Alfred James Bowerman (22 November 1873 – 20 June 1947) was an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played two first-class matches for Somerset in the early 20th century, and also played in the only cricket match at the Olympic Games, at the

1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900, link=no), today officially known as the Games of the II Olympiad () and also known as Paris 1900, were an international multi-sport event that took place in Paris, France, from 1 ...

in Paris.

Personal life

Alfred James Bowerman was born in Broomfield,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

on 22 November 1873. After attending

Blundell's School Blundell's School is a co-educational day and boarding independent school in the English public school tradition, located in Tiverton, Devon. It was founded in 1604 under the will of Peter Blundell, one of the richest men in England at the tim ...

in Tiverton, Devon, he worked as a timber merchant in the

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

area. He married Frances Mabel (née Long) in 1895. In 1910, he was taken to court over a gambling debt, and two years later he sold his timber business and emigrated with his family to Australia in December 1912 to establish a new career as a farmer. He served in the First World War as part of the Australian Imperial Force, active in the Middle East. In October 1946, while a resident at Eventide Nursing Home, he was hospitalised after a fall, and fractured his skull. He died the following year, on 20 June 1947 in Brisbane, Queensland.

First-class cricket

Bowerman played twice for

as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

. In 1900, he played against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

and five years later, he appeared against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

, scoring eight runs in four innings and taking one catch. In his biography of the player, the Somerset cricket historian Stephen Hill describes Bowerman as "a decent club cricketer".

Olympic career

He played for the Devon Wanderers team that represented Great Britain in the

cricket competition, the only time that cricket has featured in the Olympics. In the only game against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, Bowerman scored seven in the first innings, and in the second innings he scored 59, the top score of the match as Great Britain picked up the gold medal.

Notes

References

External links

*
Alfred Bowerman's profile at Sports Reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowerman, Alfred 1873 births 1947 deaths English cricketers Somerset cricketers English Olympic medallists Olympic cricketers of Great Britain Cricketers at the 1900 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain People from Sedgemoor (district) Medalists at the 1900 Summer Olympics