Sydney Rippon

Arthur Ernest Sydney Rippon (29 April 1892 – 13 April 1966) was an English cricketer who played 102 first-class cricket matches for Somerset as a batsman between 1914 and 1937. In many of his early first-class matches in 1914 and 1919, he opened the batting with his identical twin brother, Dudley Rippon.

Sydney Rippon

Personal information
Full name	Arthur Ernest Sydney Rippon
Born	(1892-04-29)29 April 1892 Kensington, London, England
Died	13 April 1966(1966-04-13) (aged 73) Berrylands, Surbiton, Surrey, England
Batting	Right-handed batsman
Bowling	Right-arm slow
Role	Opening batsman
Relations	Twin brother, Dudley
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1914–37	Somerset
First-class debut	21 May 1914 Somerset v Surrey
Last First-class	9 July 1937 Somerset v Nottinghamshire
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 104 Runs scored 3823 Batting average 21.59 100s/50s 6/15 Top score 133 Balls bowled 192 Wickets 3 Bowling average 40.33 5 wickets in innings – 10 wickets in match – Best bowling 1/6 Catches/stumpings 44/–
Source: CricketArchive, 12 October 2009

Background

The Rippon family hailed from London but had relocated to Radstock in Somerset, and the twins were sent to school at King's College, Taunton, where they made a lot of runs and caused confusion by their close resemblance to each other. Sydney joined the Knowle Cricket Club in Bristol and scored heavily in club cricket; Dudley got a job on a Bath newspaper and played for a local team.[1]

Cricket career

Like his brother, Sydney Rippon was a right-handed opening batsman; unlike Dudley, he was not a regular bowler in first-class cricket, and he took only three first-class wickets in his career.[2] He made his debut a few days after his brother, and played only six matches in the 1914 season, with a top score of 60 in the final one of those, against Gloucestershire at Taunton.[3][4]

Rippon also played in the return match at Bristol: that match began on 3 August 1914, and the following day the United Kingdom declared war on Germany as the First World War broke out across Europe.[4] Rippon was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers, initially in its third (reserve) battalion. In 1916, he was transferred to one of the new service battalions being formed as part of "Kitchener's Army".[5] He entered the Western Front in France on 14 May 1916.[6] He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 July 1917.[5] He was later wounded, and as a result, resigned his commission on 24 January 1918,[7] he was issued with the Silver War Badge to show that he had been honourably discharged.[6] After this he joined the Inland Revenue, and was appointed an Inspector of Taxes on 11 November 1921.[8]

Despite his wartime injuries, Rippon returned to first-class cricket in 1919. He played fairly regularly in that season and the next two, and then made a minimum of six and a maximum of 10 appearances for Somerset each season through to 1929 – except for the 1926 season, when he played just once. After 1929, he was out of cricket for eight years, but reappeared in six matches in 1937.[9] In 1927, he played one first-class match for the Civil Service against the New Zealanders and in 1928 he played in one rain-ruined Gentlemen v Players match at The Oval.[4]

In the 1919 season, he made his then highest score, 92, in the match against Gloucestershire at Taunton while batting under an alias: Rippon was working for the Inland Revenue and had not been given permission to play in the match. So he batted as "S. Trimnell",[10] using his grandmother's name.[11] By the time the 1920 edition of Wisden was published, the story had come out and the innings is recorded under Rippon's real name: "A. E. S. Rippon, who played under an assumed name, enjoyed by far his biggest success during the season," Wisden wrote.[12]

In six out of the ten seasons between 1920 and 1929, he made centuries, but never more than one in any season, and his total of runs in a season never exceeded 600.[9] Among his centuries was one of 118, made in Somerset's first-ever first-class match against Glamorgan in 1921. He put on 189 for the first wicket with the dashing Peter Randall Johnson, who made 123 of the runs; Rippon was, by implication in Wisden's report, much slower, though his runs came in 190 minutes.[13] His highest innings was 133 against Worcestershire at the Knowle ground in 1927, the runs being made out of 314 runs while he was at the wicket: he "wore down the attack", wrote Wisden, and "showed such patience in waiting for the right ball to hit that he did not give a chance".[14][15] Not all of his batting was slow, however: in 1928, the last of his centuries was 112 against Hampshire and he put on 197 for the first wicket with Tom Young, the runs coming in less than 150 minutes.[16][17]

Rippon's return to the Somerset side after an absence of eight years in 1937 was less successful, and his top score in 12 innings was just 28.

Personal life

Sydney Rippon was the father of the UK Conservative Party politician Geoffrey Rippon, who was a minister in the government of Edward Heath.[1]

References

1. David Foot. Sunshine, Sixes and Cider: A History of Somerset Cricket (1986 ed.). David and Charles. pp. 95–96. ISBN 0-7153-8890-8.
2. "First-class Bowling in Each Season by Sydney Rippon". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 11 October 2009.
3. "Somerset v Gloucestershire". www.cricketarchive.com. 1 June 1914. Retrieved 11 October 2009.
4. "First-class Matches Played by Sydney Rippon". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
5. "No. 29634". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 June 1916. p. 6205.
6. "WW1 Campaign Medals—Image details—Medal card of Rippon, Arthur Ernest Sydney" (fee usually required to view pdf of original medal card, alternative image available from ancestry.com). DocumentsOnline. The National Archives.
7. "No. 30490". The London Gazette. 22 January 1918. p. 1161.
8. "No. 32540". The London Gazette. 6 December 1921. p. 9901.
9. "First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Sydney Rippon". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 11 October 2009.
10. "Gooch sets up history". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
11. David Foot. Sunshine, Sixes and Cider: A History of Somerset Cricket (1986 ed.). David and Charles. pp. 99–100. ISBN 0-7153-8890-8.
12. "Somerset Matches". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1920 ed.). Wisden. p. 104.
13. "Glamorgan Matches". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1921 ed.). Wisden. p. 401.
14. "Somerset Matches". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1928 ed.). Wisden. p. 331.
15. "Somerset v Worcestershire". www.cricketarchive.com. 22 June 1927. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
16. "Hampshire Matches". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1929 ed.). Wisden. p. 347.
17. "Hampshire v Somerset". www.cricketarchive.com. 2 June 1928. Retrieved 12 October 2009.