Michael Harrington Matthews (26 April 1914 – 29 May 1940) 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 and naval officer who died in action in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The son of

Walter Matthews Walter Matthews may refer to: * Walter Matthews (politician) (1900–1986), member of the Canadian House of Commons * Walter Matthews (priest) (1881–1973), British Anglican priest, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral * Walt Matthews (1934–2014), basebal ...

, who was Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral from 1934 to 1967, Michael Matthews went to

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

, where he played cricket for the first XI from 1930 to 1933. In his last two years at school he was selected to keep wicket for The Rest in the annual schools match at

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 Lord's Schools. In the 1932 match he made four stumpings and a catch when John Cameron took all 10 Lord's Schools wickets with his leg-spin. He went up to

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, in 1933, and played a sprinkling of matches for the university team in 1934 and 1935 before establishing himself as the principal wicket-keeper in 1936 and 1937, and playing in the annual match 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 ...

. In his last match he took six catches to help Oxford to victory over Cambridge for the first time in five years. His highest score was 68 when he top-scored in the first innings against

Minor Counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

in 1936. He was awarded a

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

in Greats, and read for the

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Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

. He married Loveday Abbott shortly after the outbreak of World War II. He was serving in the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

as a Sub-lieutenant on HMS ''

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

'', the destroyer which was the first to reach

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

, when he was killed in a bombing raid.Christ Church website
Retrieved 29 November 2014.

References

External links

*

Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Matthews, Michael Harrington
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Michael 1914 births 1940 deaths English cricketers Oxford University cricketers People educated at Westminster School, London Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Royal Navy personnel killed in World War II Royal Navy officers of World War II Deaths by German airstrikes during World War II Military personnel from Surrey Royal Navy officers People from Wandsworth Cricketers from the London Borough of Wandsworth 20th-century English sportsmen