John Small (cricket)
Encyclopedia
John Small was an English
professional cricket
er 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.
Knowledge of the early years of his career are sketchy due to the lack of detailed records before scorecards became common from 1772, but it is believed he began playing in top-class cricket during the 1750s and may well have taken part in the earliest known Hambledon matches, a tri-series against Dartford
in 1756.
when Hambledon played three first-class matches against Chertsey
(i.e., effectively a Hampshire
v Surrey
series). The Hambledon team in the first match is believed to have been: Richard Nyren
(captain), John Small, Peter Stewart, William Hogsflesh
, William Barber
, John Bayton, Osmond, John Woolgar, Edward Woolgar, Thomas Ridge
and Squire Thomas Land (aka Lamb). Hambledon at this time was sometimes referred to as "Squire Land's Club".
In August 1768, Small scored more than 140 runs for Hambledon against Kent
at Broadhalfpenny Down
. This was a feat almost unheard of at that time but it is not quite clear from the original source if it was in one innings or his match total. Only a week later, playing for Hambledon against Sussex at Broadhalfpenny Down, Small scored "about four-score notches ... and was not out when the game was finished", Hambledon winning by 7 wickets.
On 31 July and 1 August 1769, Hambledon played Caterham
at Guildford Bason
and won by 4 wickets. A contemporary report in the Reading Mercury states that "the utmost activity and skill in the game was displayed by each individual through the whole course of this match, but particularly the batting of Messrs Small and John Bayton on the Hambledon side".
Small was involved in one of the most controversial incidents in early cricket history when Hambledon played Chertsey
at Laleham Burway
on 23 & 24 September 1771. Hambledon won the match by 1 wicket. It was in this game that Chertsey's Thomas White
used a bat that was as wide as the wicket, possibly in an attempt to force an issue about the width of the new straight bats that had recently replaced the old curved sticks. Whether that was White's intention is unclear but his action ensured that a new rule was passed
which limited the width to 4.25 inches. This rule supported a written motion presented by Hambledon bowler Thomas Brett
that was counter-signed by club captain Richard Nyren
and senior batsman Small. The original of Brett's memorandum, bearing Small's signature, is maintained by Marylebone Cricket Club
in its museum at Lord's
.
and three 1772 cards have survived. Small played in all three matches and was easily the season's highest runscorer with 213 in his six innings. The only other player to exceed 100 was William Yalden
who made 136, also in six innings. In the first match of the season, Small scored 78 for Hampshire
against All-England
out of a team total of 146. In the second innings, he scored 34 out of 79 and his team won by 53 runs, an illustration of his enormous value to Hampshire. His innings of 78 was the highest individual score definitely recorded to that time. Although higher scores such as Richard Newland
's 88 in 1745 and Small's own 140-plus in 1768 have been mentioned in the sources, it is not clear if those were definitely made in one innings or if they were match totals. Small's 78 is therefore the startpoint of the progressive world record for the highest individual innings.
Small's 1772 aggregate of 213 runs from six innings would give him an average of 35.50 if all his innings were completed (i.e., the scorecards in 1772 do not confirm the not out batsmen). This may seem low by modern standards but it has to be remembered that prevailing pitch conditions were such that "the scoring potential of the 18th century batsman was only about 30% of the 20th or 21st century batsman". 18th century pitches were fully exposed to the elements, underwent rudimentary preparation and were not flat: Lumpy Stevens in particular was a master at selecting one in which there was a distinctive brow or ridge that would enable him to bowl "shooters".
Small has been recorded in a number of single wicket
matches but he seems to have been less successful in this form of cricket than in the first-class version. He did have one single wicket innings that was of enormous significance in the evolution of the sport because it led directly to the introduction of the third (middle) stump to what had always been a two-stump wicket. The match in question took place at the Artillery Ground
on 22 & 23 May 1775 between Five of Kent (with Lumpy Stevens) and Five of Hambledon (with Thomas White
). Kent batted first and made 37 to which Hambledon replied with 92, including 75 by Small, that being his highest known score in a single wicket match. In their second innings, Kent scored 102, leaving Hambledon a target of 48 to win. Small batted last of the Hambledon Five and needed 14 more to win when he went in. He duly scored the runs and Hambledon won by 1 wicket but a great controversy arose afterwards because, three times in the course of his second innings, Small was beaten by Lumpy only for the ball to pass through the two-stump wicket each time without hitting the stumps or the bail. As a result of Lumpy's protests, the middle stump was introduced, although it was some years before its use became universal.
