Harry Lawton Calder (24 January 1901 – 15 September 1995) was named as a ''Wisden'' Cricketer of the Year in 1918, then a 17 year old schoolboy. Calder is the youngest person to receive this accolade, one of the game's top honours, and the only ''Wisden'' Cricketer of the Year that never 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 ...

. Calder was born in South Africa. His father, Henry Calder, had a brief first-class career, playing ten matches 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, ...

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

and Eastern Province in the late 19th century. He came to England in 1914 and was educated at

Cranleigh School Cranleigh School is a Private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in the village of Cranleigh, Surrey. History It was opened on 29 September 1865 as a boys' school 'to provide a sound and plain education, on the principle ...

in Surrey for five years, playing cricket for the school's

First XI The First XI (or, less commonly, First 11) are the eleven primary players in an organisation's leading team, particularly a football or cricket team. A player who is considered a core part of the starting line-up in a First XI team is often the ...

for five years, three as captain. As a 16-year-old

spin bowler Spin bowling is a bowling technique in cricket, in which the ball is delivered relatively slowly but with rapid rotation, giving it the potential to deviate sharply after bouncing. A bowler who uses this technique is called a spinner, a spin b ...

, he took many wickets for the school team in 1917, and was named as a Cricketer of the Year in the 1918 edition of

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''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 ...

alongside four other schoolboy cricketers, there being no

during 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 ...

. Another five schoolboys were selected by Wisden as Cricketers of the Year in 1919. Calder was the youngest. Calder never appeared in a first-class game, although he did play for 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 ...

Second XI in 1920, scoring 0 and 6

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 ...

and bowling four wicketless overs for 21 against

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

. The other nine schoolboy Cricketers of the Year in 1918 and 1919 all played at least one first-class game. Calder went back to South Africa with his family in 1919. His father encouraged him to continue to play cricket, but he decided to concentrate on golf and tennis instead. He worked in industry and banking. He was not tracked down until 1994, the year before his death, when the cricket historian Robert Brooke traced him to a nursing home in Cape Town. Calder said he had not known of the honour and had not played cricket since school, more than three-quarters of a century earlier.

Notes

References

''The Essential Wisden: An Anthology of 150 Years of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack''
edited by John Stern, Marcus Williams, p. 142
Joy of Cranleigh – What was happening in Cranleigh in August 1918?
Cranleigh Magazine, 23 July 2018 *

, 1996

External links

* * 1901 births 1995 deaths English cricketers People educated at Cranleigh School Wisden Cricketers of the Year 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-cricket-bio-1900s-stub