Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Rowan Scrope Rait Kerr (13 April 1891 – 7 April 1961) was an Irish-born

cricketer 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 ...

and sporting

administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

. Rait Kerr was born in Bray, Ireland third son of Sylvester Rait Kerr of Rathmoyle, Edenderry King's Co and led a distinguished army career. He was educated at

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

. He graduated from Sandhurst in 1910 and joined the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

. By 1916 he had been promoted to temporary captain, and by 1917 he was acting major and had been awarded the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

and the D.S.O. As a cricketer, he played in six first-class matches. Five of these were for the Europeans in India between 1913–14 and 1920–21, while the other came after a decade's absence from first-class cricket when he appeared for the Army against Oxford University in 1931. He succeeded William Findlay as Secretary of the

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 ...

in 1936 and he retired in 1952. His daughter Diana Rait Kerr became the first Curator of the MCC and she later became one of the first elected lady members of the club in 1999. Colonel Rait Kerr died at

Constantine Bay Constantine Bay ( kw, Eglos Costentin, meaning ''church of St Constantine'') is a village and beach on the Atlantic coast of north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately three miles (5 km) west of Padstow and is ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, aged 69.

Bibliography

*''A History of Royal Engineers Cricket 1862-1924'', Institute of Royal Engineers, 1925. *''The laws of cricket: Their history and growth'', Longmans, Green & Co, 1950. *''Cricket Umpiring and Scoring'', Phoenix House, 1964. *''Cricket Umpiring and Scoring'' - 3rd Revised edition, with Thomas Edward Smith, Littlehampton Book Services Ltd, 1969.

External links

Rowan Rait Kerr
at Cricinfo

at Cricket Archive * 1891 births Sportspeople from Bray, County Wicklow Cricketers from County Wicklow People educated at Rugby School Europeans cricketers Graduates of the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich Royal Engineers officers British Army cricketers Recipients of the Military Cross British Army personnel of World War I English cricket administrators Irish cricket administrators Secretaries of the Marylebone Cricket Club 1961 deaths {{Ireland-cricket-bio-stub