Lives in Cricket No 21 - Walter Read

36 Chapter Three Surrey 1873/80 Although Read was and remained through his career an ‘amateur’ (but more of that later), he did not have the advantages of public school pitches and coaching that were enjoyed by those from whose social class he had no wish to disassociate himself. He was essentially self-taught with a natural eye for a ball. He was recommended to the county by Henry Jupp, but because of his commitments at his father’s school was able to represent Surrey only in the vacations, until that all changed with his appointment to the post (some might say ‘sinecure’) of Assistant Secretary to C.W.Alcock. He made his début for Surrey against Yorkshire at the Oval on 11 August 1873 at the age of 17 years 261 days and is described in Wisden as ‘W.Read, Esq. (Colt)’. 58 At the time he was the youngest ever to have played first-class cricket for the county and in the intervening years there have been only ten younger. Scores and Biographies gives him a brief biography up to 1877 at this point, judging him to be ‘a sound and free hitter, bidding fair if he continues the game to arrive at the top of the tree’. His education and club cricket are erroneously conflated into ‘Reigate Priory School’ and it is mentioned that he has not yet appeared at Lord’s. 59 Playing on that ground was a criterion (though not an exclusive one) for an entry in Scores and Biographies , however insignificant the fixture, and it appears retrospectively bizarre that not having played there is worthy of mention. He had after all by this time played almost a couple of dozen first-class matches on other grounds and was not in fact to appear on the St John’s Wood ground before 1881 when he was able to devote himself full-time to first-class cricket. He made 3 and 14 against Yorkshire, following it up against Kent the following week with 0 and 39, the highest score of the Surrey second innings, but he had had a taste of the milieu which was to 58 Wisden 1874 p 119 59 Scores and Biographies Vol XII pp 894-895