Jack Small Junior — Hambledon's Last Hand at the First Gentlemen v Players, 1806

John Small senior was the dominant batsman of the 1770s and 1780s and one of the founding figures of modern cricket technique. By the time his son Jack reached his prime, the family name carried huge weight; selectors took it seriously even when Jack's own form was unremarkable.

Jack Small had been a regular Hampshire/Hambledon player since 1784 and a London match player since the late 1790s. His selection for the first Gentlemen v Players in 1806 was natural; he was the senior available professional batsman alongside Beldham and Lambert.

John Small junior, known to his cricketers as Jack Small, was born at Petersfield in Hampshire on 7 October 1765, son of John Small senior — the leading batsman of the eighteenth century, originator of the modern straight bat, and scorer of the first known century in a first-class match (136 not out for Hampshire v Surrey on 13 July 1775). Jack made his own debut for Hambledon in 1784 at the age of 18, and continued to play for the club into its dying years. His career fell into the gap between two cricket worlds: he was Hambledon-trained but spent most of his playing time in MCC and All-England matches at Lord's. By 1806 he was 40 and one of the senior professionals in the country. The Players selected him for the inaugural Gentlemen v Players match on 7-9 July 1806 (in which Beldham and Lambert had been given to the Gentlemen). He played again in the second match on 21-25 July, this time alongside Beldham, who had switched sides after the first game. His own batting in 1806 was modest — he was not the equal of his father — but his selection was a ratification of his quality and his historical significance. He played his last major matches around 1811. He died at Petersfield on 21 January 1836 at the age of 70. His close friendship with John Nyren (the two had played together for Hambledon as boys) gave Nyren first-hand material for the chapter on the Smalls in the 1833 memoir.

“He was a steady, sound batsman, but should not be compared with his father, who was still playing when Jack started.”

“Jack Small and I were as much friends as the closest possible.”

After 1811 Jack Small played only club cricket. He returned to Petersfield, where his father had run a thriving bat-making business that supplied much of southern England. The family bat-making firm continued into the mid-nineteenth century. Jack died on 21 January 1836 at 70, a quarter-century after his father's 89-year-long life ended.