William Montgomery (4 March 1878 – 14 November 1952) played 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 ...

for

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and

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_ ...

between 1901 and 1907. He was born at Staines, then in

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 ...

and died at

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

. Montgomery was a right-arm fast bowler and, in first-class cricket, a lower-order batsman, though he batted as an opener at times in other matches and in his games for Somerset he scarcely bowled at all. He was on the ground staff 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 ...

from 1896 and appeared in Surrey second eleven matches from 1898, playing regularly in

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 ...

matches from 1899. He made his first-class cricket debut against

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English Amateur status in first-class cricket, amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played ...

's London County in 1901, taking four wickets in the match, including

Gilbert Jessop Gilbert Laird Jessop (19 May 1874 – 11 May 1955) was an English cricket player, often reckoned to have been the fastest run-scorer cricket has ever known. He was Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1898. Career Jessop was born in Cheltenham, Gl ...

twice. But in the next game against

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 ...

he failed to take a wicket and he disappeared from first-team cricket for two seasons. He returned to the Surrey side for five matches early in the 1903 season and in the first of these, a game ruined by rain against

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...

he took four wickets for 17 runs, the best bowling figures of his career. There were seven further games for Montgomery at the end of the 1904 season, but he achieved little with either bat or ball, and joined Somerset for the 1905 season. Not qualified for

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 ...

matches in 1905 or 1906, Montgomery's only match for Somerset in 1905 was the game against the Australian team at

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

, a match in which his former Surrey colleague, Tom Richardson, made his only appearance for Somerset. By the time he was qualified to play regularly in 1907, his bowling was almost gone and he took just three wickets in nine games, all of them in a single innings against the

South Africans The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The South African National Census of 2022 was the most recent census held; the next will be in 2032. In 2011, Statistics Sout ...

in his very last first-class game. His batting failed to compensate for the lack of wickets: he had his best ever season with the bat, averaging 10.12 and against Warwickshire at Bath he scored exactly 50, the only time in his first-class career that he reached this milestone. He did not play for Somerset after this 1907 season. That was the end of Montgomery's first-class career, but he appeared in

matches for

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

in 1911 and

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 ...

in 1913. He was the cricket coach at

Oundle School Oundle School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire, England. The school has been governed by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City ...

for around 30 years, retiring in 1946.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montgomery, Bill 1878 births 1952 deaths English cricketers Surrey cricketers Somerset cricketers Cheshire cricketers Hertfordshire cricketers Teachers of Oundle School People from Staines-upon-Thames