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| Richard Anning | |
|---|---|
| Name | Richard Anning |
| Birth date | 12 April 1873 |
| Birth place | Exeter, Devon |
| Death date | 4 September 1939 |
| Death place | Bournemouth, Dorset |
| Occupation | Cricketer |
| Years active | 1894–1910 |
| Teams | Somerset County Cricket Club, MCC, Gentlemen of England |
Richard Anning was an English cricketer active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries who played first-class cricket for county and representative sides. He appeared for Somerset County Cricket Club and the Marylebone Cricket Club during a career that intersected with notable figures and institutions of Victorian and Edwardian sport. Anning's career overlapped with touring teams and matches linked to cricketing centres such as Lord's and The Oval.
Anning was born in Exeter to a family connected with Great Western Railway personnel and received his schooling at Exeter School, an institution that produced sportsmen who later played at Lord's and in public school fixtures. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge for a short period, where he encountered contemporaries associated with Cambridge University Cricket Club and intercollegiate rivalries against Oxford University Cricket Club and teams fielded by Eton College and Harrow School. During his youth he participated in local fixtures at County Ground, Exeter and trial matches linked to selectors from Somerset County Cricket Club and touring sides from Australia.
Anning made his first-class debut for Somerset County Cricket Club in the 1894 season, appearing at venues including Taunton and Lord's. He toured with representative sides that faced teams from Australia and the West Indies and played in fixtures involving the Marylebone Cricket Club and the amateur Gentlemen of England. Across the 1890s and 1900s he played against leading county sides such as Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Surrey County Cricket Club, Lancashire County Cricket Club, and Middlesex County Cricket Club. Anning also featured in benefit and exhibition matches attended by patrons from The Pavilion, Lord's and aristocratic supporters connected to W. G. Grace's generation.
Anning was a right-handed batsman and occasional right-arm medium pace bowler whose style was noted in contemporary reports published alongside commentary on players like K. S. Ranjitsinhji and C. B. Fry. His batting combined the defensive technique taught in public school coaching at Eton College and the attacking instincts admired in fixtures at The Oval. Over a first-class career spanning some 60 matches, Anning recorded multiple half-centuries, a highest score in excess of fifty, and took wickets in county fixtures and MCC tours. His fielding commonly placed him in the covers and slips during encounters with fast bowlers from Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club and spin attacks associated with Warwickshire County Cricket Club. Statisticians of the era compared his aggregate to contemporaries who played for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club and Hampshire County Cricket Club.
Off the field, Anning maintained connections with civic institutions in Devon and later resided in Bournemouth, where he engaged with clubs frequented by former cricketers and public figures associated with Lord's administration and county committees. He married into a family with ties to shipping interests operating from Bristol and participated in charitable cricket matches benefiting causes supported by patrons from Westminster and Bath. His social circle included former players and administrators linked to Somerset County Cricket Club and the Marylebone Cricket Club.
Anning's legacy persisted in county archives and local cricket histories that document the period when Somerset County Cricket Club established itself within the County Championship. He is referenced in contemporary accounts alongside leading figures such as W. G. Grace, K. S. Ranjitsinhji, Wilfred Rhodes, and administrators from MCC who shaped fixtures at Lord's and county grounds. Local historians in Devon and Dorset cite his role in fostering club cricket and mentoring younger players who later represented Somerset County Cricket Club and regional sides. His participation in matches against touring Australian cricket team and West Indian teams contributed to the international fixtures that defined early 20th-century cricketing relations.
Category:English cricketers Category:Somerset cricketers Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Category:1873 births Category:1939 deaths