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Thomas Brett




An unusual feature of Brett's career at a time when players freely swapped sides as "given men" was that he always played for Hampshire. Indeed, he did not even play for Hambledon ''per se'' because he resided at Catherington and so was ineligible to represent Hambledon's Parish XI.

Brett featured in the "monster bat" incident of 1771 as the bowler who led the protest; and it is almost certain that he wrote out the formal objection to Thomas White 's huge bat. This document, which has been preserved, was countersigned by his captain Richard Nyren and Hampshire's senior batsman John Small Senior . The protest resulted in the maximum width of the bat being set at four and one quarter inches.