Obituaries in 1962

ARMITAGE, SIR STEPHEN CECIL, who died on May 6, aged 72, was in the Rugby XI of 1907. Mentioned in despatches while serving in France during the First World War, he became Sheriff of Nottingham.

BARNETT, MR. CHARLES SHERBORNE, who died on November 20, aged 78, played as a batsman for Gloucestershire from 1904 to 1926, scoring 3,666 runs, average 21.69. His best season was that of 1921 when his aggregate reached 639, average 27.78, and he hit his only two centuries in first-class cricket. His 157 against Essex at Gloucester came after a first innings of 0 and enabled Gloucestershire, after following on 194 behind, to win by 60 runs. In scoring 100 at Bristol, he shared an opening partnership of 189 with A. G. Dipper which helped substantially in the defeat of Derbyshire by 117 runs. One of his most noteworthy performances occurred in 1913 against Worcestershire at Cheltenham. He played a stubborn first innings of 67 and carried his bat for 62 in the second. His son, C. J. Barnett, the England opening batsman, played for the county from 1927 to 1948.

BAXTER, MR. H. W., who died in April, aged 70, played in one match for Glamorgan in 1921, their opening season as a first-class county. A hard-hitting batsman, he captained Swansea C.C.

BIRKETT, WILLIAM NORMAN, FIRST BARON, who died on February 10, aged 78, was a vice-President of Lancashire C.C.C. A lover of cricket, he was always in demand at functions connected with the game. He was a regular speaker at the annual dinners of the Cricket Writers' Club, where his turn of phrase, quiet humour and personal charm made him immensely popular. He wrote a little gem of an article, "The Love of Cricket," in the 1958 Wisden. A very distinguished member of the legal profession, he gained fame in turn as a K.C., Judge of the King's Bench Division and Lord Justice of Appeal.

BUCKLEY, MR. GEORGE BENT, who died after a long illness on April 26, aged 77, was a celebrated cricket historian and an authority on the early days of the game. A surgeon by profession, he won the M.C. when serving with the R.A.M.C. during the First World War.

COLDWELL, LIEUT.-COLONEL ALLEYNE ST. GEORGE, who died on May 26, aged 66, was Secretary of Northamptonshire C.C.C. from 1946 to 1958. He became a Justice of the Peace for Northamptonshire in 1946.

DE KRETSER, MR. BERTRAM BRYCE, who died on September 27, aged 62, was a prominent left-arm bowler in Ceylon cricket. In 1926 he took all ten Galle C.C. wickets for 28 runs. He played for Ceylon against W. M. Woodfull's Australian side in 1930 and against D. R. Jardine's M.C.C. team in 1933-34.

FLEMING, MR. JAMES M., who, after a long illness, died in an Edinburgh hospital on September 4, the eve of his 61st birthday, played for Scotland against Ireland and H. L. Collins's Australian team in 1926, when he was one of the best all-rounders in Scottish cricket. An excellent wicket-keeper and a good batsman, he was also a useful slow bowler. He founded the Cricket Society of Scotland in 1952. An accomplished curler, he was a member of the winning rink of the world championship in 1949, only a year after he took up the game. He organised many tours of Scottish cricketers and after one of these wrote an amusing book entitled "Through Wales With Bat and Bottle".

GLADWIN, JOSEPH, who died in September, aged 72, played as a fast bowler in two matches for Derbyshire in 1914. He was the father of Clifford Gladwin, the Derbyshire and England bowler.

HADJI, MR. BABA JUNIOR, who died on August 6, aged 55, was closely associated with Ceylon cricket for over 30 years, being a member of the Board of Control and a selector. He had also been honorary secretary of the Ceylon Cricket Association. He was a prolific scorer when at Zahira College and later for the Malay C.C., which he captained for many years and of which he was a founder member. He was headmaster of Zahira College at the time of his death.

