Nigel Esme Haig (12 December 1887 – 27 October 1966) was a

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 for

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

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was the son of Arthur Balfour Haig. Tall, stringy and deceptively frail in appearance, Haig played regularly from 1912 to 1934 as an amateur batsman who could open the innings or bat further down the order and as a tireless swing bowler somewhat above medium pace. His all-round usefulness is shown by the fact that he made 1,000 runs in a season six times and took 100 wickets five times. He did the all-rounder's double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in a season three times, in 1921, 1927 and 1929. He was captain of Middlesex for six seasons from 1929, sharing the job in the last two years with H. J. Enthoven. Haig's Test match career was undistinguished. He was brought into the England team, like so many others, for just one match and then discarded in the 1921 series against the all-conquering

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 ...

under

Warwick Armstrong Warwick Windridge Armstrong (22 May 1879 – 13 July 1947) was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921, and was undefeated, winn ...

. Eight years later, in 1929–30, he was a member of

Freddie Calthorpe Frederick Somerset Gough Calthorpe (27 May 1892 – 19 November 1935), styled The Honourable from 1912, was an English first-class cricketer. Born in London, Calthorpe ("pronounced with the first syllable rhyming with 'tall' and not with 'shall ...

's team that played the first four Tests in the West Indies. Haig was a nephew of

Lord Harris Colonel George Robert Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris, (3February 185124March 1932), generally known as Lord Harris, was a British colonial administrator and Governor of Bombay, best known for developing cricket administration via Marylebone ...

and an all-round sportsman, good at ice hockey,

real tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...

, lawn tennis, rackets, soccer, rugby union and golf.

Ian Peebles Ian Alexander Ross Peebles (20 January 190828 February 1980) was a cricketer who played for Oxford University, Middlesex, Scotland and England. After retiring from cricket he became a cricket writer, working as a journalist on ''The Sunday Ti ...

, ''Bowler's Turn'', Pavilion Library, London, 1987, p. 59. 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 ...

, while serving with the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

, Haig was awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

in the

1917 Birthday Honours The 1917 Birthday Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The King, and were ...

, who played under Haig at Middlesex, said of him: "He had a witty and active mind, with interests ranging from bird watching to music and poetry. He was a wonderful companion and guide to us youngsters, and he had a hot Scots temper which kept us, very properly, in some awe of him." In 1918 Haig married the actress Unity More. He is buried close to his grandfather Earl Haig in

Dryburgh Abbey Dryburgh Abbey, near Dryburgh on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, was nominally founded on 10 November (Martinmas) 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons reg ...

References

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* 1887 births 1966 deaths Cricketers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea People from Kensington People educated at Eton College England Test cricketers English cricketers Middlesex cricket captains England cricket team selectors Free Foresters cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers North v South cricketers Gentlemen of the South cricketers British Army cricketers Army and Navy cricketers British Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Military Cross English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 20th-century English sportsmen H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Lord Hawke's XI cricketers C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers Middlesex cricketers Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea {{England-cricket-bio-stub