William Geoffrey Lowndes Frith Lowndes (born William Geoffrey Lowndes Frith; 24 January 1898 – 23 May 1982), known as Geoffrey Lowndes, was an English 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. He 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 ...

from 1921 to 1936, the majority of which was 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, ...

. He succeeded

Lord Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...

as Hampshire

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 ...

in 1934, holding the captaincy for two seasons.

Early life and cricket

The son of William Frith, also a cricketer (who changed his surname and that of his issue from Frith to Frith Lowndes in July 1906), he was born at

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

in February 1898. He was 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 ...

, before joining the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

in the final two years 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 ...

, being commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant in December 1916, with appointment to the

21st Lancers The 21st Lancers (Empress of India's) was a cavalry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1858 and amalgamated with the 17th Lancers in 1922 to form the 17th/21st Lancers. Perhaps its most famous engagement was the Battle of Omdurman, wher ...

in August 1917. Lowndes later served in the

Third Anglo-Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War was a short war which began on 3 May and ended on 8 August 1919. The new Amir of the Emirate of Afghanistan Amanullah Khan declared a Jihad against the British in the hope to proclaim full independence, as well as ...

, which followed the First World War. After completing his military service, Lowndes matriculated to

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

. There, he played

for

Oxford University Cricket Club Oxford University Cricket Club (OUCC), which represents the University of Oxford, had held first-class status since 1827 when it made its debut in the inaugural University Match between OUCC and Cambridge University Cricket Club (CUCC). Follo ...

, making his debut in 1921 against the

Free Foresters Free Foresters Cricket Club is an England, English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. He was a late inclusion in the Oxford side for the match, with his performance (three wickets and scores of 21 and 29) securing him a place in the Oxford side for their next match against the

British Army cricket team The Army cricket team is a cricket team representing the British Army. The Army team played 51 first-class matches between 1912 and 1939, although a combined Army and Navy team had played two games against a combined Oxford and Cambridge team ...

, where he scored 88 in the Oxford first innings. His performances in these two trial matches secured him a place in the Oxford side in four further matches in the 1921 season, including playing in

The University Match The University Match is an annual cricket fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club. First played in 1827, it is the oldest varsity match in the world. Until 2001, when first-class cricket was reorga ...

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

. Against H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI at

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

, he made a

double century In cricket, a century is a score of 100 or more runs in a single innings by a batter. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century ...

with a score of 216, sharing in a partnership of 218 in a little over 90 minutes for the fourth wicket with Humphrey Ward. After graduating from Oxford, Lowndes played for the Free Foresters ''against'' Oxford University in 1923.

Hampshire captaincy and later life

Lowndes played for

twice in the 1924 County Championship against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

and

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. He was a regular member of H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI, first playing for his eleven in 1926. Lowndes would make twelve first-class appearances for his team, scoring 494 runs. In the 1920s, he also played for the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, and for the Harlequins against the touring

West Indians A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED''), the term ''West Indian'' in 1597 described the indigenous inhabitants of the West Ind ...

at Eastbourne. In the early 1930s, he played for an England XI against the touring

New Zealander New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

s and West Indians, in addition to playing for the Gentlemen in the

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of cricket matches that began in July 1806 and was abolished in January 1963. It was a match between a team consisting of amateurs (the Gentlemen) and a team consisting of professionals (the Players ...

fixture at

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

in 1933. Having played intermittently for Hampshire since his debut for the county, Lowndes was persuaded by

to succeed him as Hampshire captain in 1934. The Hampshire side he inherited was in a state of transition, so had little success, nevertheless, he was a popular captain amongst his contemporaries. He played first-class cricket for Hampshire until 1935, after which he was succeeded as captain by Dick Moore. He made a final first-class appearance in 1936, for the Free Foresters against Oxford University. Lowndes played the majority (41 matches) of his first-class cricket for Hampshire, scoring 1,558 runs 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 21.94; he made four centuries, with a highest score of 143. His most notable innings of 140 came 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 ...

in 1934, reaching his century in 75 minutes and adding 247 runs in under three hours for the fourth wicket 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 ...

. Overall, in 79 first-class matches, he scored 3,244 runs at an average of 24.02, recording five centuries. Lowndes was 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" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...

'' as an "attacking batsman and a particularly fine driver, at his best on fast wickets". He also a capable fast-medium away-swing bowler, whom ''Wisden'' noted "sometimes took the new ball and might perhaps have used himself more". He took 78 wickets 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 38.50, with best figures of 3 for 5. Lowndes played the game in an amateur spirit – playing more for fun and the enjoyment of others. In 1943, Lowndes was alleged to have engaged in an affair with Joan Holroyd Akers-Douglas, wife of the Kent cricketer

Ian Akers-Douglas Ian Stanley Akers-Douglas (16 November 1909 – 16 December 1952) was an English amateur cricketer and rackets player. He was a right-handed batsman who played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Kent County Cricket Club between 1929 ...

; their marriage ended in divorce as a result. In September 1949, he played an exhibition match for the Duke of Edinburgh's XI at

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

. Lowndes died at Newbury in May 1982, aged 84. At the time of his death, he was the last survivor of the 1921 Oxford University team.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lowndes, Geoffrey 1898 births 1982 deaths People from Wandsworth Cricketers from the London Borough of Wandsworth People educated at Eton College British Army personnel of World War I 21st Lancers officers British military personnel of the Third Anglo-Afghan War Alumni of New College, Oxford English cricketers Oxford University cricketers Free Foresters cricketers Hampshire cricketers H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Harlequins cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Non-international England cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Hampshire cricket captains Military personnel from the London Borough of Wandsworth 20th-century English sportsmen