Gregor MacGregor (sportsman)

Gregor MacGregor
Personal information
Born	31 August 1869; Merchiston, Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	20 August 1919 (aged 49); Marylebone, London, England
Batting	Right-handed batsman (RHB)
Bowling	n/a
Role	Wicketkeeper
International information
National side	English;
Test debut	21 July 1890 v Australia
Last Test	26 August 1893 v Australia
Career statistics
	Source: Cricinfo

Gregor MacGregor (31 August 1869 – 20 August 1919) was a Scottish cricketer and rugby union player. He played rugby for Scotland and cricket for England.[1]

Personal history

MacGregor was born in 1869 to Donald MacGregor J.P. of Argyll in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was schooled at Uppingham before matriculating to Jesus College, Cambridge in October 1887.[2] On leaving university he found work on the London Stock Exchange.

Cricket career

In cricket he played 265 first-class matches between 1888 and 1907. He made his first-class debut for Cambridge University against C.I. Thornton’s XI at Fenner's in 1888 and won Blues in all four years at Cambridge. He made first-class appearances for a number of teams, including Middlesex as a wicket keeper and captained the county club between 1898 and 1907. He later served as the treasurer, before his death in 1919, aged 49. He played in eight Tests for England.

He is commemorated at Cambridge, as the first Scottish cricket Blue to play international cricket, in the Hone-MacGregor Trophy: a triangular tournament between Cambridge University, Irish Universities and Scottish Universities.

Rugby career

MacGregor, middle row, seated far left with the Jesus College XV in 1889

Gregor MacGregor was also notable as a rugby union footballer. Within rugby, MacGregor played club rugby for Cambridge and international rugby for Scotland between 1890 and 1896.[1]

In 1889 and 1890 he appeared as full back for Cambridge against Oxford, showing himself a fine tackler and very accurate kick. In the same season that he first appeared for Cambridge, he was also awarded his first international cap. MacGregor was selected by the Scottish Rugby Union to appear for Scotland in all three international matches of the 1890 Home Nations Championship.

In 1890, MacGregor was invited to join William Percy Carpmael's newly formed touring team, the Barbarians. He accepted and became an original member of the team.

MacGregor also played in the Home Nations Championship in 1891 and 1893, missing the 1892 tournament as he was out in Australia with Lord Sheffield's cricket team in 1892, and in 1894 he played against England and Wales. His final appearance in an international game being between Scotland and England, decided at Hampden Park, Glasgow, in 1896. Although he began and finished his career in matches as a full back, MacGregor played mostly in those games as a centre three-quarter—those when the three three-quarter system was preferred. In the course of his career he appeared on several occasions for Middlesex. On one of these, when the four three-quarter system had come into vogue, he had for his colleagues Andrew Stoddart, Arthur Gould, and G. T. Campbell, all internationals. Despite such talented players all appearing in the same team, Yorkshire proved victorious.

MacGregor also wrote about rugby. For example, he contributed a chapter titled "Full Back Play" to a book by Bertram Fletcher Robinson, Rugby Football (London: The Isthmian Library, 1896). This book was recently republished in facsimile form.[3][4]

Legacy

A portrait painted by Henry Weigall Jr, of Andrew Stoddart batting and MacGregor keeping wicket, was given to the MCC in 1927 by W.H. Patterson, a MCC committee member. The identity of the artist of the oil painting was only reaffirmed in 2018. The picture regularly hangs in the Pavilion at Lord's.[5]

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References

Bath, Richard, ed. (2007) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany. Vision Sports Publishing Ltd. p. 104 ISBN 1-905326-24-6)
"MacGregor, Gregor (MGRR887G)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
Western Morning News (13 March 2010)]
Frith, David (2018). "Stoddart mystery solved". The Cricketer. London, England: Marketforce UK Ltd. ISSN 1740-9519.

External links

Godwin, Terry Complete Who's Who of International Rugby (Cassell, 1987, ISBN 0-7137-1838-2)
Gregor MacGregor on scrum dot com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Alexander Webbe and Andrew Stoddart	Middlesex County Cricket Captain 1899–1907	Succeeded by Pelham Warner

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[Bath1-1] Bath, Richard, ed. (2007) The Scotland Rugby Miscellany. Vision Sports Publishing Ltd. p. 104 ISBN 1-905326-24-6)

[Venn-2] "MacGregor, Gregor (MGRR887G)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.

[3] Western Morning News (13 March 2010)]

[Frith-5] Frith, David (2018). "Stoddart mystery solved". The Cricketer. London, England: Marketforce UK Ltd. ISSN 1740-9519.