James Brittain is so early in the history of Nottingham cricket - he is number 12 in the chronology of players - that very few verifiable details exist of his career; indeed, it is not even certain if his name is Brittain or Britton.
What is known is that he appeared for Nottingham in six matches between 1813 (v XXII of Leicester) and 1827 (v Sheffield at Darnall) but his figures are not available. He also played in club matches and in some county level trails such as Town v County and Players v Gentlemen. There was another player, William Brittain – possibly James’s brother – active at the same time and it is difficult to determine individual statistics.
From about 1840, he is known to have umpired in some local matches and evidently not to everyone’s satisfaction; a comment in the Nottingham Review said: “Jemmy Britton, who thinks himself when standing umpire to be as great and powerful a despot as the autocrat of all the Russias”.
June 2020
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 12