Although he probably scored a century in 1768, Small's most famous feat was in fact to score the first-ever known century
in a first-class
match when he made 136* for Hampshire against Surrey
at Broadhalfpenny Down
on 13 July 1775.
, Small did much to lay the foundations of what can now be recognised as modern batting
technique. He was noted for his sound defence but he was also a fluent strokemaker who used his wrists particularly well. John Nyren described him as the "best short runner of his day" and believed him to be "the first who turned the short run to account".
Small rarely if ever bowled but he was "an admirable fieldsman, always playing middle wicket" and "as active as a hare".
It is sometimes said that Small invented the straight bat, replacing the old curved bat in the 1760s after bowlers started pitching the ball instead of skimming or trundling it. It is more likely that he was the first batsman to master the use of the straight bat and that he subsequently manufactured them in his workshop.
Nyren says that Small was "a remarkably well-made and well-knit man of a handsome countenance and honest expression".
He was married and had at least five children including three daughters who died in childhood (see photograph of the family's tombstone). His wife Ann (born c.1739) died on 22 November 1802, aged 63. His two sons, Jack
and Eli
, also played first-class cricket. Mrs Ann Small was a vociferous supporter of the Hambledon team and was a regular attendee at its matches, often travelling with the team to away games too.
Outside cricket, Small's profession was originally a cobbler
but he later expanded his business to include the manufacture of cricket bat
s and balls
.
Small was musical and could play both the fiddle
and the double bass
. One of his greatest admirers was the cricket patron John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset
, who, when learning of Small's musical skills, sent him "a handsome violin". Small returned the favour by sending the Duke a present of two newly made cricket bats and balls.
in The Cricketers of My Time. Small received high praise indeed for Nyren wrote that "(Small) shines among them (i.e., the Hambledon players) in all the lustre of a star of the first magnitude" (i.e., a superstar
).
His legacy is well summarised by a contemporary verse about him which, it is believed, he displayed on a sign outside his workshop in Petersfield:
In 1997, in an article in The Times
, former Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
editor John Woodcock
named Small in his 100 Greatest Cricketers of All Time.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
professional cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er who played first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
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
Cricket bat
A cricket bat is a specialised piece of equipment used by batsmen in the sport of cricket to hit the ball. It is usually made of willow wood. Its use is first mentioned in 1624....
which was introduced in the 1760s. He scored the earliest known century
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
in first-class cricket and was acclaimed as the greatest player of the famous Hambledon Club
Hambledon Club
The Hambledon Club was a social club that is famous for its organisation of 18th century cricket matches. By the late 1770s it was the foremost cricket club in England.-Foundation:...
. In 1997, he was named by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
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
Superstar
A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity.Superstar or superstars may also refer to:-People:* Warhol Superstar, associates of Andy Warhol* WWE Superstar, the term used to refer to entertainers from the WWE...
.
He was a very influential player who was involved in the creation of two major and permanent additions to the Laws of Cricket
Laws of cricket
The laws of cricket are a set of rules established by the Marylebone Cricket Club which describe the laws of cricket worldwide, to ensure uniformity and fairness. There are currently 42 laws, which outline all aspects of how the game is played from how a team wins a game, how a batsman is...
: the maximum width of the bat and the introduction of the middle stump.
Cricket career
Small was a playing member of Hambledon during its years of greatness and it was largely because of him that Hambledon was such a famous club. He was definitely playing for Hambledon in 1764 and his name is found in the club's scorecards right up to 1798 when he was over 60.Knowledge of the early years of his career are sketchy due to the lack of detailed records before scorecards became common from 1772, but it is believed he began playing in top-class cricket during the 1750s and may well have taken part in the earliest known Hambledon matches, a tri-series against Dartford
Dartford Cricket Club
Dartford Cricket Club is one of the oldest in England and its origins go back to the early 18th century, perhaps earlier.See also: Dartford Brent...
in 1756.
1764–1771
The earliest definite mention of Small dates from the 1764 season1764 English cricket season
Chertsey Cricket Club and Hambledon Club, by now the leading teams in English cricket, played each other three times in the 1764 English cricket season.The 1764 season marks the beginning of the "Hambledon Era" in earnest...
when Hambledon played three first-class matches against Chertsey
Chertsey Cricket Club
Chertsey Cricket Club in Surrey is one of the oldest in England. Its own website dates its founding as 1737 but in fact matches involving a Chertsey team date from 1736....
