Stephen Dingate

Stephen Dingate (birth and death details unknown) was a leading English cricketer of the mid-Georgian period. He almost certainly began playing in the 1720s [1] and was one of the best known players in England through the 1740s.

He is reported in one source [1] to have been a barber. It is known that he was born at Reigate in Surrey and he was employed by the Duke of Richmond.[2] He was a prominent single wicket player and often led his own team, playing for high stakes with and against famous contemporaries like Thomas Waymark, Robert Colchin, William Hodsoll, Val Romney, Richard Newland, William Sawyer and John Bryant.

Dingate's first recorded appearance was on Saturday 2 June 1744 when he played in an eleven-a-side game for London v Slindon at the Artillery Ground. Slindon won the game by 55 runs and the match is now famous for the world's oldest known scorecard.[3]

Dingate is last known to have played in July 1752. Unfortunately, very little is known of him apart from the reports of his matches. There is no doubt from the source material that he was a considerable player.[2]

References
  1. John Marshall, The Duke Who Was Cricket, Frederick Miller Ltd, 1961
  2. From Lads to Lord's – biography of Stephen Dingate.
  3. Timothy J McCann, Sussex Cricket in the Eighteenth Century, Sussex Record Society, 2004
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