Edward Henry Bowley (6 June 1890 – 9 July 1974) was an English

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 officia ...

er who played for Sussex County Cricket Club and the

England cricket team The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Engl ...

. A forceful opening batsman, Bowley played just one season of regular first-class cricket before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and was 30 when he resumed his cricket career in 1920. But for the next 14 seasons he was a reliable run-getter, and for the three seasons from 1927 to 1929 was among the heaviest scorers in the country. At 39, he was called up for two Test matches against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in 1929, and the following winter he toured New Zealand and Australia with Harold Gilligan's

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) team, playing in three of the four Test matches against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He scored 109 at

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

. Bowley shared in several big partnerships for Sussex, two of them still county records. In 1921, he put on 385 for the second wicket with Maurice Tate against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

at Northampton. 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 ...

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th c ...

in 1929, he hit an undefeated 280 in a day and shared a first-wicket partnership of 368 with Jim Parks senior. This Sussex record was beaten four years later when, with

John Langridge John George Langridge MBE (10 February 1910 – 27 June 1999) was a cricketer who played for Sussex. His obituary in ''Wisden'' called him "one of the best English cricketers of the 20th century never to play a Test match". Born into a crick ...

, he put on 490 runs. This is the third-highest first-wicket partnership in England, the fourth-highest of all time and the eighth-highest partnership for any wicket in first-class cricket. In this partnership, against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

at Hove, Bowley made his highest score, 283. Bowley was also a useful leg-spin bowler, regularly taking around 50 wickets a season. In 1928, he took 90 wickets as well as scoring 2,359 runs. He was 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 ...

in 1930.

References

1890 births 1974 deaths England Test cricketers English cricketers Auckland cricketers Sussex cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers North v South cricketers Players cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 S. B. Joel's XI cricketers L. H. Tennyson's XI cricket team {{England-Test-cricket-bio-stub