Edward Cornwall Lee (18 June 1877 — 16 June 1942) 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. As a

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, Lee was most active during the late 1890s and at the turn of the 20th-century, playing varsity cricket 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 ...

and

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...

for

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 ...

. His first-class career cricket on an infrequent basis to 1909, with Lee making a total of 85 appearances.

Varsity and county cricket

The son of Edward Arthur Lee, he was born at

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton ...

in June 1877. Lee was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

, where he represented the college cricket team in two matches against

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

. Following the conclusion of his final year at Winchester, Lee made his debut in

for

against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

in the

1896 County Championship The 1896 County Championship was the seventh officially organised running of the County Championship, and ran from 4 May to 31 August 1896. Yorkshire County Cricket Club claimed victory that year, winning 16 of their 26 matches and losing only th ...

. From Winchester, he matriculated 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 ...

. A member of the Oxford University Cricket Club, he made two first-class appearances for the club in 1897, 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 ...

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 ...

(MCC). During the summer break in 1897, Lee established himself in the Hampshire side, making eleven appearances in the latter half of that season. In 1898, he featured more regularly for Oxford University, making eight appearances. '' Wisden'' noted it was in the 1898

University Match The University Match in a cricketing context is generally understood to refer to the annual fixture between Oxford University Cricket Club and Cambridge University Cricket Club. From 2001, as part of the reorganisation of first-class cricket, ...

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 ...

against

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

that his most notable performance came, with him taking figures of 5 for 31 in the Cambridge first innings and match figures of 7 for 57, which contributed toward Oxford's nine wicket win. He also took his career best bowling figures of 6 for 42 that season for Oxford. He returned to Hampshire during the 1898 summer break, making nine appearances 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 ...

. Amongst his other achievements in 1898 were two first-class half centuries, scores of 66

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

for Oxford University (which would be his highest first-class score) and 52 for Hampshire. Lee toured North America with P. F. Warner's XI during the winter of 1898, having been selected on the strength of his bowling for Oxford. In the 1899 English season, he resumed playing for Oxford University, making five appearances; he also appeared for an Oxford University Past and Present team against the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. For Hampshire later that season, he made an additional ten appearances in the

. Lee played his final season for Oxford in 1900, but only made three appearances. From his debut in 1897, he made eighteen first-class appearances for Oxford. In these, he scored 322 runs at an average of 12.88; with the ball, Lee took 29 wickets for at a bowling average of 17.65, with him taking both his career five wicket hauls for Oxford. Alongside his cricket, Lee also played

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

and

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

for the university. He followed his final three appearances for Oxford with seven appearances for Hampshire later in the

1900 County Championship The 1900 County Championship was the eleventh officially organised running of the County Championship, and ran from 7 May to 1 September 1900. Yorkshire County Cricket Club won their fourth championship title, remaining unbeaten throughout the sea ...

Later cricket and life

Following his graduation from Oxford, Lee went into business in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. In 1901, he first played for the MCC against Oxford University, in addition to making six appearances for Hampshire in the

. From January to April 1902, Lee toured the West Indies with R. A. Bennett's XI, making thirteen first-class appearances on the tour; these came mostly against regional domestic teams, such as

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). ...

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, in addition to the

West Indies cricket team The West Indies cricket team, nicknamed the Windies, is a multi-national men's cricket team representing the mainly Commonwealth Caribbean, English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean region and administered by Cricket West I ...

. He scored 224 runs on the tour at an average of 12.44, with one half century score of 53 against Jamaica Born. Following the tour, he played first-class cricket infrequently, with one appearance for Hampshire and five for the MCC prior to 1909. It was in 1909, that he made his final two first-class appearances, playing once for Hampshire against the touring Australians, and once for the MCC against Oxford University. For Hampshire, Lee made 46 first-class appearances, scoring 994 runs at an average of 14.61. Playing 85 first-class matches in total, Lee scored 1,764 runs at an average of 14.22, whilst with the ball, he took 39 wickets at a bowling average of 32.15. Lee later served in 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 ...

, being commissioned 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 ...

in the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

in August 1916, with promotion to

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 ...

following in February 1918. He died at his Petersfield residence in June 1942. His son, Arthur, was also a first-class cricketer.

References

External links

*
Photograph Album of Richard Douglas Slater (d. 1949) (featuring Lee)
at Webarchive. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Edward Cornwall 1877 births 1942 deaths Sportspeople from Torquay Cricketers from Devon People educated at Winchester College Alumni of University College, Oxford English cricketers Hampshire cricketers Oxford University cricketers Oxford University Past and Present cricketers 20th-century English businesspeople Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers R. A. Bennett's XI cricketers British Army personnel of World War I Royal Garrison Artillery officers