Edward Mark Sprot (4 February 1872 – 8 October 1945) was a Scottish first-class

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 and

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officer. Following a seven year commission with the

King's Shropshire Light Infantry The King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in the Childers Reforms of 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. It served in the Second Boer War, World War I, World War II and Korea ...

, Sprot played

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 of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for Hampshire from 1898 to 1914, captaining the county from 1903 to 1914. As a captain, Sprot was known for his dynamic and unusual tactics, which sought to gain positive results from matches. In all, Sprot made 270 appearances in first-class cricket, scoring over 12,000 runs and making thirteen centuries. He additionally took 55 wickets, alongside taking 228 catches in the field. His first-class career came to an end with the beginning of the

First World War 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 ...

Early life and military career

The son of Edward William Sprot, he was born at

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in February 1872. He was educated in England at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

, where he played for the school cricket team. From there he attended the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

and graduated into the

as a second lieutenant in November 1892. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in March 1896, before resigning his commission in July 1899. Prior to his resignation, he had represented the Shropshire Light Infantry in rackets alongside Colonel James Spens, with the pair winning The Army Rackets Challenge Cup in 1899.

Cricket career and later life

After a series of impressive performances in army cricket, Sprot played a single

match for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

in 1898 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 ...

Fenner's Fenner's is Cambridge University Cricket Club's ground. History Cambridge University Cricket Club had previously played at two grounds in Cambridge, the University Ground and Parker's Piece. In 1846, Francis Fenner leased a former cherry orc ...

, before making five appearances the following season in the 1899 County Championship. Following his resignation from the army, he appeared regularly in the County Championship for the weak Hampshire side of 1900; it was during this season that he scored his maiden first-class

century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. ...

, a score of 103

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

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 ...

. Following the 1902 season, Sprot was chosen to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Hampshire for the 1903 season, replacing Charles Robson.Pavilion Gossip
''

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 ...

''. 16 April 1903. p. 73 He captained Hampshire until 1914, with his captaincy characterised by his encouragement to play attractive cricket with enterprise and enthusiasm, guiding what was a weak Hampshire side when he gained the captaincy from the bottom of the County Championship to fifth place in

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

, and captaining Hampshire to their first victory over 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 ...

. ''

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" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' described his captaincy as dynamic and exactly what Sir Stanley Jackson's Committee into first-class cricket had been looking for. An example of his positive captaincy came in a rain affected County Championship match against

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

in 1908; in an era in which declarations were rare, Sprot declared Hampshire's first innings before lunch on the final day of the match, still 24 runs behind Northamptonshire's first innings total. In their second innings, Northamptonshire were dismissed for 60 with

Phil Mead Charles Phillip Mead (9 March 1887 – 26 March 1958) was an English first-class cricketer. He played as a left-handed batsman for Hampshire and England between 1905 and 1936. He was born at 10 Ashton Buildings (since pulled down), second elde ...

taking 7 for 18, setting Hampshire a target of 85 for victory, which they chased successfully with Sprot scoring an unbeaten 62. Following the 1914 season, Sprot was due to be replaced as captain by Arthur Jaques for the aborted 1915 season, however Jaques was subsequently killed during the

. During his career at Hampshire, he played 267 first-class matches for the county. Described by ''Wisden'' as a "fine free hitter with zest for the forcing game", Sprot was a powerful batsman whose free style of play enabled quick run scoring when he was at the

crease Crease may refer to: * A line (geometry) or mark made by folding or doubling any pliable substance * Crease (band), American hard rock band that formed in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 1994 * Crease pattern, origami diagram type that consists of all ...

. He scored 12,212 runs for Hampshire at an

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 28.80; he made thirteen centuries and 69 half centuries, with a highest score of 147. His best season for Hampshire came in 1905, when he scored 1,206 runs at an average of 41.58. This was one of four occasions in which he passed 1,000 runs for the season. Sprot was considered a fine fielder, taking 230 catches in first-class cricket. As a right-arm medium pace bowler, he took 54 wickets for Hampshire at a

bowling average In cricket, a player's bowling average is the number of runs they have conceded per wicket taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers, commonly use ...

of 34.37; his sole

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Taking ...

of 5 for 28 came against

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in 1900. In addition to playing first-class cricket for Hampshire, he also made three first-class appearances for other teams, making an appearance each for the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

against the touring Australians in 1902, and for the

Gentlemen of the South ''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 a ...

against the Players of the South in 1903, in which he scored a half century. In 1908, he played for a Hambledon XII in a commemorative first-class match against an England XI at

Broadhalfpenny Down Broadhalfpenny Down (pronounced /ˌbrɔ:dˈheɪpniː/; '' brawd-HAYP-nee'') is a historic cricket ground in Hambledon, Hampshire. It is known as the "Cradle of Cricket" because it was the home venue in the 18th century of the Hambledon Club, bu ...

. During the opening day of the match, Sprot unveiled a granite memorial commemorating the Hambledon Club's contribution to cricket. During the First World War, he volunteered as a special constable. Following the end of the war, Sprot, then aged 46, informed the club he would not be returning to play for them, with Lionel Tennyson subsequently inheriting the captaincy. In retirement, Sprot played

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

and

sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

, in addition to taking up fishing, painting and playing the piano. He was described by

Harry Altham Harry Surtees Altham (30 November 1888 – 11 March 1965) was an English cricketer who became an important figure in the game as an administrator, historian and coach. His '' Wisden'' obituary described him as "among the best known personalitie ...

as "about the best dry-fly fisherman in Hampshire". During the 1920s, he provided contributions to C. B. Fry's ''Mercury Magazine'' prize fund, which raised funds for the shore-based naval training establishment on the

River Hamble The River Hamble in south Hampshire, England, source (river), rises near Bishop's Waltham and flows for through Botley, Hampshire, Botley, Bursledon, and Lower Swanwick before entering Southampton Water between Hamble Common and Warsash. The ...

. Sprot died at his home at

Lower Bourne Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the administrative counties of England, county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the ...

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 ...

in October 1945, aged 73. His younger brother, James, was killed in action during the First World War.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sprot, Edward 1872 births 1945 deaths Military personnel from Edinburgh 19th-century British Army personnel Cricketers from Edinburgh People educated at Harrow School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst King's Shropshire Light Infantry officers Scottish cricketers Hampshire cricketers Hampshire cricket captains North v South cricketers Gentlemen of the South cricketers Hambledon cricketers British special constables