Although he was born in Willington, Derbyshire – on 29 April 1842 – Thomas Wright qualified for Notts by residence and worked in the town, as Nottingham was at that time, as a lace manufacturer.
His first recorded cricket match was for Nottingham Commercial in 1862; he played for this important club for many seasons and captained the side around 1868. Wright made his First-Class debut for Notts v Yorkshire at Dewsbury in July 1868, making 8 and 15 and played against Surrey the following month. He did not reappear for the first team until 1874 when he played seven First-Class games, including against the MCC, the only one of his First XI outings that was not a County match.
In his nine First-Class games, Wright – a right-hand bat and slow round-arm bowler – scored 138 runs at 9.20, top score 25 against Yorkshire, and took four catches.
He also played versus Derbyshire at Trent Bridge, before that county was in First-Class cricket, and twice in the Nottinghamshire v the Next XV; bizarrely, he made nought in both games, once for each team, and both games petered out into draws.
Thomas Wright died on 7 May 1912, in Rochester, Monroe County New York, USA
July 2020
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 120