Arthur Jaques (7 March 1888 — 27 September 1915) was an English first-class

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 and

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officer. Having initially played

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 ...

for 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 ...

on a tour of the West Indies in early 1913, Jaques played first-class cricket in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

for

Hampshire County Cricket Club Hampshire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Hampshire. Hampshire teams formed by earlier organisations, principal ...

in 1913 and 1914, forming a successful bowling partnership with

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. In his two seasons playing for Hampshire, he took 168 wickets and was due to inherit the captaincy for the 1915 season, however the onset of 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 ...

meant he would never get the opportunity to captain Hampshire. Jaques would serve in the war with the

West Yorkshire Regiment ) , march = ''Ça Ira'' , battles = Namur FontenoyFalkirk Culloden Brandywine , anniversaries = Imphal (22 June) The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) was ...

and was subsequently killed in action in September 1915 at the Battle of Loos.

Early life and cricket career

The son of Joseph Jaques, he was born in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

in March 1888. He was educated in England at Aldenham School in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, where he played for the school cricket team as a bowler. From there, he matriculated to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

; while studying at Cambridge, he did not play for the Cambridge University Cricket Club eleven, but did play in the freshman match of 1908. Jaques toured the West Indies with the

(MCC) in early 1913, making his debut in

on the tour against

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

Bridgetown Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Island ...

. He made a further seven first-class appearances on the tour, scoring 106 runs and taking 5 wickets. A member of Hampshire Hogs Cricket Club, he subsequently made his debut for Hampshire in the

1913 County Championship The 1913 County Championship was the twenty-fourth officially organised running of the County Championship. Kent County Cricket Club won their fourth championship title. Table * Five points were awarded for a win. * Three points were awarded for ...

against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. He appeared regularly for Hampshire during the 1913 season, a season in which '' Wisden'' claimed "he did nothing remarkable" in. His debut season yielded him 53 wickets at an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

of 28.35, with also him taking his maiden

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 batsman. Taking ...

. Jaques also made a first-class appearance in 1913 for L. G. Robinson's XI against J. R. Mason's XI at

Old Buckenham Old Buckenham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, approximately south-west of Norwich. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,294 in 658 households at the 2001 census falling to a population of 1,270 livin ...

. Jaques had a prolific season the following year, making a further 28 first-class appearances, 26 of which came for Hampshire, as well as appearing twice for the Gentlemen in the

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...

fixtures at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

and

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

. In these, he took 117 wickets at an average of 18.69, taking a five wicket haul on eight occasions and

ten wickets in a match In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bowle ...

on three. His best career figures of 8 for 21 came in 1914, against

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_ ...

. He formed a potent bowling partnership with

, with the pair often bowling unchanged and helping take Hampshire to fifth place in the

, their highest-ever finish. ''Wisden'' attributed his success as a bowler to his unusual methods, which involved placing his

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

mostly on the on-side, pitching on the wicket or just outside the leg-stump, and swinging the ball into the batsman to cramp them for room and force them into losing patience and making an error. Jaques was a useful lower order batsman, scoring 982 across his first-class career at a batting average of 12.75; he made one half century, a score of 68 against

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

in 1914, in which he put on a partnership of 107 for the tenth wicket with Walter Livsey. Following the 1914 season, Jacques was due to inherit the Hampshire

captaincy A captaincy ( es, capitanía , pt, capitania , hr, kapetanija) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule ...

from Edward Sprot for the 1915 season, however he would never have the chance to take up the captaincy.

World War I service and death

With the beginning of the

in July 1914, first-class cricket in England was suspended the following month, following a statement from MCC secretary

Francis Lacey Sir Francis Eden Lacey (19 October 1859 at Wareham, Dorset – 26 May 1946, Sutton Veny, Wiltshire) was the first man to be knighted for services to cricket (and the first person to be knighted for services to any sport) in the 1926 King's Birth ...

. Jaques volunteered to serve in the war, receiving a commission into the

as a temporary

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in October 1914, before being made a temporary

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

in the following month. In February 1915, he was made a temporary

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Jaques fought in the Battle of Loos in September 1915, during the course of which he was killed in action on the 27th; he was killed on the same day as his brother, Joseph Hodgson Jaques. Jaques was initially listed as missing, but was declared as killed in action in December. His body was never recovered, with him being commemorated on the

Loos Memorial The Loos Memorial is a World War I memorial forming the sides and rear of Dud Corner Cemetery, located near the commune of Loos-en-Gohelle, in the Pas-de-Calais département of France. The memorial lists 20,610 names of British and Commonwealth s ...

. In England, he was commemorated at the

Stoneham War Shrine North Stoneham Park, also known as Stoneham Park, was a landscaped parkland and country house of the same name, north of Southampton at North Stoneham, Hampshire. It was the seat of the Fleming (subsequently Willis Fleming) family. The park was ...

in Hampshire and on a fumed oak panel commemorating the Hampshire cricketers who fell during the war, which was unveiled by his mother in June 1922. In his will, Jaques bequeathed £500 to Hampshire County Cricket Club. He was survived by his widow, Edith Glenny Vale, whom he had married at

South Stoneham South Stoneham was a Manorialism, manor in South Stoneham ecclesiastical parish, parish. It was also a Hundred (country subdivision), hundred, Poor law union, sanitary district then rural district covering a larger area of south Hampshire, England ...

a little over a month prior to his death.

References

Works cited

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaques, Arthur 1888 births 1915 deaths Sportspeople from Shanghai People educated at Aldenham School Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Hampshire cricketers L. G. Robinson's XI cricketers Gentlemen cricketers British Army personnel of World War I West Yorkshire Regiment officers British military personnel killed in World War I