Frank Marchant

Francis Marchant (22 May 1864 – 13 April 1946), known as Frank Marchant, was an English amateur cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman, an occasional wicket-keeper and the captain of Kent County Cricket Club from 1890 to 1897. Early life Marchant was born at Matfield House in Matfield, Kent, the fourth son of Stephen Marchant. After a term at Rugby School, he was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He played cricket at both, winning a cricket Blue each season from 1884 to 1887 and a Blue in football in 1885 and 1886. He captained the Cambridge side in his final year there. Cricket Marchant made his first-class cricket debut in August 1883 after finishing at Eton and before going up to Cambridge. Lord Harris, the most influential figure in Kent cricket at the time, had happened to ask Marchant if he was eligible to play for Kent during a break in play at the Eton v Harrow match at Lord's earlier in the summer, during which Marchant had scored 93 runs in a "delightful display" of batting. He played twice for Kent in that summer, making his debut against Lancashire at Gravesend. He went on to play for both Kent and Cambridge over the next four seasons, winning his cricket Blue as a freshman in 1884 and his county cap the following season. His Wisden obituary said that he was "rather disappointing for a player of such promise" at Cambridge but went on to do "some great things for Kent" in county cricket. Marchant went on to appear regularly for Kent until 1898, playing in 226 first-class matches for the county side as well as making 32 appearances for Cambridge. He scored seven of his eight centuries for Kent, including his highest score of 176 made against Sussex at Gravesend in 1889. This was his maiden century and saw him score over 100 runs before lunch. In 1896 came close to scoring centuries in both innings of a match against Yorkshire. He has been described as being "a brilliant hitter in front of the wicket, especially on the leg side" and a "brilliant and stylish batsman". Writing in Wisden in 1907, George Marsham was of the opinion that he "should prefer to watch an innings of his when in his best form to that of any other batsman of his time" and described Marchant as "a magnificent field" and "a brilliant but uncertain batsman".