}} Category:1755 births Category:1829 deaths Category:Cricketers from the London Borough of Bromley Category:English cricketers of 1701 to 1786 Category:English cricketers of 1787 to 1825 Category:English cricketers Category:Kent cricketers Category:Left-Handed v Right-Handed cricketers Category:Surrey cricketers Category:West Kent cricketers --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [William Brazier](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brazier) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brazier?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.