Arnold Holcombe Read (24 January 1880 – 20 May 1957) was an English

stockbroker A stockbroker is an individual or company that buys and sells stocks and other investments for a financial market participant in return for a commission, markup, or fee. In most countries they are regulated as a broker or broker-dealer and ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played for

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

between 1904 and 1910.Arnold Read

CricInfo ESPNcricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a Sports journalism, sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including Liveblogging, liveblogs and sco ...

. Retrieved 2013-07-23. Read was born at

Snaresbrook Snaresbrook is a district in the London Borough of Redbridge, in East London. It is located east of Charing Cross. The name derives from a corruption of Sayers brook, a tributary of the River Roding that flows through Wanstead to the East. ...

in 1880 the son of Ernest and Jane (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Jervis) Read. His father was a stockbroker who had played for Essex in the years before the side had first-class status, whilst his uncle, John Read, had been one of the county's early honorary secretaries. His grandfather John Francis Holcombe Read had been born in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

and married Mary Jervis, a wealthy heiress who inherited money from slave plantations on the island from her father

Edward Jervis Jervis, 2nd Viscount St Vincent Edward Jervis Jervis, 2nd Viscount St Vincent (1 April 1767 – 25 September 1859) was an English peer. Early life Jervis was born Edward Jervis Ricketts, the second son of William Henry Ricketts and Mary Jervis. Mary Jervis was the daughter of ...

.Pracy, pp. 145–147. Read grew up at

Buckhurst Hill Buckhurst Hill is an affluent suburban town in Epping Forest District, Epping Forest, Essex, within the Greater London Urban Area and adjacent to the northern boundary of the London Borough of Redbridge. The area developed following the opening ...

in the county and was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

.Wainewright JB (1907) ''Winchester College, 1836–1906: a register'', p. 540.
Available online
at

The Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

. Retrieved 2025-06-11.) After first playing for the county Second XI in 1903, Read made his first-class debut for Essex in 1904. After his debut, against

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is a suburb of Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately south-west of Birmingham city centre, and was historically in Warwickshire. The Ward (electoral subdivision), wards of Edgbaston and Nort ...

, he played one match the following season against the same opponents, top-scoring in Essex's first innings with 70 runs. He did not, however, play again until 1908, when he took seven wickets for 75 runs against

Northants Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordsh ...

and played for the whole of the second half of the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

season, making 12 appearances for the First XI. Six matches in 1909 and two in 1910 completed his first-class career, and in a total of 22 first-class matches he scored 419 runs and took 38 wickets.Pracy, p. 167.Arnold Read
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2025-06-11. Professionally Read worked as a stockbroker in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. In the period before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he moved to Surrey where he played golf regularly. His son,

Hopper Read Holcombe Douglas "Hopper" Read (28 January 1910 – 5 January 2000) was an English cricketer who played in one Test in 1935. Biography Read, who received his nickname from the eccentric leap in his long run-up was regarded as the fastest bowle ...

, played first-class cricket for

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and Essex in the 1930s and made one Test match appearance for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1935.Pracy, pp. 167–168. Read died at

Englefield Green Englefield Green is a large village in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. It is home to Runnymede Meadow, The Commonwealth Air Forces Memorial, The Savill Garden,and Royal Holloway, University of L ...

in Surrey in 1957. He was aged 77.

References

Bibliography

*Pracy D (2023) ''Gentlemen and players of Essex: the amateur and professional cricketers of Essex County Cricket Club, 1876–1979''.
Available online
at

The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

. Retrieved 2025-06-11.)

External links

* 1880 births 1957 deaths English cricketers Essex cricketers Cricketers from the London Borough of Redbridge {{England-cricket-bio-1880s-stub