Dudley Pontifex

Dudley David Pontifex (12 February 1855 – 27 September 1934) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Surrey, Somerset and the Marylebone Cricket Club, plus other amateur sides, between 1878 and 1896.[1] He was born at Weston, Bath, Somerset, and died at West Dulwich, London.

Dudley Pontifex
Personal information
Full nameDudley David Pontifex
Born(1855-02-12)12 February 1855
Weston, Bath, Somerset, England
Died27 September 1934(1934-09-27) (aged 79)
West Dulwich, London, England
BattingRight-handed
RoleBatsman
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1881Surrey
1882Somerset
1883–96Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)
First-class debut3 June 1878 Gentlemen of England v Oxford University
Last First-class19 May 1896 MCC v Essex
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 17
Runs scored 357
Batting average 13.73
100s/50s –/1
Top score 89
Balls bowled 13
Wickets –
Bowling average –
5 wickets in innings –
10 wickets in match –
Best bowling 0/13
Catches/stumpings 3/–
Source: CricketArchive, 11 July 2011

Pontifex was a right-handed middle-order or opening batsman. Educated in Bath, he appeared in a freshmen's trial match at Cambridge University but failed to make the first team; he did, however, win a Blue for billiards.[2]

Appearing in minor cricket for amateur sides in Somerset and for Somerset County Cricket Club in non-first-class matches from 1877, Pontifex made his first-class cricket debut in 1878 against Oxford University for a Gentlemen of England side, and was successful neither in that nor in the South v North match that followed.[3] After university, Pontifex moved to London to qualify as a lawyer and in 1881 he appeared fairly regularly in first-class matches for Surrey. In the match against Nottinghamshire at The Oval, he opened the batting and scored 89; this was his only score of more than 50 in first-class cricket.[4] This was his only season of regular cricket. In 1882, he made a single first-class appearance in Somerset's debut season as a first-class team. He then played for MCC irregularly, and only very occasionally in first-class matches, over the next 14 seasons until his final first-class match in 1896.

His obituary in The Times in 1934 stated that after the age of 45 he took up golf and "became a scratch player"; he was also known as a real tennis and billiards player.[5]

References
  1. "Dudley Pontifex". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  2. "Brief profile of D.D. Pontifex". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  3. "Scorecard: Oxford University v Gentlemen of England". www.cricketarchive.com. 3 June 1878. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  4. "Scorecard: Surrey v Nottinghamshire". www.cricketarchive.com. 21 July 1881. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  5. "Obituaries: Mr D. D. Pontifex". The Times (46874). London. 2 October 1934. p. 19.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.