Thomas Waymark

Thomas Waymark (probably born 17 June 1705 at Mitcham, Surrey; date of death unknown) was an English professional cricketer in the first half of the 18th century. He is one of the earliest known players on record and is widely accounted the sport's first great all-rounder.

Surviving details of Waymark's career are few but it is known that he began in the 1720s and the earliest definite mention of him is in the 1730 season when a first-class match between the teams of his patron Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and that of Sir William Gage was postponed "on account of Waymark, the Duke's man, being ill". Waymark was last recorded in the 1749 season playing for All-England in a lucrative single wicket contest.

Waymark was initially a groom by trade and was employed as such by his patron, the 2nd Duke of Richmond. There was probably no shortage of capable grooms and it is fair to assume that Richmond employed Waymark because of his outstanding ability with bat and ball, Richmond being the foremost investor in cricket at the time. Richmond's teams were representative of Sussex as a county and the few reports in which Waymark is mentioned make clear that he was the first great all-rounder in the game's history. For example, in the report of Mr Edwin Stead’s XI v Sir William Gage’s XI at Penshurst Park on 28 August 1729, it states that "a groom of the Duke of Richmond signalised himself by extraordinary agility and dexterity". It is generally believed that this was Waymark playing for Gage's XI who won the match by an innings.

By the 1740s, Waymark was no longer in the Duke's employ as he was working at Bray Mills in Berkshire. He is given as a Berkshire resident and playing for the Berkshire XI or the London XI.