Henry William "Harry" Lee (26 October 1890 – 21 April 1981) was a professional English
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.
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.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] 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,[8] and 60 runs against Reading Cricket Club in 1910.[9] He was making more appearances for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), collecting runs and wickets regularly, but not prolifically.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11] Lee did bowl against Gloucestershire, but remained wicketless from nine overs in the match.[12]
Lee was given greater opportunities in 1912, appearing seven times for Middlesex in the Championship.
Pelham Warner,[19] who promoted him to bat at number five in the fourth innings, by which stage the game was heading for a draw.[20] 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.[1]
In the 1914 season, Lee almost doubled his total of first-class appearances. Two early season appearances against
William Robertson being unavailable, Lee was promoted to open the batting alongside Frank Tarrant.[22] He scored 30 and 16 against Yorkshire,[23] followed by 1 and 44 not out against Lancashire.[24] 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.[25]
Initially, even after the declaration of war, Lee did not feel that there would be any impact on his life, and was looking forward to playing cricket in the 1915 season. After learning that the MCC and Middlesex County Cricket Club were keen to support the war effort, and encountering members of the Territorial Force marching through London, Lee changed his mind and enlisted into 13th (County of London) Battalion (part of the all-Territorial Force London Regiment) in Kensington (the battalion was usually known as "The Kensingstons" as it recruited largely from that area of London) on 1 September 1914.[26][27] At this time the pre-war battalion had been split into two, with the "first line", 1/13th Battalion, of men who had volunteered for overseas service then being based in Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, this unit would be sent to France in November 1914. The "second line", 2/13th Battalion, of men who had not volunteered for overseas service and new recruits was initially at White City, London prior to moving to Maidstone, Kent in January 1915. In December 1914 a "third line" battalion, 3/13th Battalion, was formed as an additional training unit. This was based at Richmond Park.[28][29] The surviving portions of Lee's service record are unclear as to which of these units he spent time with during his training.[27]
He was posted to 1/13th (County of London) Battalion on 25 February 1915, and joined them in France just over a week later.
Battle of Aubers Ridge, commenced on 9 May. The Kensingtons formed part of 25th Brigade, and were one of the lead infantry units in the northern pincer of the attack, targeting Fromelles.[31][33][34][35] Lee was part of D Company, which along with C Company led the Kensingtons during the assault. During the attack, the initial objectives were achieved, but at heavy cost. However, the attacking forces soon ran out of ammunition and retreated the following morning. Of the 550 men that the Kensingtons had engaged, there were 499 casualties, including 13 officers;[36][37] in total the British casualties numbered over 11,000 men.[33][38]
During the attack Lee was shot in the leg; a bullet hit his left thigh and fractured his
Hannover. For the first half of the two-day journey, Lee had to lie on a wooden seat with a blanket under him and his leg in an iron case, which hurt his back significantly, and was provided with no food. The second half of the journey was completed on a Red Cross train.[39] During his stay in Hannover, Lee began to heal quickly, but after receiving advice from a fellow prisoner, he greatly exaggerated the injury, and was selected to be returned to England.[40] He began the journey on 1 October 1915, and boarded the boat for England five days later.[39] Although Lee had amplified the severity of his injury, in England he discovered that one of his legs would be permanently shorter than the other, and he had suffered significant muscle death. He was told that he would neither be able to fight nor play cricket again.[40] He was discharged from the army on 4 December 1915, and was eligible for the Silver War Badge to show that he had served honourably. He later also received the 1914–15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.[30] After leaving the army, Middlesex paid for Lee to be treated by a specialist, and he was able to play a match for the Army Service Corps against Lancing College in early 1916, in which he scored a century.[40]
Coaching in India