HENDREN, DENNIS, who died in hospital on May 30, aged 79, played for Middlesex from 1905 to 1908 in the days when the county side was predominantly amateur. His career with them ended a year before his younger and more famous brother, E. ("Patsy") Hendren, made his first appearance for Middlesex. Dennis Hendren afterwards threw in his lot with Durham, whom he assisted in the Minor Counties' competition from 1910 to 1914. He stood as a first-class umpire for a number of years between 1931 and 1949.

JESUTHASAN ARIARATNAM, who died in Ceylon on May 28, aged 48, was honorary treasurer of the Ceylon Cricket Association and manager of the team.

JONES, MR. LESLIE N., who died in January, aged 70, was a leading all-rounder for Cheshire from 1920 to 1937. His best season as a batsman was that of 1920, when he hit 370 runs, average 28.46, and his most successful in bowling that of 1923, when he took 34 wickets, average 15.20. He made his highest score, 158, in 1934. His brother, W. E. Jones, and two sons also played for Cheshire.

KEATING, MR. JAMES LESLIE, who died suddenly in Melbourne on March 6, aged 70, the day after watching an exciting game between Richmond and Collingwood. Played for Victoria from 1918 to 1925. His best score in first-class cricket was 154 for Victoria against New South Wales at Sydney in his first season with the State. He also represented Victoria at baseball.

KING, MR. WILFRED E., who died after a short illness on January 20, aged 77, played for 20 years for Bedfordshire, whom he captained from 1921 to 1926. Educated at Bedford Modern School, he was a useful all-rounder. In 1922 he enjoyed two notable successes. At Watford he punished the Hertfordshire bowling for 100 not out in forty-four minutes and against Buckinghamshire he took six wickets for seven runs.

KNIGHTLEY-SMITH, MR. WILLIAM, who collapsed and died on July 31, the eve of his 30th birthday, while playing tennis in Edinburgh, was for four years in the Highgate School XI., being captain in 1951, in which year he led the Public Schools side to victory over Combined Services at Lord's. Next season he assisted Middlesex, scoring 814 runs in Championship matches and gaining his county cap. Going up to Cambridge, he received a Blue in 1953, scoring 20 and 10 against Oxford, and he represented the University at Association football in 1953 and 1954. In 1955 he became assistant-secretary for Gloucestershire, for whom he was specially registered as a player, and appeared for them for three seasons without achieving much success apart from an innings of 95, his highest, against his old University in his first match. He afterwards became an insurance executive first at Liverpool and then at Edinburgh.

LYTTELTON, HON. GEORGE WILLIAM, who died on May 1, aged 79, played for Eton against Harrow at Lord's in 1900 and 1901. The second son of the 8th Viscount Cobham, he was a master at Eton from 1908 to 1945.

MACKAY, MR. WILLIAM GILFELLOW, who died on August 8, aged 70, was from 1920 to 1939 a regular opening batsman for Northumberland, whom he captained on several occasions. In Minor County cricket during that period this fearless hooker and courageous fieldsman close to the wicket hit nearly 7,000 runs and held more than 200 catches. His highest innings was 173 against Warwickshire Second XI at Jesmond in 1932. In that season against Lancashire Second XI at Warrington, he helped H. Robson to a "hat-trick" by taking three consecutive catches at close point.

MATHEWS, MR. JOHN KENNETH, who died on April 6, aged 78, played occasionally as a forcing batsman for Sussex from 1920 to 1930, his highest innings being 58 against Gloucestershire at Hove in 1927, when he and W. Cornford put on 60 for the last wicket. In the Fetsted XI early in the century, he became a Vice-President of Sussex. He was a former hockey International.

MUNDS, RAYMOND, who died on July 30, aged 79, played as wicket-keeper in three matches for Kent between 1902 and 1906. He did much good work for the Second XI.

MURRAY, MR. WILLIAM, who died on May 29, aged 74, was for 26 years Treasurer of the Perthshire County C.C. He had been President of the Perthshire Football Association.

