Sydney Day

Sydney Ernest Day (9 February 1884 – 7 July 1970) was an English amateur sportsman who played cricket for Kent County Cricket Club between 1922 and 1925 and football for Old Malvernians and Corinthian. He served in the First World War in the Royal Fusiliers and the Royal Engineers and was wounded during the Battle of the Somme.

Sydney Day

Personal information
Full name	Sydney Ernest Day
Born	(1884-02-09)9 February 1884 Blackheath, Kent
Died	20 July 1970(1970-07-20) (aged 86) West Malling, Kent
Batting	Right-handed
Relations	Samuel Day (brother) Arthur Day (brother)
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1922–1925	Kent
FC debut	5 July 1922 Kent v Notts
Last FC	15 July 1925 Kent v Gloucestershire
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 11 Runs scored 245 Batting average 18.84 100s/50s 0/0 Top score 45* Catches/stumpings 4/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 7 July 2016

Early life

Day was the third son of a wine merchant and was named after his father.[1] He was educated at Shirley House School in Blackheath and Malvern College.[2] Day played football for Malvern and appeared in the Second XI cricket team. On leaving school he joined the Royal Insurance Company, working in London.[1]

Day played at outside-right for Old Malvernians F.C. and was Secretary of the club between 1908 and 1910. He also played amateur football for Kent.[1]

Military service

Day enlisted at the start of World War I joining the Royal Fusiliers in September 1914, initially as a private in the 18th (Public Schools) Battalion.[3][4] He was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in July 1915 and served on the Western Front in France with 17th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers from April 1916. Day fought in the Battle of the Somme in a Trench Mortar Battery and was wounded in November 1916 at Beaumont-Hamel during the Battle of the Ancre, the last phase of the Somme offensive.[3] He was invalided to the UK to recuperate and in January 1917 was attached to the Inland Waterways Division of the Royal Engineers. Day served the rest of the war in the UK, reaching the rank of Captain when he relinquished his commission in February 1919.[3]

First-class cricket career

Day played in 11 first-class cricket matches for Kent, making his debut in 1922 in a County Championship match against Nottinghamshire.[5] Eight of his appearances were made during the 1923 season and he played his final two first-class matches the following season.[6] He made his highest score of 45 not out against Worcestershire in 1923, an innings which secured the match for Kent.[3] He played club cricket for The Mote in Maidstone.[3]

Later life and family

Day was on the Kent County Cricket Club Committee from 1946 to 1958 and was President of the club in 1954.[2][3] He served as a Justice of the Peace and was an active Freemason in later life.[3] His brothers, Arthur and Sammy both also played for Kent,[2] with Sammy also playing over 100 games for Corinthian and making three appearances for the England football team and six for the England amateur team.[7]

Day married Faith Winch in 1915.[3] He died in 1970 at home in West Malling at the age of 86.[2]

References

1. Lewis P (2014) For Kent and Country, pp.143–144. Brighton: Reveille Press.
2. Day, Sydney Ernest - Obituaries in 1970, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1971. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
3. Lewis P (2014) Op. cit., pp.145–148.
4. Royal Fusiliers (City of London) Regiment, The Long, Long Trail. Retrieved 2016-06-08.
5. First-class matches played by Sydney Day, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
6. First-class batting and fielding in each season by Sydney Day, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
7. Player profiles - Samuel Hulme Day, Corinthian Casuals F.C. Retrieved 2016-04-07.

External links

• Sydney Day at ESPNcricinfo