Kenneth Herbert Clayton Woodroffe (9 December 1892 − 13 May 1915) 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 and

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officer. He predominantly played his

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

Cambridge University Cricket Club Cambridge University Cricket Club, established in 1820, is the representative cricket club for students of the University of Cambridge. The club was recognised as holding first-class cricket, first-class status until 2020. The university played ...

as a

fast bowler 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 ...

. He later saw action in 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 ...

with the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

and was killed in action on the Western Front in May 1915.

Early life and cricket

The son of Henry Long Woodroffe and his wife, Clara, he was born at

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

in December 1892. He was educated firstly at Rose Hill School in

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 ...

, before attending

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

, where he played for the college cricket team. From there, he matriculated to

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 students and fellows. It is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from ...

. Toward the end of the 1912 season, Woodroffe made his debut in

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, ...

against the touring

South Africans South Africans are the citizens of South Africa (officially the Republic of South Africa ''RSA. These individuals include those residing within the borders of South Africa, as well as the South African diaspora. History The first modern inh ...

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 ...

. His debut was a success with the ball, taking figures of 5 for 33 in the South Africans first innings with his right-arm

Fast bowling 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 ...

. As a freshman at Cambridge in 1913, he played first-class cricket for

on six occasions as a bowler, gaining his

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in that seasons

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 ...

. He also played for Hampshire against Cambridge in that season. The following season, Woodroffe made a further eight first-class appearances for Cambridge and appeared once again in The University Match. In the 1914 season, he appeared in two final first-class matches for

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, ...

in the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

. Described by Frederic Wilson in the 1912 ''

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 ...

'' as a "really fast

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who "can make the ball turn from the off on nearly any wicket". His bowling action was described by Wilson as "a high and easy one, and, being tall, often makes the ball t up very quickly". His first-class career lasted 18 matches, with Woodroofe taking 55 wickets 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 27.27. For Cambridge, he took 41 wickets, but never took a

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 ...

for the university. His best innings bowling figures of 6 for 43 came for Sussex against

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 ...

First World War service

With the onset of the

, Woodroffe was commissioned into the 6th Battalion,

as a second lieutenant in August 1914. He went to Western Front with the 6th Battalion, which was attached to the 2nd Battalion,

Welsh Regiment The Welch Regiment (or "The Welch", an archaic spelling of "Welsh") was an infantry regiment of the line of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1969. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of ...

. 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 April 1915, and had been

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

. Woodroffe was killed in action on 13 May 1915, during an assault on a German

trench A trench is a type of digging, excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale (landform), swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or trapping ...

near

Neuve-Chapelle Neuve-Chapelle () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France It was the site of a First World War battle in 1915 about northeast of Béthune and southwest of Lille. History In the Battle of Neuve Ch ...

. He was commemorated at the

Le Touret Memorial The Le Touret Memorial is a World War I war memorial, memorial, located near the former commune of Richebourg-l'Avoué, in the Pas-de-Calais region of France. The memorial lists 13,389 names of British and Commonwealth soldiers with no known grav ...

. His 19-year-old brother, second lieutenant Sidney Woodroffe (8th Rifle Brigade), was killed two months after him in 1915 while showing such bravery that he was awarded the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

. Another brother, Leslie, was also killed in action during the war.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Woodroffe, Kenneth 1892 births 1915 deaths People from Lewes People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge English cricketers Hampshire cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Sussex cricketers Military personnel from East Sussex Rifle Brigade officers British Army personnel of World War I British military personnel killed in World War I Cricketers from East Sussex 20th-century English sportsmen