Edward Mark Sprot (4 February 1872 – 8 October 1945) was a Scottish 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 and

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officer. Following a seven year commission with the

King's Shropshire Light Infantry The King's Shropshire Light Infantry (KSLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in the Childers Reforms of 1881, but with antecedents dating back to 1755. It served in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. In 196 ...

, Sprot 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 Hampshire from 1898 to 1914, captaining the county from 1903 to 1914. As a captain, Sprot was known for his dynamic and unusual tactics, which sought to gain positive results from matches. In all, Sprot made 270 appearances in first-class cricket, scoring over 12,000 runs and making thirteen centuries. He additionally took 55 wickets, alongside taking 228 catches in the field. His first-class career came to an end with the beginning of 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 ...

Early life and military career

The son of Edward William Sprot, he was born at

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in February 1872. He was educated in England at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

, where he played for the school cricket team. From there he attended the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

and graduated into the

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 November 1892. He was promoted 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 ...

in March 1896, before resigning his commission in July 1899. Prior to his resignation, he had represented the Shropshire Light Infantry in

rackets Racket may refer to: * Racket (crime), a systematised element of organized crime ** Protection racket, a scheme whereby a group provides protection to businesses or other groups through violence outside the sanction of the law * Racket (sports equ ...

alongside Colonel James Spens, with the pair winning The Army Rackets Challenge Cup in 1899.

Cricket career and later life

After a series of impressive performances in army cricket, Sprot played a single

match 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 ...

in 1898 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 ...

at Fenner's, before making five appearances the following season in the 1899 County Championship. Following his resignation from the army, he appeared regularly in the County Championship for the weak Hampshire side of 1900; it was during this season that he scored his maiden first-class

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

, a score of 103

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 ...

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 ...

. Following the 1902 season, Sprot was chosen to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Hampshire for the 1903 season, replacing Charles Robson.Pavilion Gossip
''

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 ...

''. 16 April 1903. p. 73 He captained Hampshire until 1914, with his captaincy characterised by his encouragement to play attractive cricket with enterprise and enthusiasm, guiding what was a weak Hampshire side when he gained the captaincy from the bottom of the County Championship to fifth place in

1914 This year saw the beginning of what became known as World War I, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. It als ...

, and captaining Hampshire to their first victory over 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) ...

. '' Wisden'' described his captaincy as dynamic and exactly what Sir Stanley Jackson's Committee into first-class cricket had been looking for. An example of his positive captaincy came in a rain affected County Championship match against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

in 1908; in an era in which declarations were rare, Sprot declared Hampshire's first innings before lunch on the final day of the match, still 24 runs behind Northamptonshire's first innings total. In their second innings, Northamptonshire were dismissed for 60 with

Phil Mead Charles Phillip Mead (9 March 1887 – 26 March 1958) was an English first-class cricketer. He played as a left-handed batsman for Hampshire and England between 1905 and 1936. He was born at 10 Ashton Buildings (since pulled down), second elde ...

taking 7 for 18, setting Hampshire a target of 85 for victory, which they chased successfully with Sprot scoring an unbeaten 62. Following the 1914 season, Sprot was due to be replaced as captain by

Arthur Jaques Arthur Jaques (7 March 1888 — 27 September 1915) was an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer. Having initially played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club on a tour of the West Indies in early 1913, Jaques play ...

for the aborted 1915 season, however Jaques was subsequently killed during the

. During his career at Hampshire, he played 267 first-class matches for the county. Described by ''Wisden'' as a "fine free hitter with zest for the forcing game", Sprot was a powerful batsman whose free style of play enabled quick run scoring when he was at the crease. He scored 12,212 runs for Hampshire 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 28.80; he made thirteen centuries and 69 half centuries, with a highest score of 147. His best season for Hampshire came in 1905, when he scored 1,206 runs at an average of 41.58. This was one of four occasions in which he passed 1,000 runs for the season. Sprot was considered a fine fielder, taking 230 catches in first-class cricket. As a right-arm medium pace bowler, he took 54 wickets for Hampshire at a

bowling average In cricket, a player's bowling average is the number of runs they have conceded per wicket taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers, commonly use ...

of 34.37; his sole

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Taking ...

of 5 for 28 came 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 ...

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 ...

in 1900. In addition to playing first-class cricket for Hampshire, he also made three first-class appearances for other teams, making an appearance each for the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

against the touring Australians in 1902, and for the

Gentlemen of the South A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...

against the

Players of the South Players may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Players'' (1979 film), a film starring Ali MacGraw * ''Players'' (2012 film), a Bollywood film * ''Players'' (Dicks novel), a novel by Terrance Dicks, based on the television series ''Doc ...

in 1903, in which he scored a half century. In 1908, he played for a Hambledon XII in a commemorative first-class match against an England XI at Broadhalfpenny Down. During the opening day of the match, Sprot unveiled a granite memorial commemorating the Hambledon Club's contribution to cricket. During the First World War, he volunteered as a special constable. Following the end of the war, Sprot, then aged 46, informed the club he would not be returning to play for them, with

Lionel Tennyson Lionel Hallam Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson (7 November 1889 – 6 June 1951) was known principally as a first-class cricketer who captained Hampshire and England. The grandson of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson and the son of the Governor-Gener ...

subsequently inheriting the captaincy. In retirement, Sprot played billiards,

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

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, in addition to taking up fishing, painting and playing the piano. He was described by Harry Altham as "about the best dry-fly fisherman in Hampshire". During the 1920s, he provided contributions to

C. B. Fry Charles Burgess Fry (25 April 1872 – 7 September 1956) was an English sportsman, teacher, writer, editor and publisher, who is best remembered for his career as a cricketer. John Arlott described him with the words: "Charles Fry could b ...

's ''Mercury Magazine'' prize fund, which raised funds for the shore-based naval training establishment on the

River Hamble The River Hamble is located in south Hampshire, England. It rises near Bishop's Waltham and flows for through Botley, Bursledon, and Lower Swanwick before entering Southampton Water between Hamble Common and Warsash. The Hamble is tidal fo ...

. Sprot died at his home at

Lower Bourne Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tri ...

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. ...

in October 1945, aged 73. His younger brother, James, was killed in action during the First World War.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sprot, Edward 1872 births 1945 deaths Military personnel from Edinburgh 19th-century British Army personnel Cricketers from Edinburgh People educated at Harrow School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst King's Shropshire Light Infantry officers Scottish cricketers Hampshire cricketers Hampshire cricket captains North v South cricketers Gentlemen of the South cricketers Hambledon cricketers British special constables