Harry Higgins (rugby Union)
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Harry Leslie Higgins (24 February 1894 – 19 September 1979) was an English
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 ...
er who played 98 matches in the 1920s. All but one of these were for
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...
; the exception was a
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 ...
game in 1922 in which bad weather meant that Higgins (playing for the Gentlemen) did not get to bat. He stood in as Worcestershire captain for one game in 1923, and acted as
wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...
for a single match — in which he scored 99 — in 1921. Higgins made his debut for Worcestershire against
Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
at
Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...
in June 1920; he made 0 and 33 in a heavy innings defeat. He played a further 10 games for Worcestershire that season, but Higgins' only half-century during the year was the 64
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 ...
he hit 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, ...
at
Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...
in July: a game in which only 80 overs were possible. The other nine games in which Higgins played were all lost by one of the weakest of all Worcestershire sides; these defeats included the innings-and-340-run demolition by
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 ...
that remains Worcestershire's heaviest first-class defeat. He was a regular in the county side in 1921 and 1922, and in both years he made over 1,000 first-class runs. In 1921 he hit a career-best 1,182 runs at 28.82, including two centuries. The higher of these, 133 against
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 ...
at
Leyton Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Ri ...
, came in a somewhat unusual match. Essex, batting first, had been dismissed for 90 ( Preece taking a career-best 7-35) but had nevertheless run out easy winners thanks to the all-round talents of
Johnny Douglas John William Henry Tyler Douglas (3 September 1882 – 19 December 1930) was an English cricketer who was active in the early decades of the twentieth century. Douglas was an all-rounder who played for Essex County Cricket Club from 1901 to 1 ...
, who made 123 * and took 14 wickets. Higgins made his career best score of 137* in May 1922 at New Road 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 ...
, but again Worcestershire lost, this time by an innings. In 1923 and 1924, Higgins appeared in 15 matches each season, but suffered a severe loss of form, scoring only 728 runs in 55 innings, and with just a single fifty each year. After that he never played regularly again, although he turned out on a handful of occasions from 1925 until his final retirement in 1927. His last game was against Warwickshire at Worcester: in a drawn match, Higgins scored 11 in his only innings. Higgins was born in
Bournville Bournville () is a 19th century model village on the southwest side of Birmingham, England, founded by the Quaker Cadbury family for employees at its Cadbury's factory, and designed to be a "garden" (or "model") village where the sale of alc ...
(then in
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 ...
, now
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
); he died at the age of 85 in Malvern,
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...
. His older brother
John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
played more than 100 times for Worcestershire, and umpired one Test match.


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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Harry 1894 births 1979 deaths English cricketers Worcestershire cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Cricketers from Birmingham, West Midlands 20th-century English sportsmen