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Little and Tall Bennett

English cricketers (18th century)

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 13, 2026
Entity authorityQ140419807 ↗
Source-derived summary

Little and Tall Bennett were two English brothers who played cricket in the mid-Georgian period. Their first names are not on record, as they were always referenced by their nicknames, or as Bennett. The Bennetts were top-class players who were involved in historically important matches, both eleven-a-side and single wicket, for a decade or more.

They are both acknowledged to have been outstanding batsmen, and were mainly associated with London Cricket Club. The brothers also played for Surrey and England. Little Bennett is recorded in a total of 22 matches between the 1745 and 1755 seasons. Over the same timespan, Tall Bennett is recorded in twelve matches. There are three other matches between the 1744 and 1749 seasons in which a player called Bennett is recorded without differentation.

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First mention

The first mention of a player called Bennett is in cricket's earliest-known scorecard, which was created on 2 June 1744 for the London v Surrey & Sussex match at the Artillery Ground. Bennett, who is fifth in the London batting order, scored 11 and 7.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Little and Tall Bennett” is english cricketers (18th century). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Little, Tall and Bennett, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1745, 1755, 1744, 1749—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Little, Tall and Bennett is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “english cricketers (18th century)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q140419807. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1745, 1755, 1744 and 1749.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Little and Tall Bennett primary sources, Little and Tall Bennett archive and Little research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Little and Tall Bennett” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.