Having been invalided out of the Army, Lee worked as a filing clerk in the War Office, a position which allowed him plenty of time to play cricket with the MCC and in other wartime matches. Towards the end of the summer in 1916, he met Frank Tarrant's wife, who suggested that Lee should accompany her husband to work in India. He readily accepted, but before he was able to leave, his mother died and Lee felt that he should remain at home to look after his two young brothers. A year later, with the household settled, Lee took Tarrant up on the offer. He was originally booked on the Nyanza, which was sailing to Bombay, but was transferred to the Nagoya at the last minute, which sailed directly to Lee's final destination of Calcutta.[41] The Nyanza was torpedoed 20 miles (32 km) out of Plymouth, and though it returned to port, 49 lives were lost.[42] During the Nagoya's journey, the convoy of which it was part was attacked passing through the Mediterranean Sea by the German U-boatUB-50. One of the ships, the City of Lucknow, an 8,000 ton cargo steamer in the convoy, was sunk.[43] The rest of the journey was completed without incident, despite a rumour that the Emden, a German light cruiser, lay in wait for the convoy.[41]
In India, Lee worked as a football and cricket coach for the Maharaja of Cooch Behar, but was treated more like a guest than a paid retainer.[44] He played a few first-class matches during his time in India, and in his first match in the country, for the Maharaja's XI against Lord Willingdon's XI, Lee claimed his maiden five-wicket haul, taking five wickets and conceding eleven runs. He added another three wickets in the second innings to record the best bowling analysis of the match.[45] In November 1918, Lee played for England against India. The Indian team did not have Test status, which was not attained until 1932,[46] but they had a strong team, and dominated the match against an England side which was far from representative.[47] Lee claimed four wickets in the match for the concession of 177 runs, and made scores of eight and nine with the bat.[48] Lee's highest score, and only century in first-class cricket in India was made in a match he was playing against the Maharaja of Cooch Behar's team. Appearing instead for MC Bird's XI, Lee opened the batting and scored 104 runs. He also claimed seven wickets in the match, which his side won by an innings.[49]
Return to county cricket
Despite the injury he sustained during the war, when county cricket resumed in 1919, Lee took his leave of the Maharaja and returned to England to resume his career with Middlesex. County Championship matches were played over two days, an experiment which was unpopular with Lee, who described it as a "nightmare season".[50] Even with these shorter matches, Lee passed 1,000 first-class runs in a season for the first time in his career,[13] and won himself a regular place in the Middlesex side.[51] He scored four centuries during the season, including one in each innings of a charity match played against Surrey at The Oval. During the first innings, he reached 163, sharing a second wicket partnership of 226 with Jack Hearne, and in the second he scored 126.[52] His batting average for the season was 40.76; the first of only three times that it would exceed 40 during his career.[13] The championship reverted to three-day matches for 1920, and Lee enjoyed his greatest successes as a batsman during the season. He scored centuries in successive matches in mid-May, reaching 102 against Warwickshire at Lord's,[53] and then 119 against Sussex at the same venue. Against Sussex, each of Middlesex's top four batsmen scored centuries; in addition to Lee's 119 runs, Pelham Warner scored 139, Nigel Haig 131, and Hearne remained 116 not out when the side declared.[54] This was the first time the feat had been achieved in first-class cricket.[1][55] Lee also took eleven wickets in the match, taking five in the first innings and six in the second to complete his maiden ten-wicket haul.[54] In doing so, he became one of only eight Middlesex cricketers to have taken ten wickets in the same match as scoring a century.[56] Playing against Hampshire at Southampton the following month, Lee scored his first double century, being 221 not out when Middlesex declared. He was also not out in the second innings, meaning that he was on the pitch for the full duration of the match.[57] In total, Lee scored 1,518 runs at an average of 43.37 in first-class matches in 1920.[13] He ranked third amongst Middlesex batsmen—by both runs scored and batting average—in the County Championship,[58] which the county won narrowly, completing victory in the final session of their final match.[59] In A History of Cricket, H. S. Altham and E. W. Swanton praise Lee's "all-round excellence" during the season:[59] in addition to his runs, he claimed 40 wickets in the Championship at an average of 22.40.[60]