Albert Dudley Eric Rippon (29 April 1892 – 16 April 1963) played 31 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 ...

matches for Somerset, all but one of them in the 1914 and 1919 seasons on either side of the First World War. In many of his first-class matches, he opened the batting with his identical twin brother, Sydney Rippon. The Rippon family hailed from London but had relocated to

Radstock Radstock is a town and civil parish on the northern slope of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England, about south-west of Bath and north-west of Frome. It is within the area of the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset. The Rads ...

in Somerset, and the twins were sent to school at

King's College, Taunton (Strong and faithful) , established = 1880 , closed = , type = Independent day and boarding , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label ...

, where they made a lot of runs and caused confusion by their close resemblance to each other. Sydney joined the

Knowle Cricket Club Knowle may refer to: Places in England * Knowle, Bristol, a district and council ward of Bristol *Knowle West, a neighbourhood in the south of Bristol, adjacent to Knowle *Knowle, Devon, a village in Braunton parish *Knowle, Budleigh Salterton, a ...

in Bristol and scored heavily in club cricket; Dudley got a job on a Bath newspaper and played for a local team. Dudley Rippon was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium pace bowler. He played regularly for Somerset in the 1914 season and was joined in his third match by his brother, with whom he opened the innings. In his fourth match, against

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, he

carried his bat In cricket, the term carry the bat (or carry one's bat) refers to an opening batsman (no. 1 and 2) who is not dismissed ("not out") when the team innings is closed. The term is mainly used when the innings closes after all 10 wickets have fall ...

for an unbeaten 105 (though Somerset had two players injured and unable to bat in this innings). Rippon himself was also injured in this match and had to use a runner. Later in the same season, in the match against Yorkshire at

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

, Sheffield, he took five Yorkshire wickets in an innings for 107 runs, the only time he returned a five-wicket-innings analysis; Somerset lost the match by an innings inside two days, but Rippon also top-scored in each Somerset innings. Following Britain's entry into the First World War on 4 August 1914, Rippon was commissioned into the horse transport section of the Army Service Corps as a

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 ...

. He was badly wounded during the Gallipoli Campaign, which he had joined on 5 November 1915. As a result of his wounds he was discharged with the

Silver War Badge The Silver War Badge was issued in the United Kingdom and the British Empire to service personnel who had been honourably discharged due to wounds or sickness from military service in World War I. History The badge, sometimes known as the "D ...

and the honorary rank of lieutenant. On 10 October 1918 he managed to obtain a new commission as a second lieutenant in the Administrative Branch of the fledgling Royal Air Force and was based in Edmonton, London. Despite his wartime injuries, he appeared fairly regularly for Somerset again in 1919. Against Essex at Leyton, he and Sydney put on 144 for the first Somerset wicket, and Dudley went on to score 134, his highest first-class score. But after this season, he made just one further first-class appearance, in the 1920 season, his wounds finally taking their toll. His brother continued to play occasional matches for Somerset through to 1937. After his retirement from first-class cricket, Rippon became cricket correspondent for the '' Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News'' and '' Daily Chronicle''.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rippon, Dudley 1892 births 1963 deaths British identical twins English cricketers Somerset cricketers People educated at King's College, Taunton English twins British Army personnel of World War I Royal Army Service Corps officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Royal Air Force officers