MUSSON, MR. FRANCIS WILLIAM, who died on January 2, aged 67, played in 16 matches for Lancashire between 1914 and 1921. Educated at Tonbridge, he was in the XI there from 1910 to 1913, being captain in the last year when heading the batting averages with 44.25. Also a very good wicket-keeper, he took part in the Cambridge Freshmen's match of 1914. For Lancashire he scored 510 runs, average 19.61, his highest innings being 75 against Hampshire at Southampton in 1920. In the First World War he served with the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment and the Royal Flying Corps, being wounded in France in 1915. He was awarded the A.F.C. in 1918 and created C.M.G. in 1958.

OBEYSEKERA, MR. FORESTER A., who died in March, aged 82, captained the Royal School, Ceylon, in 1898, scoring 96 against their keen rivals, St. Thomas's. He went to Cambridge in 1900, playing well for his College, and for some years afterwards was a ready scorer in Sussex club cricket for Halcombe. Returning home, he helped to found the Sinhalese Sports Club. At one time he was Speaker of the House of Representatives.

PEACOCKE, THE RIGHT REVEREND DR. JOSEPH, who died on January 31, aged 95, was from 1916 to 1945 Bishop of Derry and Raphoe. A keen cricketer and Rugby footballer when a student at Trinity College, Dublin, he became President of the City of Derry R.F.C. and a vice-president of the North-West Cricket Union.

ROWLEY, MR. ERNEST BUTLER, who died on October 4, aged 92, was up to the time of his death the oldest living Lancashire cricketer. A member of a family prominent in the County Club since 1873, he was never officially appointed captain, but led the side on occasion. He appeared in 15 matches between 1893 and 1898, scoring 537 runs, average 28.60, his highest score being 65.

RUSHBY, Thomas, who died in a Surrey hospital on July 13, aged 80, was a celebrated medium-paced bowler for Surrey between 1903 and 1921. Twice he headed the Surrey averages, in 1914 with 103 wickets for 19.14 and in his last season when dismissing 59 batsmen for 18.84 apiece, and during his career he took 954 wickets, average 20.58. The best performance of a bowler who never lost his enthusiasm was the taking of all 10 wickets in 17.5 overs for 43 runs in the first innings of Somerset at Taunton in 1921. In 1907 at the Oval he (six wickets for 67 runs) and J. N. Crawford (11 for 63) bowled unchanged during the two innings of Sussex who, disposed of for 43 and 90, lost to Surrey by an innings and 94 runs. Never highly regarded as a batsman, Rushby hit 1,227 runs, average 7.90, and he held 60 catches.

SUBBAROYAN, DR. P., who died in Madras on October 6, aged 73, was President of the Indian Cricket Board of Control. A lawyer, he had been a member of the Constituent Assembly, Minister of Transport, Ambassador to Indonesia and Governor of Maharashtra.

WEBBER, MR. Roy, who died suddenly on November 14, aged 48, was a celebrated cricket statistician. An accountant before serving with the Royal Air Force in the Second World War, he afterwards decided to turn a long-standing hobby into a profession. Besides acting for many years as official cricket scorer for the B.B.C., he was joint editor of the Playfair Cricket Monthly, the author of a number of books, chiefly of cricket records, and was in turn a contributor to the News Chronicle and the Daily Mail.

WHEATLEY, MR. JOHN, who died at Waimate, New Zealand, on April 20, aged 102, was the oldest Canterbury cricketer. Going to New Zealand from Australia when 16, he played in representative games for Canterbury from 1882 to 1906, his highest innings at a time when pitches were far from good being 53 against Queensland in 1897. For some years he was the sole New Zealand selector.

WILSON, GEORGE A., who died at Abbots Langley, Herts., on March 3, aged 84, played as a fast bowler for Worcestershire in the early part of the century. In first-class matches between 1899 and 1906, he took 732 wickets at a cost of 24.06 runs each. In 1899, the year that Worcestershire were accorded first-class status, he dismissed eight Yorkshire batsmen for 70 runs on the opening day of the season. Though inconsistent, he three times took over 100 wickets in a summer, his best record being 120, average 22.95, in 1901. His swerve and ferocious pace made him a menace on fast pitches not entirely true. His most remarkable analysis was eight wickets for 30 runs in the Somerset first innings in 1905 at Taunton, where his match-figures were fifteen for 142.