Victor Joseph Ransom (17 May 1917 — 23 September 1998) 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. Ransom was born at

New Malden New Malden is an area in South West London, England. It is located mainly within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and the London Borough of Merton, and is from Charing Cross. Neighbouring localities include Kingston, Norbiton, Raynes ...

in May 1917. During 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 ...

, he served as a sailor in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and played for them in minor cricket matches. He first came to the attention of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, then rebuilding under the captaincy and secretaryship of

Desmond Eagar Edward Desmond Russell Eagar (8 December 1917 — 13 September 1977) was an English amateur first-class cricketer who played county cricket for Gloucestershire and Hampshire. Eagar debuted for Gloucestershire whilst still a schoolboy at Chelten ...

following the war, in

club cricket Club cricket is a mainly amateur, but still formal, form of the sport of cricket, usually involving teams playing in competitions at weekends or in the evening. There is a great deal of variation in game format although the Laws of Cricket are obs ...

for Malden Wanderers Cricket Club and was specially registered to play for Hampshire. Ransom made his debut in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

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 ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in the 1947 County Championship, taking eight wickets in the match. He made eighteen appearances in 1947, taking 54 wickets at an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

of 28.05; he took all three of his career

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Taking ...

s during this season, with best figures of 5 for 50. However, the strong start to his first-class career did not continue beyond his debut season. He made just nine appearances for Hampshire in 1948, and six in 1949, taking 19 and 13 wickets respectively. With the emergence of

Derek Shackleton Derek Shackleton (12 August 1924 – 28 September 2007) was a Hampshire County Cricket Club, Hampshire and England cricket team, England bowler (cricket), bowler. He took over 100 wickets in 20 consecutive seasons of first-class cricket, but onl ...

, Ransom found his opportunities at Hampshire restricted; in 1950, he made just one first-class appearance against

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and left at the end of that season. In total, Ransom made 34 first-class appearances for Hampshire, taking 88 wickets at an average of 34.89. With the bat, he scored 419 runs at an

of 9.97; he made one half century, a score of 58 against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

in 1949. Whilst playing for Hampshire, Ransom also made one first-class appearance for the South in the

North v South The North of England and South of England cricket teams appeared in first-class cricket between the 1836 and 1961 seasons, most often in matches against each other but also individually in games against touring teams, Marylebone Cricket Club ( ...

fixture in 1949, and twice for 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 ...

(MCC) in 1949 and 1950. Ransom subsequently played two first-class matches for

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. ...

, both against

in 1951 and 1955. He also made a further first-class appearance for the MCC against Cambridge University in 1951. Although he only made two first-class appearances for Surrey, he played for and captained the Surrey Second XI until 1961. He continued to play club cricket for Malden Wanderers, later becoming their

opening batsman In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., if ...

. Outside of cricket, Ransom ran a

butcher A butcher is a person who may Animal slaughter, slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat, or participate within any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat and poultry for sale in retail or wholesal ...

s for many years. He died at

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up Ar ...

in September 1998.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ransom, Victor 1917 births 1998 deaths People from New Malden Cricketers from the London Borough of Merton Cricketers from Surrey Royal Navy personnel of World War II Royal Navy sailors English cricketers Hampshire cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers North v South cricketers Surrey cricketers English butchers