Alexander Lindsay "Alec" Hosie (6 August 1890 – 11 June 1957) 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 one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er who played for a large number of teams in England and India. Hosie was a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

who bowled occasional right-arm

medium pace Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

Childhood

Hosie was the only son of the British diplomat and China expert Sir Alexander Hosie and his first wife, the former Florence Lindsay. He was born in Wenzhou in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and educated in England at

St Lawrence College, Ramsgate St Lawrence College is a co-educational independent school situated in Ramsgate, Kent and has been established as a "public school" ever since it was founded. History The college was founded in 1879 as South Eastern College (colours: gold ...

, and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

Cricket career

Hosie made his

debut for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1913 against

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. He represented the university in five first-class matches in 1913, scoring two half-centuries with a highest score of 60 against the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

. In 1913, Hosie also played for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. Hosie represented the club in three first-class matches before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and 77 more times from 1921 to 1935. He played infrequently for Hampshire, having to manage his commitments in India. In his 77 matches for Hampshire, he scored 3,542 runs at an average of 26.83, with 17 half-centuries, 5 centuries and a high score of 155 against Yorkshire in 1928. In 1921 Hosie made his debut for the Europeans (India) against the

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

. Hosie represented the Europeans in 14 first-class matches from 1921 to 1929. Hosie scored 921 runs for them at an average of 38.37, with five half centuries, two centuries and a career-high score of 200 against the Hindus in 1924. 1925 saw Hosie make his debut for the

against Cambridge University. Hosie played seven first-class matches for MCC from 1925 to 1938. In his seven matches for the club, he scored 287 runs at an average of 22.07, with a single half century score 63. In 1935 Hosie made his debut for

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

against the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

. He played eight first-class matches for Bengal between 1935 and 1937, scoring 449 runs at an average of 32.07, with five half centuries and a high score of 82 against

Central Provinces and Berar The Central Provinces and Berar was a province of British India and later the Dominion of India which existed from 1903 to 1950. It was formed by the merger of the Central Provinces with the province of Berar, which was territory leased by the B ...

in 1936. As well as playing first-class cricket for the above teams, Hosie also played first-class cricket for Bengal Governor's XI, MC Bird's XI,

Free Foresters Free Foresters Cricket Club is an English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the Rev. Willi ...

, Europeans and Parsees, Europeans in the East,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, the Gentlemen, South of England, the Viceroy's XI, the Rest of India, an Indian XI, Indian University Occasionals and Lord Tennyson's XI.

Death

Hosie died at

Ashurst, Hampshire Ashurst is a village in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England, which together with Colbury hamlet makes the parish of Ashurst and Colbury. Ashurst is on the A35 road near the Southampton conurbation. According to the 2001 census the paris ...

, in June 1957 aged 66.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hosie, Alec 1890 births 1957 deaths Sportspeople from Wenzhou Hampshire cricketers Gentlemen cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Free Foresters cricketers North v South cricketers Bengal cricketers People educated at St Lawrence College, Ramsgate Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Oxford University cricketers English cricketers Europeans cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 L. H. Tennyson's XI cricket team Viceroy's XI cricketers