A direct contemporary of Lord Tankerville's, John Sackville was educated at Westminster where he shone at cricket and billiards, although one contemporary noted he was "not in possession of any brains". In 1983, the Whitehall Evening Post reported that "in the estimation of many people, the Duke of Dorset is the most extraordinarily accomplished nobleman we have at cricket, tennis and billiards. His Lordship has hardly any equal." In 1784 he was appointed as ambassador to France, although he spent most summers back in England playing or watching cricket. In 1789 he is widely credited with arranging a cricket tour to France to promote the game. On August 10, the tour party were about to leave Dover when they encountered Dorset coming the other way, fleeing the French Revolution. His father was equally obsessive with the game. In 1745 he reportedly dismissed his mistress after she ran him out.
Martin Williamson