Albert John Holmes (30 June 1899 – 21 May 1950) 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 who had amateur status. He was a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

who rarely

bowled In cricket, the term bowled has several meanings. First, is the act of propelling the ball towards the wicket defended by a batsman. Second, it is a method of dismissing a batsman, by hitting the wicket with a ball delivered by the bowler. (Th ...

and played from 1922 to 1939 for

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 ...

, captaining the county from 1936 till his retirement. He represented the

Royal Air Force cricket team The Royal Air Force cricket team is a cricket side representing the British Royal Air Force. The team played 11 first-class matches: nine between 1922 and 1932, mostly against other branches of the Services, and another two in 1945 and 1946. Thei ...

between 1930 and 1932; he was a

flight lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. Nicknamed "Sherlock", Holmes also represented

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) several times in the late 1930s and would have captained the

England national cricket team The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Engla ...

in 1939–40 if MCC's scheduled tour of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

had gone ahead. The team had been selected but the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

on 1 September 1939 caused the tour's immediate cancellation. Holmes' final first-class appearance was in the last match to be completed following the outbreak of war, playing for Sussex 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 ...

at the

County Cricket Ground, Hove The County Cricket Ground, known for Naming rights#Stadium naming, sponsorship reasons as The 1st Central County Ground, is a cricket venue in Hove, East Sussex, England. The County Ground is the home of Sussex County Cricket Club, where most Su ...

, from Wednesday 30 August to Friday 1 September. From an overnight position of 330/3 in the first innings, chasing a Sussex score of 387, Yorkshire continued on the Friday morning and totalled 392 all out. Sussex collapsed in their second innings and were all out for only 33, whereupon Yorkshire made 30–1 to win by nine wickets. Holmes scored 11 and 4 in the match, being bowled by

Hedley Verity Hedley Verity (18 May 1905 – 31 July 1943) was a professional cricketer who played for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left-arm orthodox bowler, he took 1,956 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 14.90 ...

in both innings.CricketArchive – Sussex v Yorkshire 1939 – match scorecard
Retrieved on 10 March 2013. Holmes was born at

Thornton Heath Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Co ...

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. ...

and died at

Hollington, Hastings Hollington is a council estate and local government ward in the northwest of Hastings, East Sussex. The area lies next to Baldslow, Ashdown, North and Conquest, and less than five miles southeast of Battle, East Sussex, the home of Battle Abbe ...

. He made 208 first-class appearances, scoring 6,282 runs @ 21.22 with a highest innings of 133

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 ...

, one of six

centuries 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 ...

. He also scored 24 half-centuries, held 122 catches and took 8 wickets. His son Rodney played a handful of games for Sussex in the early 1950s.

References

Bibliography

* 1899 births 1950 deaths English cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Royal Air Force cricketers Sussex cricketers Sussex cricket captains Royal Air Force officers 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel People from Thornton Heath {{England-cricket-bio-1890s-stub