Ralph Alexander Spitteler (16 November 1915 – 14 March 1946) 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 and

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

officer. The son of Charles and Daisy Spitteler, he was born in British India at Kannur in November 1915. He spent his youth living with his parents at the Yercaud hill station in

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

and later studied at the University of Madras. He played made his debut in first-class cricket for the Europeans cricket team against the

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in January 1939 in the Madras Presidency Match, with him taking 9 wickets in the match, including a five wicket haul in the Indians second innings. A few weeks after this match, he played for the Madras cricket team in the

Ranji Trophy The Ranji Trophy (also known as Mastercard Ranji Trophy for sponsorship reasons) is a domestic first-class cricket championship played in India between multiple teams representing regional and state cricket associations. Board of Control for Cr ...

against Bengal. He appeared in two further first-class matches for the Europeans against the Indians in January of 1940 and 1941, with Spitteler again impressing in the 1940 fixture with another five wicket haul. With his right-arm fast-medium bowling across four first-class matches, he managed to take 19 wickets at an average of 21.42. With the Japanese declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire in December 1941, Spitteler played no further first-class matches as he undertook military duties in the

with the

10th Gurkha Rifles The 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles, (abbreviated to 10 GR), was originally a rifle regiment of the British Indian Army. The regiment was formed in 1890, taking its lineage from a police unit and over the course of its existence it had a ...

. Initially serving as a non-commissioned officer, Spitteler was an emergency commission to the rank of lieutenant in February 1942. He saw action in the Burma campaign and was seriously wounded while fighting the Japanese at Scraggy Hill and Shenam Pass in 1944. He was subsequently captured by the Japanese and transported as a prisoner of war to Java in the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies, where he was to remain until the end of the war. He never recovered from his wounds, eventually succumbing to them six months after the end of the war in March 1946. He was the last first-class cricketer to die as a direct result of the war. Spitteler was buried at the Jakarta War Cemetery.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spitteler, Ralph 1915 births 1946 deaths Sportspeople from Kannur University of Madras alumni English cricketers Europeans cricketers Tamil Nadu cricketers British Indian Army officers Royal Gurkha Rifles officers British World War II prisoners of war Indian Army personnel killed in World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Japan