Richard Alexander Bennett (12 December 1872 — 16 July 1953) was an English first-class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er, who made 37 appearances in first-class cricket from 1896 to 1903. He led his own personal cricket team on a tour of the West Indies in early 1902, as well as playing county cricket for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. Militarily active, he served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

with the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars.

Early life and first-class cricket

The son of The Reverend Alexander Sykes Bennett, he was born in December 1892 at Holdenhurst, Hampshire. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

, but did not feature in the college cricket team. From there, he matriculated in 1891 to Christ Church, Oxford. During his first year at Oxford, he was commissioned into the 4th Volunteer Battalion, Royal Hampshire Regiment as a second lieutenant in February 1892. English cricketers 1897

Playing his club cricket in Hampshire for the Hampshire Hogs, Bennett made his debut in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...

for

against Leicestershire at Leicester in the

1896 County Championship The 1896 County Championship was the seventh officially organised running of the County Championship, and ran from 4 May to 31 August 1896. Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs ...

. He played first-class cricket for Hampshire until 1899, making 23 appearances. Described by ''

Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' as a "steady bat and excellent

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. ...

", he scored 468 runs for Hampshire at an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

of 12.31, with a highest score of 47, which was to be his top score in first-class cricket; as a wicket-keeper, he took 22 catches and made six stumpings. In his final season with Hampshire, Bennett also made a single appearance for the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

against

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

at Lord's. Bennett twice toured aboard to play first-class cricket. His first tour, in 1897, saw him tour North America with Pelham Warner's personal team, making two first-class appearances during the tour against the Gentlemen of Philadelphia. His second tour abroad came after the end of his career with Hampshire, when he captained his own team on a tour to the West Indies in early 1902; originally the team, made up entirely of

amateurs An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...

, was to be organised and captained by H. D. G. Leveson-Gower, but he was unable to tour. Making ten first-class appearances on the tour, he scored 141 runs with a highest score of 32

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

, while as wicket-keeper he took 15 catches and made 17 stumpings. Following the tour, Bennett made a final appearance in first-class cricket for the

Gentlemen of England Cricket, and hence English amateur cricket, probably began in England during the medieval period but the earliest known reference concerns the game being played c.1550 by children on a plot of land at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, Surrey ...

against Oxford University at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1903. His overall first-class career saw Bennett play 37 matches, scoring 683 runs at an average of 12.64, while as a wicket-keeper he took 44 catches and made 29 stumpings.

WWI service and later life

Outside of cricket, Bennett was in business and was the company secretary for the Bristol Sugar Refinery Co..His business commitments necessitated his relocation to Thornbury, some north of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. There he played for Thornbury Castle Cricket Club from 1910, and continued to do so after the club amalgamated with Thornbury Cricket Club. During the

, he served in the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, being appointed as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

in September 1914. He was made a temporary captain in November 1915. Following the war, he returned to club cricket as chairman of Thornbury Cricket Club and later served as its president from 1948 until his death, at Thornbury in July 1953. He was the brother-in-law of the cricketers Arthur Stafford Crawley and Charles Webb.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Richard 1872 births 1953 deaths Sportspeople from Bournemouth People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Royal Hampshire Regiment officers English cricketers Hampshire cricketers P. F. Warner's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers R. A. Bennett's XI cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers English businesspeople British Army personnel of World War I Royal Gloucestershire Hussars officers 19th-century British Army personnel Military personnel from Bournemouth