William Prest

William Prest (1 April 1832 – 10 February 1885) was a cricketer and footballer born in York. He lived most his life in Sheffield where he went on to become co-founder of Sheffield Football Club and captained Yorkshire at cricket. He was also involved with the formation of a local regiment, the Hallamshire Rifles, with which he served for most of his life.

Biography

William was son of John and Arabella Prest and moved with them to Sheffield when his brother John Beevor Prest bought a wine business. There he became a noted cricketer and played cricket for Yorkshire 16 times between 1852 and 1862. He scored 286 runs at an average of 10.21 as a batter and got at total of 3 wickets for 69 runs as a bowler. All 3 wickets came in the same match.

In the winter of 1854, Prest attended the meeting at the Adelphi Hotel in Arundel Gate when the Sheffield Cricket Club agreed to lease a new ground from the Duke of Norfolk next to Bramall Lane.

He also played for "The Eleven" against "The Twenty-two" in the first cricket match at the venue on 30 April 1855. He was bowled out by J Rowbotham in the first innings without scoring a run a thus became the first player to score a duck at the ground.

William Prest (Cambridge cricketer)

William Pitt Prest (28 May 1832 – 5 November 1877) was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University, the Cambridge Town Club, Cambridgeshire County Cricket Club and other amateur teams between 1850 and 1862. He was born at Stapleford, Cambridgeshire and died at East Molesey, Surrey.

Prest was educated at Eton College and for a year only at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge; he did not remain at Cambridge University and did not take a degree. As a cricketer, he played in the Eton v Harrow match in both 1849 and 1850 and made his first-class debut for a Gentlemen of England team in August 1850, taking four wickets in the game. At Cambridge University in 1851 he had limited success as a bowler and as a batsman, and he was not picked for the University Match against Oxford University. He reappeared for the Gentlemen of England in a single match in 1852, but then disappeared from major cricket for five years.

In 1852, having left Cambridge, Prest bought himself into the army, joining the 6th Regiment of Foot as an ensign and being promoted the following year to lieutenant. He left the army in 1857 and returned to Cambridge where he played cricket irregularly up to 1862 for the Cambridge Town Club and for the Cambridgeshire team which was at that stage one of the leading county sides.