Arthur Newton Cricketer
Arthur Edward Newton, born at Barton Grange, Corfe, Taunton, Somerset on 12 September 1862 and died at Dipford House, Trull, Somerset on 15 September 1952, played cricket for Somerset in the county's pre-first-class days and then for more than 20 years after the team entered the County Championship in 1891. He also played for Oxford University and for a variety of amateur teams. As a cricketer, he was known as "A. E. ", not by his forename. Newton was a right-handed lower order batsman and a wicket-keeper. Educated at Eton College, he played in the Lord's matches against Harrow School for three years and then went to Oxford University, where he appeared in the freshmen's trial match in 1882. But he did not get into the university team until 1885, when he made his first-class debut in the match against Lancashire. In his third match, batting at No 9, he made 57 against Surrey. He retained his place as wicket-keeper to win his blue in the University match against Cambridge at Lord's. At the end of the 1885 season, Newton was a member of an amateur side raised by the Devon cricketer Edward Sanders that played matches in North America, with two of the games later being designated as first-class. Two years later, he was a member of a rather larger touring side, this time organised by George Vernon and including Lord Hawke, Andrew Stoddart and professionals such as Bobby Abel and Bobby Peel, which toured Australia for five months in the winter of 1887-88, playing first-class matches and a variety of other games against state and scratch teams. Vernon's team was a strong one. One of the bigger matches of the tour was at Melbourne Cricket Ground against an Australian XI which contained 10 Test players: Vernon's XI won by an innings and Newton, one of only three non-Test players in his team, made 77, starting a revival in his team's single innings after the first six wickets had fallen for 51 runs to a final total of 292. The innings of 77 remained the highest of Newton's long career, not surpassed, though he equalled it in 1900.
