Edward Sainsbury (5 July 1851 – 28 October 1930) was an English cricketer who represented, and captained, Somerset County Cricket Club in the late 19th century. During a 10-year first-class cricket career, he also represented Gloucestershire and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC).
Most commonly employed as a right-handed opening batsman, Sainsbury was one of Somerset's most talented batsman during their formative years. His slow underarm bowling was effective in second-class cricket, but in an era when overarm bowling was becoming the standard, he was used sparingly in the first-class game. During his time at Somerset, the county gained first-class status. After being led for three seasons by Sainsbury's Lansdown team-mate Stephen Newton, Sainsbury was given the Somerset captaincy for the 1885 season. A combination of poor results and not being able to raise a full eleven during that season led to the county's removal from the first-class game, although Sainsbury remained as captain until 1888. By the time Somerset had improved sufficiently to return to first-class cricket in 1891, Sainsbury had moved to neighbouring county Gloucestershire, where he saw out his county cricket career.
Early life Sainsbury was born on 5 July 1851 in Bath, Somerset, the youngest son of John Popham Sainsbury. He attended Sherborne School, an independent school in north-west Dorset. Playing for the school's cricket eleven he acquired a reputation for his slow underarm bowling, which could deceive even the most wary opponent into conceding his wicket. He was considered an even better batsman, and often opened the innings for the school.Foot (1986), p. 17.
Club and second-class county cricket Sainsbury played alongside his older brother, Francis, for Lansdown Cricket Club from at least 1865. His first recorded appearance for a representative county side was in August 1877, when he played for Somerset, against their Dorset neighbours. He opened the batting for the Somerset team alongside Hamilton Ross. Both had been scoring plenty of runs for Lansdown in club cricket,Roebuck (1991), p. 19. and Sainsbury made 32, a respectable score in the match, which Somerset won by an innings. Only Edward Lloyd scored more, posting an unbeaten 110, one of the earliest centuries scored for a Somerset county side. Sainsbury also opened the bowling during the match, but he claimed only one wicket over the two innings and bowled just 13 of the 104 overs. A few days later he appeared again for the county side, against Clifton, who had the Australian Test cricketer, Billy Midwinter, in their team. Sainsbury scored 96 not out, including a "resolute" partnership with Stephen Newton, before rain forced the game to be drawn. Subsequently, he scored 7 and 81 against the Wiltshire Wanderers, and took ten wickets in the match, including six in the first innings. In two further appearances for Somerset in 1877, Sainsbury did not surpass the score he reached against Dorset but claimed two further wickets, both against the Gentlemen of Wiltshire. Sainsbury finished the season top of Somerset's batting averages, having scored 230 runs at an average of 46.00.
Sainsbury added himself to the list of early Somerset centurions during 1878, hitting 105 while batting at number 6 against Hertfordshire. In doing so, he batted for over four hours, and shared an eighth wicket partnership of 114 with Francis Reed, out of a Somerset total of 249. His bowling was also on form during the match, and after collecting two wickets in the first innings, he claimed five in the second. The Somerset side during the late 1870s reflected the strength of the Lansdown club: of the eleven players that represented Somerset in their match against the Marylebone Cricket Club in early August 1878, five of them also represented Lansdown when the London club travelled down to Bath. In between these two matches against the MCC, Sainsbury scored a half-century for Somerset during their match against Devon. Toward the end of August, Sainsbury's bowling once again came to the fore, as he claimed five wickets in the first innings against Worcestershire to help defend Somerset's lead and propel them to an innings victory. He once again led the Somerset batting averages, scoring 211 runs at an average of 35.16, while his 13 wickets were the second most in the team, at an average of 9.69.
Sainsbury batting scores dipped in county cricket during 1879; in nine appearances for Somerset during the year, his highest score was 39. He performed better with the ball, twice taking four wickets during an innings, against both Bedfordshire and the MCC. The following county season began more positively for Sainsbury, as he collected nine wickets in the match against Sussex at Lansdown's ground in Bath, claiming six wickets for 54 runs in the second innings of the game. He claimed another eight wickets when Somerset travelled to Leicestershire, during which Sainsbury and Arnold Fothergill took five wickets each in Leicestershire's first innings, restricting the home side to 51 runs. Somerset won the low-scoring contest by 85 runs, Sainsbury having scored a valuable 28 during his side's first innings. Somerset's visit to Sussex saw Sainsbury continue his success against the county, this time with the bat rather than the ball. Sussex built on their 63 run first innings lead with a second innings total of 183, leaving Somerset the task of scoring 247 runs to win the match. Sainsbury scored his second century for Somerset, remaining 101 not out when Somerset reached the winning total. He was assisted by a half-century from Stephen Newton, and scores in the twenties by Bill Fowler and Frederick Smith. Later that month, his batting was once again instrumental in setting up a Somerset victory, when he top-scored with 87 as Somerset beat the MCC by an innings.
