Cyril Otto Hudson Sewell (19 December 1874 – 19 August 1951) was a Colony of Natal-born 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
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
and 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 ...
between 1895 and 1919. A right-handed batsman, Sewell could
open the batting or play lower in the order, as required. The majority of his 173 first-class appearances were made for Gloucestershire, who he
captained in the two years prior to the First World War.
At the age of 19, he was part of the
South African side which toured England in 1894. On the tour, Sewell was the leading run-scorer for the tourists, accruing 1,038 runs at an average of 30.52, although none of the matches were considered to be first-class.
He moved to England the following year and made his Gloucestershire debut in May 1895. He scored his maiden century the following season against
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...
, scoring 104 runs in the second innings. He scored over 1,000 runs in a season for the first of two occasions in 1898, accruing 1,114 runs at an average of 33.75.
He then toured North America as part of
Pelham Warner
Sir Pelham Francis Warner, (2 October 1873 – 30 January 1963), affectionately and better known as Plum Warner or "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket, was a Test cricketer and cricket administrator.
He was knighted for services to sport in ...
's side in late 1898.
He played only occasionally for Gloucestershire between 1899 and 1912, not appearing at all in 1907, 1908 or 1911. In 1906, he achieved his highest batting average in a season, scoring his 409 runs at 45.44.
He was appointed as secretary of Gloucestershire in 1912, and captain the subsequent year, taking over both positions from
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 ...
.
He appeared more regularly at this time, playing at least nineteen matches in each of the three years prior to the cessation of cricket due to the First World War. In 1914, he passed 1,000 runs in a second for the second and final time, scoring 1,142 runs at 26.55.
He appeared only once in first-class cricket after the war, having little impact during a county match 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 ...
.
Described in his ''
Wisden
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
'' obituary as a "hard-hitting, attractive batsman",
Sewell scored 7,562 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 26.07, and hit nine centuries.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sewell, Cyril
1874 births
1951 deaths
A. J. Webbe's XI cricketers
Alumni of Maritzburg College
Cricketers from Pietermaritzburg
English cricketers
Gentlemen cricketers
Gentlemen of the South cricketers
Gloucestershire cricket captains
Gloucestershire cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
North v South cricketers
P. F. Warner's XI cricketers
W. G. Grace's XI cricketers
Emigrants from the Colony of Natal to the United Kingdom