Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Campbell Watson (17 March 1884 – 16 January 1952) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

officer and an English cricketer active from 1913 to 1928 who played for

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

and

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

Life

Watson was born in

Newdigate Newdigate is a village and civil parish in the Mole Valley borough of Surrey. Lying in a relatively flat part of the Weald, Newdigate is to the east of the A24 road between Dorking and Horsham, ESE of Guildford and south of London. Neigh ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

in 1884, and died in

Shermanbury Shermanbury is a village and civil parish in the Horsham (district), Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the A281 road approximately north of Henfield. The present day village consists mainly of a ribbon development of bungalow ...

in 1952. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the 4th (

Militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

) Battalion,

Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. ...

, on 12 October 1901. Militia officers were part time, and he volunteered for active service with the

Imperial Yeomanry The Imperial Yeomanry was a volunteer mounted force of the British Army that mainly saw action during the Second Boer War. Created on 2 January 1900, the force was initially recruited from the middle classes and traditional yeomanry sources, but s ...

serving in South Africa during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

, joining the 33rd Battalion as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

from 18 March 1902. After his return to the United Kingdom, he transferred to the regular army where he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the

7th Queen's Own Hussars The 7th Queen's Own Hussars was a cavalry regiment in the British Army, first formed in 1689. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war reduction in ...

on 14 January 1903. He later advanced to lieutenant colonel in this regiment, and was appointed a Companion of the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

(DSO). He married Olinda Emily (1885–1969), who survived him.

Cricket

Watson appeared in 106 first-class matches as a righthanded

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

who

bowled In cricket, the term bowled has several meanings. First, it is the act of propelling the ball towards the wicket defended by a batter. Second, it is a method of dismissing a batter, by hitting the wicket with a ball delivered by the bowler. ...

right arm fast. He scored 2,724 runs with a highest score of 111 and took five

wicket In the sport of cricket, the term wicket has several meanings: * It is either of the two sets of three Stump (cricket), stumps and two Bail (cricket), bails at each end of the Cricket pitch, pitch. The Fielding (cricket), fielding team's playe ...

s with a best performance of three for 42. He is one of only four cricketers to have hit a six over the

St Lawrence Lime The St Lawrence Lime Tree was a at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury, Kent, England. It was located within the boundary ropes of the cricket field which required special rules. In 2005, it was broken in two during high winds. History It i ...

. Notes from the touchline, Frank Keating
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Notes

1884 births 1952 deaths English cricketers Essex cricketers Sussex cricketers People from Mole Valley (district) Military personnel from Surrey British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Essex Regiment officers British Militia officers Imperial Yeomanry officers 7th Queen's Own Hussars officers Companions of the Distinguished Service Order 20th-century English sportsmen {{england-cricket-bio-1880s-stub