Cecil Middleton (26 May 1911 – 3 September 1984) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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. Middleton was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

in May 1911, the son of Henry Dubs Middleton and Jane Dorothy Elizabeth Middleton (née Berney), daughter of Sir Henry Hanson Berney, 9th Baronet.Burke's Peerage 2003 Volume 1, p. 358. He was educated at

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

, before going up to

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...

. While studying at Oxford, he 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

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 1933, making four appearances. He scored 128 runs in his four matches, 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 21.33 and a high score of 44. With his 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 ...

bowling, he took four wickets with best figures of 3 for 60. Middleton was an

Oxford Blue A blue is an award of sporting colours earned by athletes at some universities and schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of blues began at Oxford and Cambridge universities in England. They are now awarded at a number of other ...

and champion golfer, winning the St Andrews Foursomes Cup at

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. It is a private members-only club based in St Andrews in Scotland. It was previously known colloquially as "The R&A", but in 2004, a new organisation kn ...

in the early 1930s. Middleton died in Scotland in September 1984 at

Southend, Argyll Southend (, ) is the main settlement at the southern end of the Kintyre peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies south of Campbeltown, the main town in the area. The civil parish of Southend comprises the village and the surrounding la ...

. Other members of Middleton's family who were "well known" sportspeople include his cousin, Robert Carrington Middleton (1875–1916) who was reportedly also born in Leeds and boarded at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

where he learned the game of

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

, later representing Yorkshire county in that sport. In 1928, his wife, Mrs R.C. Middleton, also represented Yorkshire county when playing in an exhibition of

lawn tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cove ...

with three other players. The event had been organised by the Police Recreation Society with Princess Mary attending the match.

References

External links

* 1911 births 1984 deaths Cricketers from Leeds English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of University College, Oxford English cricketers Oxford University cricketers Middleton family (British) {{England-cricket-bio-1910s-stub