James Southerton

James Southerton

Personal information
Full name	James Southerton
Born	(1827-11-16)16 November 1827 Petworth, Sussex, England
Died	16 June 1880(1880-06-16) (aged 52) Mitcham, Surrey, England
Nickname	Man of Many Counties[1]
Height	5 ft 6[1] in (1.68 m)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm roundarm slow Right-arm overarm slow[2]
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 10)	15 March 1877 v Australia
Last Test	4 April 1877 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1854–1879	Surrey
1858–1872	Sussex
1861	Hampshire (pre-1864)
1864–1867	Hampshire
Umpiring information
FC umpired	12 (1864–1879)
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class Matches 2 286 Runs scored 7 3,159 Batting average 3.50 9.02 100s/50s –/– –/3 Top score 6 82 Balls bowled 263 68,668 Wickets 7 1,682 Bowling average 15.28 14.43 5 wickets in innings – 192 10 wickets in match – 59 Best bowling 4/46 9/30 Catches/stumpings 2/– 215/3
Source: Cricinfo, 13 April 2020

James Southerton (16 November 1827 – 16 June 1880) was an English professional cricketer who played Test cricket for England in 1877, and first-class cricket between 1854 and 1879. His domestic career was spent largely with three counties: Hampshire, Surrey, and Sussex. He would sometimes play for multiple counties in a season, earning him the moniker the 'Man of Many Counties'. Having began his career as a batsman, it was not until later in his career that he developed into a formidable roundarm slow bowler, becoming the greatest slow bowler of the 1870s, alongside Alfred Shaw. He was the first man to take 200 first-class wickets in a season, a feat he achieved in 1870. In his first-class, he would take nearly 1,700 wickets from 286 matches, at an impressive bowling average of 14.43. Southerton toured toured Australia in 1876–77 with James Lillywhite's side, playing in the first-ever Test match to be played, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against Australia. At 49 years and 119 days old when he made his Test debut, he remains as of 2024 the oldest Test debutant of all time; his Test career comprised the two Tests played on the 1876–77 tour, with Souterton taking 7 wickets.

Outside of playing, he stood intermittently as an umpire. For the last ten-years of his life, he was the landlord of The Cricketers public house in Mitcham. He became the first Test cricketer to die in June 1880, when he succumbed to a short attack of pleurisy.