Sydney Ernest Day (9 February 1884 – 7 July 1970) was an English amateur sportsman who played

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 ...

for

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

between 1922 and 1925 and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

for Old Malvernians and Corinthian. He served in the First World War in the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

and 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 ...

and was wounded during the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

Early life

Day was the third son of a wine merchant and was named after his father.Lewis P (2014) ''For Kent and Country'', pp.143–144. Brighton: Reveille Press. He was educated at Shirley House School in

Blackheath Blackheath may refer to: Places England *Blackheath, London, England ** Blackheath railway station **Hundred of Blackheath, Kent, an ancient hundred in the north west of the county of Kent, England *Blackheath, Surrey, England ** Hundred of Blackh ...

and

Malvern College Malvern College is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent coeducational day and boarding school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school in the British sen ...

.Day, Sydney Ernest - Obituaries in 1970
'' Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1971. Retrieved 2016-06-07. Day played football for Malvern and appeared in the Second XI cricket team. On leaving school he joined the

Royal Insurance Company Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

, working in London. Day played at outside-right for

Old Malvernians F.C. Old Malvernians F.C. is a football club based at Chelsea Training Centre in Cobham, Surrey, England. The members of the club are old boys of Malvern College, in Malvern, Worcestershire, England. They play in the Arthurian League. The team ha ...

and was Secretary of the club between 1908 and 1910. He also played amateur football for Kent.

Military service

Day enlisted at the start of World War I joining the

in September 1914, initially as a private in the 18th (Public Schools) Battalion.Lewis P (2014) ''

Op. cit. ''Op. cit.'' is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase ' or ''opere citato'', meaning "the work cited" or ''in the cited work'', respectively. Overview The abbreviation is used in an endnote or footnote to refer the reader to a cited work, standing ...

'', pp.145–148.Royal Fusiliers (City of London) Regiment
The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 2016-06-08. He was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in July 1915 and served on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

in France with 17th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers from April 1916. Day fought in the

in a Trench Mortar Battery and was wounded in November 1916 at Beaumont-Hamel during the Battle of the Ancre, the last phase of the Somme offensive. He was invalided to the UK to recuperate and in January 1917 was attached to the Inland Waterways Division of the

. Day served the rest of the war in the UK, reaching the rank of captain when he relinquished his commission in February 1919, by which time the war was over.

First-class cricket career

Day played in 11 first-class cricket matches for Kent, making his debut in 1922 in a County Championship match against Nottinghamshire.First-class matches played by Sydney Day
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-06-07. Eight of his appearances were made during the 1923 season and he played his final two first-class matches the following season.
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-06-07. He made his highest score of 45 not out against Worcestershire in 1923, an innings which secured the match for Kent. He played club cricket for

The Mote Mote Park, also known as The Mote, is a cricket ground in Maidstone in the English county of Kent. It is inside the grounds of the Mote Park and is owned by The Mote Cricket Club.Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

Committee from 1946 to 1958 and was President of the club in 1954. He served as a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and was an active

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

in later life. His brothers, Arthur and Sammy both also played for Kent, with Sammy also playing over 100 games for Corinthian and making three appearances for the

England football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affiliat ...

and six for the England amateur team.Player profiles - Samuel Hulme Day
, Corinthian Casuals F.C. Retrieved 2016-04-07. Day married Faith Winch in 1915. He died in 1970 at home in West Malling at the age of 86.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Sydney 1884 births 1970 deaths Military personnel from London Royal Fusiliers soldiers English cricketers Kent cricketers People educated at Malvern College British Army personnel of World War I Royal Fusiliers officers Royal Engineers officers Sportspeople from Blackheath, London Cricketers from the Royal Borough of Greenwich