During the 1881 season, Sainsbury was joined at Somerset by his older brother Francis, who appeared four times for the county. Sainsbury performed consistently with the bat during the season, regularly scoring between 20 and 40 runs in an innings. His highest score was made against Gloucestershire, when he reached his only half-century of the season, scoring 56 while batting at number seven. Sainsbury bowled less frequently during 1881, and rarely opened the bowling for Somerset. His best bowling performance of the season for his county came against Hampshire, when – having not bowled in the first innings – he claimed four wickets as Hampshire followed on. On this occasion he was the fifth bowler used by Somerset, but he bowled the highest number of overs.
First-class cricket
Somerset's leading batsman Towards the end of the 1870s, journalists had suggested that Somerset chose their players "upon breeding rather than skill".Roebuck (1991), p. 20. The best players in the county, many of whom were not wealthy men, were unable to afford to play for Somerset. In turn, the cricket club could not afford to pay professionals to play for them, and were regarded as an occasional amateur outfit by many, rather than a side that could truly represent the strength of cricket within the county. The arrival of two professional players, and the acquisition of a permanent home ground in Taunton helped strengthen the club so that in 1882 they were admitted as a first-class county.Roebuck (1991), pp. 20–28. Bill Roe, at the time a schoolboy, rated Sainsbury as "by far the best batsman in the side" during their pre-first-class years. On 8 June 1882, Somerset played their first match to be universally considered first-class, against Lancashire. After losing the toss and fielding for over 150 overs as Lancashire scored 237, Somerset responded with a first innings total of 29 – their second lowest total ever in first-class cricket. Sainsbury and his fellow opening batsman, Fowler, top-scored for Somerset with 9 runs each, and both were once again the highest scorers in the second innings, when Fowler scored 18 and Sainsbury 17 runs out of a total of 51. Somerset were beaten by an innings and 157 runs, and batted for less than 70 overs. The county suffered further heavy defeats in their next two matches, losing to Gloucestershire and Hampshire, with no Somerset batsman reaching a half-century in either match. Sainsbury reached his first half-century in first-class cricket when Somerset hosted Hampshire at the County Ground – teammates Robert Ramsay and Stephen Newton also passed 50 for the county in this match, which helped Somerset to their maiden first-class victory. Sainsbury claimed a wicket in each innings of the match, during which he bowled just eight overs: in the first innings he bowled one over, conceding one run and claiming one wicket. In first-class matches in 1882, Sainsbury scored 255 runs at an average of 17.00, exceeding 50 on only one occasion. He bowled infrequently, claiming four wickets at an average in excess of 40.
Sainsbury reached a half-century on his first appearance for Somerset in first-class cricket in 1883, scoring 51 runs against the MCC. He did not reach 50 in his next three appearances for the county, but against Gloucestershire he top-scored for his side in their first innings with 59, and then when Somerset were forced to follow on, he scored his only century in first-class cricket, amassing 116 runs before he became one of W. G. Grace's eleven victims in the match. Sainsbury played in seven matches during 1883, and achieved his highest batting average in a season, his century and two fifties boosting him to 27.92. Although he played another 31 first-class matches during his career, he did not score more than 40 runs in an innings after 1883. He also recorded his best bowling average in 1883, claiming his nine first-class wickets at 18.55. In early June 1884, Sainsbury played for a side representing the South of England, scoring 3 and 29 during a 66-run victory for the South. Playing for Lansdown against the touring Gentlemen of Philadelphia the following month, he scored the only century of the match, reaching 108, and sharing a first wicket partnership of 149 with E. M. Grace. He batted poorly for Somerset during 1884, failing to reach double figures in most of his innings, and hitting a top score of 30 for the county. His season average was dramatically lower than the previous season, dropping below 10.
Troubled captaincy Following the departure of Somerset captain Stephen Newton, who played all his first-class cricket in London from the 1885 season onwards, Sainsbury was given the club captaincy. Somerset's first county match of the season took place in mid-July, almost two months after four of the counties had contested matches. The match, played against Hampshire, showed little sign of the troubles that were to come. Sainsbury scored 0 and 13 opening the batting for his side, but the bowling of Edward Bastard, who claimed eight wickets in the first innings and three in the second, helped Somerset to a five-wicket victory. The county's next match, played two weeks later against Gloucestershire, was their heaviest defeat when losing by an innings to that point. Gloucestershire won the toss and elected to bat, totalling 448 in 190 overs; Somerset bowlers James Parfitt and Charles Winter both conceding over 100 runs. In reply, five of the Somerset batsman were out for ducks; Sainsbury, Parfitt and Albert Clapp were the only ones to reach double figures. Sainsbury top-scored with 40 runs, but a team total of 100 meant that Gloucestershire forced his side to follow-on. The second innings progressed even more poorly for Somerset. Sainsbury was one of eight batsmen who failed to reach double figures, and the team was dismissed for 80 runs, resulting in an innings and 268 run loss.