(i.e., effectively a Hampshire
Hampshire county cricket teams
Hampshire county cricket teams have been traced back to the 18th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that...
v Surrey
Surrey county cricket teams
Surrey county cricket teams have been traced back to the 17th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that. The first definite mention of cricket anywhere in the world is dated c.1550 in Guildford.-17th century:...
series). The Hambledon team in the first match is believed to have been: Richard Nyren
Richard Nyren
Richard "Dick" Nyren was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the 1760s and 1770s in the heyday of the Hambledon Club...
(captain), John Small, Peter Stewart, William Hogsflesh
William Hogsflesh
William Hogsflesh was an English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club in its great days during the 1760s and 1770s.His career ended in 1775 and he was a well known bowler, probably of quick medium pace, but his best years were before the sport's statistical record begins in 1772 and so most...
, William Barber
William Barber (cricketer)
William Barber was an English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club in its great days during the 1760s and 1770s. Originally from Walberton, near Chichester, he came to Hambledon to play after being "spotted" .Barber finished playing in 1777...
, John Bayton, Osmond, John Woolgar, Edward Woolgar, Thomas Ridge
Thomas Ridge (cricketer)
Thomas Ridge was a prominent member of the Hambledon Club and played in a number of its cricket matches, including 6 known first-class appearances for Hampshire between 1768 and 1775....
and Squire Thomas Land (aka Lamb). Hambledon at this time was sometimes referred to as "Squire Land's Club".
In August 1768, Small scored more than 140 runs for Hambledon against Kent
Kent county cricket teams
Kent county cricket teams have been traced back to the 17th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that. Kent, jointly with Sussex, is the birthplace of the sport...
at Broadhalfpenny Down
Broadhalfpenny Down
Broadhalfpenny Down, situated on a hilltop about a mile from the rural village of Hambledon in Hampshire, was the home venue for first-class cricket matches of the Hambledon Club from 1753 to 1781...
. This was a feat almost unheard of at that time but it is not quite clear from the original source if it was in one innings or his match total. Only a week later, playing for Hambledon against Sussex at Broadhalfpenny Down, Small scored "about four-score notches ... and was not out when the game was finished", Hambledon winning by 7 wickets.
On 31 July and 1 August 1769, Hambledon played Caterham
Caterham Cricket Club
Caterham Cricket Club was based at Caterham, Surrey. Caterham at this time was effectively representative of Surrey as a county. Its home venue was on Caterham Common...
at Guildford Bason
Guildford Bason
Guildford Bason is an English former cricket ground on Merrow Down, on the outskirts of Guildford, Surrey. Guildford is the location for the earliest definite reference to cricket in English history...
and won by 4 wickets. A contemporary report in the Reading Mercury states that "the utmost activity and skill in the game was displayed by each individual through the whole course of this match, but particularly the batting of Messrs Small and John Bayton on the Hambledon side".
Small was involved in one of the most controversial incidents in early cricket history when Hambledon played Chertsey
Chertsey Cricket Club
Chertsey Cricket Club in Surrey is one of the oldest in England. Its own website dates its founding as 1737 but in fact matches involving a Chertsey team date from 1736....
at Laleham Burway
Laleham Burway
Laleham Burway is a tract of meadow land on the River Thames near Chertsey in Surrey. Part of it was a famous major cricket venue in the 18th century and the home of Chertsey Cricket Club.-Earliest known matches:...
on 23 & 24 September 1771. Hambledon won the match by 1 wicket. It was in this game that Chertsey's Thomas White
Thomas White (cricketer)
Thomas "Daddy" White was a noted English cricketer.White played in the 1760s and 1770s; details of his early career are largely unknown but he retired in 1779. He is known to have appeared frequently for Surrey and All-England since recorded scorecards first became commonplace in 1772...
used a bat that was as wide as the wicket, possibly in an attempt to force an issue about the width of the new straight bats that had recently replaced the old curved sticks. Whether that was White's intention is unclear but his action ensured that a new rule was passed
Laws of cricket
The laws of cricket are a set of rules established by the Marylebone Cricket Club which describe the laws of cricket worldwide, to ensure uniformity and fairness. There are currently 42 laws, which outline all aspects of how the game is played from how a team wins a game, how a batsman is...
which limited the width to 4.25 inches. This rule supported a written motion presented by Hambledon bowler Thomas Brett
Thomas Brett
Thomas Brett was one of first-class cricket's earliest well-known fast bowlers and a leading player for Hampshire when its team was organised by the Hambledon Club in the 1770s.-Career:Noted for his pace and his accuracy, Brett was a leading wicket taker in the 1770s and was lauded by John...
that was counter-signed by club captain Richard Nyren
Richard Nyren
Richard "Dick" Nyren was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the 1760s and 1770s in the heyday of the Hambledon Club...
and senior batsman Small. The original of Brett's memorandum, bearing Small's signature, is maintained by Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
in its museum at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
.
