Ernest Richard Sheepshanks (22 March 1910 – 31 December 1937), also known as Dick Sheepshanks, was an English amateur

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 officia ...

er who played one match for

Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...

in 1929, and a war correspondent who was killed in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

Personal

Sheepshanks was born at Arthington Hall,

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 popula ...

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

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. His family had made its fortune in wool. He is buried in the churchyard at Arthington Hall.

Education and sports

Sheepshanks attended

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, ...

, where he was captain of cricket, and helped them win the annual fixture against Harrow School in 1928. He then studied at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, from 1928 to 1931, where he was a contemporary of

Victor Rothschild Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschild (31 October 1910 – 20 March 1990) was a British banker, scientist, intelligence officer during World War II, and later a senior executive with Royal Dutch Shell and N M Rothschild & So ...

and

Guy Burgess Guy Francis de Moncy Burgess (16 April 1911 – 30 August 1963) was a British diplomat and Soviet agent, and a member of the Cambridge Five spy ring that operated from the mid-1930s to the early years of the Cold War era. His defection in 1951 ...

. It was in his first year at Cambridge, in 1929, that he played for

against the

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

, although he never played for Cambridge University itself. Sheepshanks, as a right-handed batsman, scored 26 in his only innings. After following on, Cambridge scored 425 for 7 and the match was drawn.

Journalism career

Sheepshanks joined

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

as a journalist on 16 October 1933. He died, aged 27, in December 1937 at

Caudiel Caudiel is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of Alto Palancia, Castellón, Valencia, Spain. Geography The surrounding municipalities are Benafer, Fuente la Reina, Gaibiel, Higueras, Jérica, Montán, Pavías, Pina de Montalgrao, Villanueva ...

Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel Province. It has a population of 35,675 in 2014 making it the least populated provincial capital in the country. It is noted for its harsh climate, with ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, where he was working as a special correspondent at the

Battle of Teruel The Battle of Teruel was fought in and around the city of Teruel during the Spanish Civil War between December 1937 and February 1938, during the worst Spanish winter in 20 years.Hugh Purcell, p. 95. The battle was one of the bloodiest actions of ...

in the Spanish Civil War, covering the war from a pro-Franco position.Cricinfo Player Profile
retrieved 27 November 2008 A shell landed just in front of the press car he was in; Bradish Johnson of ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'' was killed outright, Eddie Neil of

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

and Sheepshanks were fatally wounded, but

Kim Philby Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby (1 January 191211 May 1988) was a British intelligence officer and a double agent for the Soviet Union. In 1963 he was revealed to be a member of the Cambridge Five, a spy ring which had divulged British secr ...

of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'', much later exposed as a Soviet spy, suffered only a minor head wound.

Controversy

Decades later Tom Duprée, British

honorary consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

at Saint Jean de Luz, France in 1937, suggested Philby had set a bomb in the car to kill Sheepshanks before he blew his cover, but Professor Donald Read considered this highly improbable.''Fighting for Franco'', Judith Keene, 2001

References

External links

Cricinfo Profile
1910 births 1937 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Yorkshire cricketers Cricketers from Leeds Journalists killed while covering the Spanish Civil War English male journalists British people of the Spanish Civil War English cricketers {{UK-journalist-stub