 In 1851, he appeared for the Gentlemen in the annual match against the Players at Lord's.In 1844 and 1845 Hartopp played in 11 first-class matches in each season; a leading cricketer of the period, such as Alfred Mynn, played in a very similar number of major matches.Yet Hartopp remained a singularly unsuccessful cricketer, usually batting at the tail-end and bowling only twice in his career, and his career batting average over 69 first-class matches is just 4.25.