1772–1775
The production of match scorecards became common from the 1772 season1772 English cricket season
The 1772 English cricket season was notable in English cricket history because it is from then that surviving scorecards are common. There are three scorecards from 1772, all recording matches that were organised by the Hambledon Club...
and three 1772 cards have survived. Small played in all three matches and was easily the season's highest runscorer with 213 in his six innings. The only other player to exceed 100 was William Yalden
William Yalden
William "The Yold" Yalden was a noted English cricketer. He was a very good batsman but was primarily known as a wicket-keeper....
who made 136, also in six innings. In the first match of the season, Small scored 78 for Hampshire
Hampshire county cricket teams
Hampshire county cricket teams have been traced back to the 18th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that...
against All-England
All-England Eleven
In cricket, the term All-England has been used for various non-international teams that have been formed for short-term purposes since the 1739 English cricket season and it indicates that the "Rest of England" is playing against, say, MCC or an individual county team...
out of a team total of 146. In the second innings, he scored 34 out of 79 and his team won by 53 runs, an illustration of his enormous value to Hampshire. His innings of 78 was the highest individual score definitely recorded to that time. Although higher scores such as Richard Newland
Richard Newland
Richard Newland was an English cricketer in the mid-Georgian period who played for Slindon Cricket Club and Sussex under the patronage of Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond. He also represented various All-England teams...
's 88 in 1745 and Small's own 140-plus in 1768 have been mentioned in the sources, it is not clear if those were definitely made in one innings or if they were match totals. Small's 78 is therefore the startpoint of the progressive world record for the highest individual innings.
Small's 1772 aggregate of 213 runs from six innings would give him an average of 35.50 if all his innings were completed (i.e., the scorecards in 1772 do not confirm the not out batsmen). This may seem low by modern standards but it has to be remembered that prevailing pitch conditions were such that "the scoring potential of the 18th century batsman was only about 30% of the 20th or 21st century batsman". 18th century pitches were fully exposed to the elements, underwent rudimentary preparation and were not flat: Lumpy Stevens in particular was a master at selecting one in which there was a distinctive brow or ridge that would enable him to bowl "shooters".
Small has been recorded in a number of single wicket
Single Wicket
Single wicket cricket is a form of cricket played between two individuals, who take turns to bat and bowl against each other. The one bowling is assisted by a team of fielders, who remain as fielders at the change of innings. The winner is the one who scores more runs...
matches but he seems to have been less successful in this form of cricket than in the first-class version. He did have one single wicket innings that was of enormous significance in the evolution of the sport because it led directly to the introduction of the third (middle) stump to what had always been a two-stump wicket. The match in question took place at the Artillery Ground
Artillery Ground
The Artillery Ground in Finsbury is one of London's most centrally located cricket grounds, situated just off the City Road immediately north of the City of London...
on 22 & 23 May 1775 between Five of Kent (with Lumpy Stevens) and Five of Hambledon (with Thomas White
Thomas White (cricketer)
Thomas "Daddy" White was a noted English cricketer.White played in the 1760s and 1770s; details of his early career are largely unknown but he retired in 1779. He is known to have appeared frequently for Surrey and All-England since recorded scorecards first became commonplace in 1772...
). Kent batted first and made 37 to which Hambledon replied with 92, including 75 by Small, that being his highest known score in a single wicket match. In their second innings, Kent scored 102, leaving Hambledon a target of 48 to win. Small batted last of the Hambledon Five and needed 14 more to win when he went in. He duly scored the runs and Hambledon won by 1 wicket but a great controversy arose afterwards because, three times in the course of his second innings, Small was beaten by Lumpy only for the ball to pass through the two-stump wicket each time without hitting the stumps or the bail. As a result of Lumpy's protests, the middle stump was introduced, although it was some years before its use became universal.
