|
Henry William "Harry" Lee (26 October 1890 – 21 April 1981) was a professional English cricketer who played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and Middlesex County Cricket Club between 1911 and 1934. He made one Test appearance for England, in 1931. An all-rounder, Lee was a right-handed batsman and bowled both off break and slow-medium pace bowling with his right arm. He scored 1,000 runs in a season on thirteen occasions. Part of the County Championship winning sides in 1920 and 1921, Lee aggregated 20,158 runs and took 401 wickets in first-class cricket. The son of a greengrocer, Lee worked hard to earn himself a place in the Middlesex side in the years before the First World War, eventually getting his chance in 1914 when other players had joined the early war effort. Lee enlisted in the army in September 1914 and served until December 1915; although shot in the leg, declared dead and taken prisoner of war, he survived and returned to play for Middlesex in 1919. He secured his place in the team with three strong all-round seasons, and was twice part of a top four when each batsman scored a century in the same innings—he shares this achievement with Jack Hearne. Less prolific through the mid-1920s, he scored runs heavily once again towards the end of the decade. He made his only Test appearance in 1931, drafted into the England team after injuries and illness depleted the squad. He continued playing county cricket until 1934, when he was released by Middlesex aged 44, to allow the county to develop younger players. He umpired first-class cricket from his retirement until the Second World War, standing in 153 matches. Lee's career was overshadowed by more attractive, faster-scoring batsmen in the team, such as Hearne and Patsy Hendren. His two younger brothers also played first-class cricket; both Jack and Frank moved to Somerset after failing to break into the Middlesex team. All three brothers scored centuries during the 1931 season, the first instance of three professional brothers doing so in first-class cricket. Two years later, all three were involved in a single dismissal: Harry was caught by Frank off the bowling of Jack in a county match. At the time of his death in 1981, Lee was the second-oldest living Test cricketer. ==Early years== Lee was born in Marylebone, London on 26 October 1890,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Player Profile: Harry Lee )〕 the eldest of three boys, all of whom progressed to play first-class cricket. His father was a greengrocer and a coal merchant who followed cricket closely in the London evening papers.〔Lee & Thompson (1948), p. 8.〕 During Lee's youth, he developed his cricket by playing against lamp-posts, and reflected in his autobiography that: "If a bowler can clean bowl a man nine times out of ten against a lamp-post, he will not miss a full-sized wicket when he gets the chance."〔 His cricketing talent was encouraged at school; he first attended Barrett Street School and then St. Thomas's School in Portman Square. Both schools had headmasters who were sports enthusiasts, and at St. Thomas's the headmaster, Mr. Despicht, offered a penny to any schoolboy who could bowl him out, a feat Lee achieved regularly. Mr. Despicht also taught Lee to concentrate on bowling a good length, and Lee played primarily as a bowler during his school years. During his final year at St. Thomas's, the school reached the final of the local Church School's League Shield, and Lee earned victory for his school with six wickets.〔Lee & Thompson (1948), pp. 9–11.〕 When Lee left school, he worked with his father as a greengrocer, a job he liked, but not enough to stop him writing a letter to the Marylebone Cricket Club, asking for a job on the ground staff at Lord's Cricket Ground.〔Lee & Thompson (1948), p. 11.〕 Along with approximately 25 other boys, Lee was invited for a trial at Lord's early in 1906, and bowled under the observation of Alfred Atfield and the head groundsman, Tom Hearne. Lee described his first over as "six of the worst balls that anyone can ever have pitched", but as his nerves calmed, he improved, and was eventually selected as one of the five ground staff boys by Hearne.〔Lee & Thompson (1948), pp. 12–13.〕 As a ground boy, Lee had numerous tasks; sweeping, dusting and cleaning the seats, preparing nets, marking the pitch, weeding and similar. On a match day, jobs included selling scorecards, operating the score-board or fielding in the practice nets.〔Lee & Thompson (1948), pp. 14–15.〕 All of this left little time for the boys to practise their own game. No formal coaching was in place, but Lee was guided by a few different players; England internationals Teddy Wynyard and Albert Trott among them.〔Lee & Thompson (1948), p. 19.