Sam Redgate

Samuel (Sam) Redgate (27 July 1810 in Arnold, Nottinghamshire – 13 April 1851 in Radford, Nottinghamshire) was a famous English professional cricketer who played for Nottingham Cricket Club and Nottinghamshire CCC from the 1830 to the 1846 season.

Redgate was an outstanding rightarm fast bowler using the roundarm style. He batted right-handed and sometimes played as wicket-keeper.

Redgate was the most feared fast bowler in England when he was at his best and it is generally held that his pace was the catalyst for the introduction of batting pads. Playing for North v. South at Leicester in 1836, a fast ball from Redgate to Alfred Mynn caused a serious leg injury that almost resulted in amputation. Fortunately, Mynn recovered and his leg was saved. But some sources state it was largely because of this incident that pads became commonplace.

Redgate played in a total of 79 first-class matches and took an impressive 426 known wickets. His best performance was 8 wickets (runs unknown) for North of England v MCC at Burton-on-Trent in 1840. He took 5 wickets in an innings (5wI) 31 times and 10 wickets in a match (10wM) 11 times. Rather less formidable as a batsman, he scored 1011 runs at 8.71 with a highest score of 41. He took 61 catches and made 2 stumpings.

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