Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

David Henry Macindoe (1 September 1917 – 3 March 1986) was an English

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. Macindoe was a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

who bowled right-arm

medium-fast Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

. His bowling was characterised with a long run-up and a high arm action. The son of Patrick Macindoe and Cicely Broadbent, he was born at Eton, and educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

First-class debut

While studying at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, Macindoe made his first-class debut for

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

in 1937. He made the majority of his first-class appearances for the university prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, making 31 appearances between 1937 and 1939. During this period he took 118 wickets, which came at a respectable

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

of 28.92. His debut season was his most successful, with him taking 44 wickets at 24.40. A competent lower order batsman, he had his best season with the bat in the 1939 season, scoring 296 runs for the university at a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of 29.90, with a high score of 51. He scored both of his first-class fifties in this season, with the score of 51 coming against the

Minor Counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

. He played a first-class match for the

Gentlemen ''Gentleman'' (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man; abbreviated ''gent.'') is a term for a chivalrous, courteous, or honorable man. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire ...

in 1937, becoming the first freshman since

Sammy Woods Samuel Moses James Woods (13 April 1867 – 30 April 1931) was an Australian sportsman who represented both Australia and England at Test cricket, and appeared thirteen times for England at rugby union, including five times as captain. He also p ...

in 1888 to be selected for the Gentlemen. He also played once 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, Surre ...

in 1938 against the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizenship, citizens, nationality, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Aust ...

. Prior to the war, Macindoe also played

Minor counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

cricket for

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, making his debut for the county in the 1937

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

against

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. With university commitments, he played infrequently for the county, making eight appearances.

World War II and after

Macindoe served in

, by 1940 he was serving in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

holding the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. He was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

in 1945, with an announcement being made in the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

'' on 10 April 1945. He left the military in September 1946, upon resigning his commission he was honourably granted the rank of

. After the war he returned to Christ Church, Oxford, where in 1946 he was the President of the university's

Vincent's Club Vincent's Club, popularly known as Vinnie's, is a private members' club in Oxford. The club's membership consists predominantly, but not exclusively, of sporting blues of the University of Oxford.Lack, Alastair.'Once a member, always a member ...

. Returning to the university cricket team, he made ten further first-class appearances for Oxford University in 1946, the last of which came against

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. In the 1946 season, he took 34 wickets at an average of 27.23, with best figures of 6/61, which came against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. This brought the total number of wickets he took for Oxford University to 149, which came at an average of 27.80. His total number of runs scored for the university stood at 747 runs at an average of 14.94. After the war he also resumed playing for Buckinghamshire, playing for the county in the 1947 season and making ten appearances in that season. In 1949, he began his teaching career at Eton College, where in his youth he had been educated. He taught English and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, as well as coaching cricket at the college. He was part of the Territorial Army in 1952, which coincided with him heading the

Combined Cadet Force The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which operates in schools, sub divided into Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force sections. Its aim is to ...

at Eton. His role as

master Master, master's or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles In education: *Master (college), head of a college *Master's degree, a postgraduate or sometimes undergraduate degree in the specified discipline *Schoolmaster or master, presiding office ...

of college lasted until 1960. Macindoe along with Claude Taylor, who was his predecessor in the cricket role at Eton, as well as his former Buckinghamshire teammate, was the joint-author of the book ''Cricket Dialogue''. He ended his teaching career as the Vice-Provost of Eton.

Personal life

Macindoe married Jane Orde, the daughter of Captain Cuthbert Orde and Lady Eileen Wellesley, in 1944. The couple had four children. Their first child, Peter, was born in 1944 and died in 1947. Macindoe died suddenly at Eton on 3 March 1986, having suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. His wife survived him by nine years.

References

External links

David Macindoe
at

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David Macindoe
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Macindoe, David 1917 births 1986 deaths People educated at Eton College Teachers at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford English cricketers Buckinghamshire cricketers Oxford University cricketers Gentlemen cricketers British Army personnel of World War II Royal Artillery officers Recipients of the Military Cross English cricket coaches Gentlemen of England cricketers Sportspeople from Eton, Berkshire Military personnel from Berkshire 20th-century English sportsmen