Victor Horsley Hume Riddell FRCS (23 July 1905 – 9 August 1976) was an English

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

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

. Riddell was a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...

who fielded primarily as a

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

. He was born in

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

and was educated at

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

and

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wife ...

. Riddell played two

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

matches for

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

in 1924 against the Surrey Second XI and

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. Two years later he made his first-class debut for

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 ...

against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. He played four further first-class matches in 1926 for the university, the last of which came against

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. In his 5 first-class matches, Riddell scored 48 runs at a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of 8.00, with a high score of 13 *. Behind the

stumps In cricket, the stumps are the three vertical posts that support the bails and form the wicket. '' Stumping'' or ''being stumped'' is a method of dismissing a batsman. The umpire ''calling stumps'' means the play is over for the day. Part of ...

he took three

catches Catch may refer to: In sports * Catch (game), children's game * Catch (baseball), a maneuver in baseball * Catch (cricket), a mode of dismissal in cricket * Catch or reception (gridiron football) * Catch, part of a rowing stroke In music * Cat ...

and made three

stumping Stumped is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket, which involves the wicket-keeper putting down the wicket while the batsman is out of his ground. (The batsman leaves his ground when he has moved down the pitch beyond the popping crease ...

s. He qualified MRCS in general surgery from

St George's Hospital St George's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Tooting, London. Founded in 1733, it is one of the UK's largest teaching hospitals and one of the largest hospitals in Europe. It is run by the St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundatio ...

, London, in 1930, proceeding to

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal C ...

three years later. He obtained the MD Cambridge in 1938. He was appointed to the honorary staff of the Royal Waterloo Hospital. In 1939 his book on blood transfusion was published, which was regarded as the major British textbook on the subject for ten years.British Medical Journal October 1949 p. 795
/ref> Also in 1939 he was appointed to the staff of St George's as surgeon, an appointment he held until he retired in 1970.Royal College of Surgeons of England – Plarr's Lives of the Fellows
/ref> Riddell developed a close interest in the international field and was recognized particularly in Asia as an outstanding surgical ambassador. In 1957 he was the representative of the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...

on a surgical mission to the USSR and three years later he was the leader of the British Council surgical mission to the Near East, Cyprus, Jordan, Iraq and Iran. He paid two further visits to Asia – as James IV Association of Surgeons' Visitor to India in 1963 and as guest surgeon to New Delhi and Bangkok in 1970. In Britain his reputation and popularity were exemplified by many invitations to act as an examiner in surgery to the Universities of Birmingham, Cambridge, Leeds and London. He died at

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...

, Warwickshire on 9 August 1976.

References

External links

Victor Riddell
at

ESPNcricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

Victor Riddell
at CricketArchive {{DEFAULTSORT:Riddell, Victor 1905 births 1976 deaths People from Bassetlaw District Cricketers from Nottinghamshire People educated at Clifton College English cricketers Devon cricketers Cambridge University cricketers