Val Romney

Valentine "Val" Romney (born c.1718, probably at Sevenoaks, Kent; died December 1773 at Sevenoaks) was an English professional cricketer who played first-class cricket during the 1740s. A specialist batsman, he was mainly associated with Kent but also represented All-England. Although information about his career is limited by a lack of surviving data, he is known to have made 11 single wicket and 14 first-class appearances between 1743 and 1751.

The first definite mention of Val Romney is dated Monday, 11 July 1743, when he took part in a single wicket "threes" match at the Artillery Ground and the six players were stated to be "the best in England". They were William Hodsoll, John Cutbush and Romney playing as Three of Kent; and Richard Newland, William Sawyer and John Bryant playing as Three of All-England. Hodsoll and Newland were the captains. Kent won by 2 runs. The London Evening Post says the crowd was computed (sic) to be 10,000. A return match was arranged at Sevenoaks Vine on Wednesday 27 July but "it did not come off".

Romney was lauded as a "mighty play'r" (sic) in Cricket, An Heroic Poem (1745) by James Love. This poem was written to commemorate a celebrated match between Kent and All-England at the Artillery Ground on 18 June 1744, in which Romney was captain of the Kent XI. In August and September of the same year, Romney played for London Cricket Club as a "given man" in three matches against Surrey.