Robert Montagu Poore (20 March 1866 – 14 July 1938) was a
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 army officer who, whilst serving in South Africa in 1896, played in three
Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
for the
South African cricket team
The South Africa national cricket team, also known as the Proteas, represents South Africa in men's international cricket and is administered by Cricket South Africa (CSA). South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council (I ...
. Much of his cricket was played when he held the rank of major, but he eventually became a brigadier-general. "Of all the people in the history of the game," wrote Leo Cooper in an introduction to
A. A. Thomson
Arthur Alexander Thomson, (7 April 1894 at Harrogate, Yorkshire – 2 June 1968 near Lord's in London) was an English writer best known for his books on cricket, for which he used the byline A. A. Thomson. He wrote nearly 60 books in all, inclu ...
's ''Odd Men In'', "he seems to stand for the Eccentric Ideal."
Military career
Poore was the son of Major Robert Poore (1834–1918) and his wife Juliana Lowry-Corry, daughter of Rear-Admiral
Armar Lowry-Corry.
He joined the
7th Hussars and served in the
Second Matabele War
The Second Matabele War, also known as the Matabeleland Rebellion or part of what is now known in Zimbabwe as the First ''Chimurenga'', was fought between 1896 and 1897 in the region later known as Southern Rhodesia, now modern-day Zimbabwe. ...
in
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
1896–1897. He was appointed
provost marshal
Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French ''prévost'' (Modern French ''prévôt''). While a provost marshal i ...
in South Africa during the
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
1899–1902, and received the
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...
(DSO) in 1901. In a
despatch dated 31 March 1900, the commander-in-chief,
Lord Roberts, described how Poore "has exercised his responsible duties, whether as regards the care of prisoners, or in maintaining order in camp and on the line of march, in a most satisfactory manner".
Poore was provost marshal during the trial and execution of
Breaker Morant
Harry "The Breaker" Harbord Morant (born Edwin Henry Murrant, 9 December 1864 – 27 February 1902), more popularly known as Breaker Morant, was an Anglo-Australian drover, horseman, bush poet, military officer, and war criminal who was co ...
and
Peter Handcock
Peter Joseph Handcock (17 February 1868 – 27 February 1902) was an Australian-born Veterinary Lieutenant and convicted war criminal who served in the Bushveldt Carbineers during the Boer War in South Africa.
After a court martial, Handcock ( ...
, and his diary includes contemporary notes on their case.
Cricket career
In
1899, Poore became the most fertile run-scorer in all of England, hitting 1,399 runs (including seven hundreds) between 12 June and 12 August at an average of 116.58. Against
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
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, region = South West England
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, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
he made 304 and with fellow Army officer
Captain Wynyard shared in a stand of over 400 for the sixth wicket – still the highest for that wicket in county cricket. In 21 innings over the course of the entire season, Poore managed 1,551 runs at 91.23, a record average for an English season not broken until
Don Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman, (27 August 1908 – 25 February 2001), nicknamed "The Don", was an Australian international cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time. Bradman's career Test batting average of 99.94 has bee ...
averaged 98.66 in 1930. Poore was rewarded with selection as a ''
Wisden Cricketer of the Year
The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...
''.
Poore returned to South Africa after the 1899 season to fight in the
Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sou ...
. After he returned to England, a broken arm caused him to miss most of the 1902 season, but he showed he retained his former skill with a superb innings of 62 not out against
Hugh Trumble
Hugh Trumble (19 May 1867 – 14 August 1938) was an Australian cricketer who played 32 Test matches as a bowling all-rounder between 1890 and 1904. He captained the Australian team in two Tests, winning both. Trumble took 141 wic ...
on a sticky wicket for Hampshire 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) ...
.
Hampshire v Australians 1902
Cricketarchive.com. Retrieved on 3 May 2018. It was hoped Major Poore would be available again in 1903, but he went to India that summer and when he returned to Hampshire in the middle of 1904 to great expectations, his form was disappointing. Although there were few difficult pitches in the nine games he played, he averaged under twenty and only once (on a bad wicket 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 ...
) did he show the skill that allowed him to dominate bowlers in 1899. In 1905 he again could not play at all, but he rejoined the team against Derbyshire in 1906 and in two matches scored 232 runs including 129 against Sussex, but another injury ended his season and as it turned out, his county career.
In spite of his impressive success, Poore was not yet overly enamoured with the game, which he had learnt not through classical coaching but the perusal of textbooks; certainly, it was not the only field in which his prodigious talents lay: he was a first-rate swordsman, shot and polo player, and once won the West of India lawn tennis championship. Not until, as a subaltern, he visited India with the 7th Hussars did he realise his love for cricket, a love that he sustained all through his life. Poore remained a dangerous batsman in club games right up to his mid-fifties, and played first-class cricket in India as late as 1913.
Family
In 1898 Poore married Lady Flora Mary Ida Douglas-Hamilton (1866–1957), daughter of Captain Charles-Douglas-Hamilton, and sister of the 13th Duke of Hamilton. The couple had no children. Three years after their marriage, Poore's sister Nina Mary Benita Poore (1878–1951), married her brother's brother-in-law, and became Duchess of Hamilton.
References
External links
*
*
* Thomson, AA: ''Odd Men In'' (The Pavilion Library, 1985).
Profile
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poore, Robert
1866 births
1938 deaths
People from Boscombe
Cricketers from Dublin (city)
Irish cricketers
South Africa Test cricketers
South African cricketers
English cricketers
Hampshire cricketers
Mumbai cricketers
Europeans cricketers
Gentlemen cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
British Army personnel of the Second Boer War
British Army cavalry generals of World War I
Wiltshire Regiment officers
7th Queen's Own Hussars officers
People educated at Stubbington House School
Army and Navy cricketers
Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers
Military personnel from Dublin (city)
British Army generals