John William Sharpe (9 December 1866 – 19 June 1936) was a bowler who was George Lohmann's partner in the formidable Surrey sides that dominated the first years of the official cricket County Championship.
Because of his superb work in the "short spells of fine weather" (Wisden 1891) it was thought Sharpe was the best hard-wicket bowler in England.
In 1891, Sharpe fully maintained his reputation for three months, with 9 for 47 on a bumpy wicket against Middlesex being outstanding, but he fell off in August as Lockwood showed some deadly form.
He played for Nottinghamshire a couple of times in 1894, but any hopes he would strengthen their weakening bowling were destroyed very quickly: he took only ten wickets at 28.40 under conditions tremendously favourable to bowlers, and retired at the then-remarkably young age of 28.
Sharpe bowled fast-medium and could make the ball break back to an unusual degree on hard pitches.