John William Dale (21 June 1848 – 26 June 1895) was an English

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

from 1868 to 1870, for

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

(MCC) from 1869 to 1882 and for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

from 1874 to 1878. Dale was born at

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

, the son of Thurston Dale, a solicitor. He was educated at

Tonbridge School Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...

and was in the Tonbridge School cricket team from 1863 to 1866.Wisden - Obituaries in 1895
/ref> He was admitted at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

on 12 July 1866. He played cricket for

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

in 1867 and 1868. At Cambridge he played cricket for Cambridge University and was in the winning side in the

Varsity match A varsity match in Britain and Ireland is a fixture, especially of a sporting event or team, between university teams, usually the highest-level team, or varsity team, in that sport. The University Match in cricket between Oxford University an ...

in 1868. In

1869 Events January * January 3 – Abdur Rahman Khan is defeated at Tinah Khan, and exiled from Afghanistan. * January 5 – Scotland's second oldest professional football team, Kilmarnock F.C., is founded. * January 20 – Elizabe ...

, he rowed in the

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

eight stroked by J H D Goldie in the

Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. It is also known as the Uni ...

. He also played for Cambridge again in a win in the Varsity cricket match. He rowed for Cambridge with Goldie again in the 1870 Boat Race when Cambridge won. In the Varsity cricket match in 1870 he scored 15 and 67 and his partnership with William Yardley in the second innings turned the game and

Frank Cobden Frank Carroll Cobden (14 October 1849 – 7 December 1932) was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). In the University Match of 1870 he famously took a hat-trick comprising the last thr ...

's hat-trick on the last three balls won the match for Cambridge by two runs. Over the years Dale played many matches for MCC, and Gentlemen's and North of England teams. In 1870 he also played for the Gentlemen against the Players at Lords and at the Oval when he scored 55 in a 164 run partnership with

W. G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English cricketer who is widely considered one of the sport's all-time greatest players. Always known by his initials as "WG", his first-class career spanned a record-equalling 4 ...

. Dale was awarded BA in 1870. In 1872, Dale joined the firm of Edmund James Smith, Land Agent to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England, in the North of England. He made a century playing for MCC against Cambridge University in 1872. In 1874 he made his debut playing for Middlesex and played seven county matches by 1878. He also played many games for various clubs over these years. Dale was a right-handed batsman who played 98 innings in 56 first-class matches with an average of 16.92 and a top score of 132. His style of batting was described as "extremely finished and elegant". He was a right-arm round arm fast bowler and took 6 first-class wickets at an average of 29.00 and a best performance of 2 for 16.John Dale at Cricket Archive
/ref> Dale became a salaried partner in his firm in 1879. He enjoyed country sports and hunted with most of the best packs and was a first-rate fisherman. Dale died at 1 Upper George Street, Westminster aged 47 from an attack of pneumonia following influenza.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dale, John William 1848 births 1895 deaths People educated at Tonbridge School Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Cambridge University Boat Club rowers English male rowers English cricketers Middlesex cricketers Cambridge University cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen cricketers North v South cricketers Gentlemen of the South cricketers North of the Thames v South of the Thames cricketers Gentlemen of the North cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Gentlemen of Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Deaths from pneumonia in England Deaths from influenza in the United Kingdom Cricketers from Lincoln, England

See also

References