Reginald Herbert Spooner (21 October 1880 – 2 October 1961) was a

cricketer 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 ...

who played for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He also played

Rugby Union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

for

Biography

The son of the Rev. G. H. Spooner, of

Woolton Woolton (; ) is a suburb of Liverpool, in Merseyside, England. It is an area located southeast of the city and bordered by Allerton, Gateacre, Halewood, and Hunt's Cross. At the 2011 Census, the population was 12,921. Overview Originally a ...

, Spooner was educated at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

, where he played Rugby for the school as well as captaining the cricket and

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

First Elevens."Spooner, Reginald Herbert" in ''Marlborough College Register 1843–1952'' (The Bursar, Marlborough, 1953), p. 382 He became one of the leading amateur batsmen of the so-called "Golden Age" of English cricket before the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Coming to prominence as a schoolboy cricketer at Marlborough, Spooner played

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 of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for Lancashire in 1899, then disappeared on three years' military service with the Manchester Regiment, some of it in 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 ...

in South Africa. He had been commissioned a second lieutenant in the 1st Battalion of the regiment on 19 October 1901, and resigned the commission in November 1902, after the end of the war in South Africa. Reappearing in 1903, he scored 247 against

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, at that time the highest score made against that county, and shared with Archie MacLaren a first-wicket partnership of 368 against

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

at Aigburth, Liverpool, which remains the Lancashire record. For the next three years, Spooner, along with MacLaren and Johnny Tyldesley, was the backbone of a formidable batting side that played forty-five County Championship matches without defeat between August 1903 and July 1905. Spooner's off-drive was particularly strong. He was also noted for his watchfulness and skill at

fast bowling Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

on fiery pitches – which were the rule at Old Trafford in fine weather during the 1900s. Among many notable innings by Spooner on fiery wickets were against

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 ...

in 1904 and for the Gentlemen at Lord's against Arthur Fielder in 1906. The season of 1907 saw Spooner go into business, and for a time it was feared he would not play at all. He did play five times for Lancashire and again beat Fielder with an innings of 134 at Canterbury, and at the Scarborough Festival against the touring South Africans when he became credited as one of the first batsmen to work out the googly, the ball bowled with a leg break action that then breaks from the off. Furthermore, in 1908, when Spooner would have been in his element on rough Old Trafford pitches from which the ball often "flew", he played only one county match on the August Bank Holiday against

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. He found time for a few matches in both 1909 and 1910 and scored 200 not out against Yorkshire on the Bank Holiday. In 1911, Spooner was able to manage his business to permit him to play regularly until after the August Bank Holiday. He scored 2,312 runs at an average of more than 51 per innings, but announced he would not be able to tour Australia because of business. In 1912, Spooner played all six Tests, including his only Test century against South Africa. Disaster struck though the following year when an accident while hunting prevented him playing. Moreover, business demands were such that Spooner never played more than a few matches a year from 1914 onwards. Yet, so well-thought-of was he that, after the First World War, Spooner was offered, and accepted, the captaincy of the

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) tour to Australia in 1920–21. However, he then had to turn it down because of injury. In the event, the MCC side led by Johnny Douglas lost the Test series 5–0 to the

Australian cricket team The Australia men's national cricket team represents Australia in international cricket. Along with England, it is the joint oldest team in Test cricket history, playing and winning the first ever Test match in 1877; the team also plays One ...

led by Warwick Armstrong. Spooner 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 for their influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1905. He was later president of Lancashire. In rugby, Spooner was a centre three-quarter for Liverpool R.F.C. and played for England against Wales at

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

in 1902–03.

References

1880 births 1961 deaths British Army personnel of the Second Boer War C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers Cricketers from Merseyside England cricket team selectors England international rugby union players England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1890 to 1918 English cricketers English rugby union players Gentlemen cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Lancashire cricketers Lord Londesborough's XI cricketers Manchester Regiment officers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers North v South cricketers People educated at Marlborough College Rugby union players from Merseyside People from Billinge, Merseyside Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens Wisden Cricketers of the Year Liverpool St Helens F.C. players {{England-cricket-bio-stub