〕 In the 1909 and 1910 seasons, Lee started to gain some attention from Middlesex County Cricket Club: he scored 39 runs in a match for the Middlesex Colts in 1909,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Marylebone Cricket Club v Middlesex Colts: Other matches in England 1909 )〕 and 60 runs against Reading Cricket Club in 1910.〔Lee & Thompson (1948), p. 26.〕 He was making more appearances for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), collecting runs and wickets regularly, but not prolifically.〔 In 1911, when a number of the Middlesex side were missing due to trial matches for England selection, Lee was invited to join the team for two County Championship matches in the south-west, against Somerset and Gloucestershire.〔Lee & Thompson (1948), pp. 26–27.〕 Placed at number eleven in Middlesex's batting order, Lee batted once in a rain-affected match against Somerset, remaining four not out, and was not required to bowl.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Somerset v Middlesex: County Championship 1911 )〕 Lee did bowl against Gloucestershire, but remained wicketless from nine overs in the match.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Gloucestershire v Middlesex: County Championship 1911 )〕 Lee was given greater opportunities in 1912, appearing seven times for Middlesex in the Championship.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Harry Lee )〕 The first of these appearances, against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, brought Lee his first wicket in first-class cricket when he caught Charles Baker off his own bowling.〔Lee & Thompson (1948), p. 29.〕 He claimed five wickets in the match,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Warwickshire v Middlesex: County Championship 1912 )〕 and another three against Nottinghamshire a month later,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Nottinghamshire v Middlesex: County Championship 1912 )〕 to total eight wickets for the season at 9.50 runs apiece and finish technically at the top of the county's bowling averages for the season,.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Bowling for Middlesex: County Championship 1912 )〕 Lee joined the MCC bowling staff in 1913 at the invitation of A. J. Webbe,〔Lee & Thompson (1948), p. 30.〕 but he was used sparingly in first-class cricket that season, playing just three times, all for Middlesex. In the first of these matches, Lee scored 35 not out at the end of Middlesex's innings, helping his side to avoid the follow-on. His "plucky knock" was praised by captain Pelham Warner,〔Lee & Thompson (1948), pp. 32–33.〕 who promoted him to bat at number five in the fourth innings, by which stage the game was heading for a draw.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Middlesex v Lancashire: County Championship 1913 )〕 During 1913, although certainly not a regular in the Middlesex team, Lee asked his captain for his county cap, a request which Warner responded to with surprise that he had not already received it, and promptly asked for one to be sent down.〔 In the 1914 season, Lee almost doubled his total of first-class appearances. Two early season appearances against Oxford and Cambridge universities brought a few runs, and a match for the MCC against Hampshire saw Lee bat at number six in both innings.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Marylebone Cricket Club v Hampshire: Other First-Class matches in England 1914 )〕 He played just twice in the County Championship prior to August, both times against Warwickshire. The start of the First World War in early August initially resulted in the cancellation of Middlesex's tour of the northern counties, Yorkshire and Lancashire, but this decision was later reversed, and Middlesex took a heavily weakened side on the tour. Due to regular opening batsman William Robertson being unavailable, Lee was promoted to open the batting alongside Frank Tarrant.〔Lee & Thompson (1948), pp. 35.〕 He scored 30 and 16 against Yorkshire,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Yorkshire v Middlesex: County Championship 1914 )〕 followed by 1 and 44 not out against Lancashire.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Lancashire v Middlesex: County Championship 1914 )〕 Lee and Tarrant continued to open for Middlesex for the remainder of the season, and against Nottinghamshire, Lee scored his first century in first-class cricket. Having been dismissed for 17 in the first innings, Lee scored 139 runs in the second, and shared a partnership of 183 runs with Patsy Hendren, who also reached his century.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Middlesex v Nottinghamshire: County Championship 1914 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Harry Lee (cricketer)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|