Although he probably scored a century in 1768, Small's most famous feat was in fact to score the first-ever known century
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
in a first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
match when he made 136* for Hampshire against Surrey
Surrey county cricket teams
Surrey county cricket teams have been traced back to the 17th century but the county's involvement in cricket goes back much further than that. The first definite mention of cricket anywhere in the world is dated c.1550 in Guildford.-17th century:...
at Broadhalfpenny Down
Broadhalfpenny Down
Broadhalfpenny Down, situated on a hilltop about a mile from the rural village of Hambledon in Hampshire, was the home venue for first-class cricket matches of the Hambledon Club from 1753 to 1781...
on 13 July 1775.
Style and technique
Along with other greats of the Hambledon era such as Billy Beldham and Tom WalkerThomas Walker (cricketer)
Thomas "Tom" Walker was an English cricketer who played for Hampshire in the days of the Hambledon Club and later for Surrey. He was famous for his brilliant defensive batting. He is also credited with introducing, roundarm bowling, the predecessor of modern overarm bowling.-Career:Walker was born...
, Small did much to lay the foundations of what can now be recognised as modern batting
Batting
Batting may refer to:*Batting , the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs*Batting , the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score runs...
technique. He was noted for his sound defence but he was also a fluent strokemaker who used his wrists particularly well. John Nyren described him as the "best short runner of his day" and believed him to be "the first who turned the short run to account".
Small rarely if ever bowled but he was "an admirable fieldsman, always playing middle wicket" and "as active as a hare".
It is sometimes said that Small invented the straight bat, replacing the old curved bat in the 1760s after bowlers started pitching the ball instead of skimming or trundling it. It is more likely that he was the first batsman to master the use of the straight bat and that he subsequently manufactured them in his workshop.
Family and personal life
He was married and had at least five children including three daughters who died in childhood (see photograph of the family's tombstone). His wife Ann (born c.1739) died on 22 November 1802, aged 63. His two sons, Jack
Jack Small
John Small junior was an English cricketer who played for the Hambledon Club.Jack Small made his debut in 1784, his career continuing until 1811...
and Eli
Eli Small
Eli Small was an English professional cricketer who made 2 known appearances in major cricket matches from 1788 to 1796. He was a son of John Small and brother of Jack Small....
, also played first-class cricket. Mrs Ann Small was a vociferous supporter of the Hambledon team and was a regular attendee at its matches, often travelling with the team to away games too.
Outside cricket, Small's profession was originally a cobbler
Shoemaking
Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand. Traditional handicraft shoemaking has now been largely superseded in volume of shoes produced by industrial mass production of footwear, but not necessarily in quality, attention to detail, or...
but he later expanded his business to include the manufacture of cricket bat
Cricket bat
A cricket bat is a specialised piece of equipment used by batsmen in the sport of cricket to hit the ball. It is usually made of willow wood. Its use is first mentioned in 1624....
s and balls
Cricket ball
A cricket ball is a hard, solid leather ball used to play cricket. Constructed of cork and leather, a cricket ball is heavily regulated by cricket law at first class level...
.
Small was musical and could play both the fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
and the double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
. One of his greatest admirers was the cricket patron John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset
John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset
John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset was the only son of Lord John Philip Sackville, second son of Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset. He succeeded to the dukedom in 1769 on the death of his uncle, Charles Sackville, 2nd Duke of Dorset...
, who, when learning of Small's musical skills, sent him "a handsome violin". Small returned the favour by sending the Duke a present of two newly made cricket bats and balls.
Legacy
Like so many of his contemporaries, Small's fame is based largely on the testimony paid to him by John NyrenJohn Nyren
John Nyren was an English cricketer and author. Nyren made 16 known appearances in first-class cricket from 1787 to 1817...
in The Cricketers of My Time. Small received high praise indeed for Nyren wrote that "(Small) shines among them (i.e., the Hambledon players) in all the lustre of a star of the first magnitude" (i.e., a superstar
Superstar
A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity.Superstar or superstars may also refer to:-People:* Warhol Superstar, associates of Andy Warhol* WWE Superstar, the term used to refer to entertainers from the WWE...
).
His legacy is well summarised by a contemporary verse about him which, it is believed, he displayed on a sign outside his workshop in Petersfield:
Here lives John Small,
Makes bat and ball,
Pitches a wicket, plays at cricket
With any man in England.
In 1997, in an article in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, former Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
editor John Woodcock
John Woodcock (cricket writer)
John Charles Woodcock OBE is an English cricket writer and journalist.He was born at Longparish, Hampshire, where he still lives, and was dubbed "the Sage of Longparish" by Alan Gibson. He is a co-author of the Longparish Village Handbook. Woodcock attended Trinity College, Oxford, and won hockey...
named Small in his 100 Greatest Cricketers of All Time.