Reggie Spooner
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Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Test debut | 24 July 1905 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last Test | 19 August 1912 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricInfo, 6 November 2022 |
Reginald Herbert Spooner (21 October 1880 – 2 October 1961) was a
Biography
The son of the Rev. G. H. Spooner, of
Reappearing in 1903, he scored 247 against Nottinghamshire, at that time the highest score made against that county, and shared with Archie MacLaren a first-wicket partnership of 368 against Gloucestershire at Aigburth, Liverpool, which remains the Lancashire record. For the next three years, Spooner, along with MacLaren and Johnny Tyldesley, was the backbone of a formidable batting side that played forty-five County Championship matches without defeat between August 1903 and July 1905.
Spooner's off-drive was particularly strong. He was also noted for his watchfulness and skill at fast bowling on fiery pitches – which were the rule at Old Trafford in fine weather during the 1900s. Among many notable innings by Spooner on fiery wickets were against Essex in 1904 and for the Gentlemen at Lord's against Arthur Fielder in 1906.
The season of 1907 saw Spooner go into business, and for a time it was feared he would not play at all. He did play five times for Lancashire and again beat Fielder with an innings of 134 at Canterbury, and at the Scarborough Festival against the touring South Africans when he became credited as one of the first batsmen to work out the
In 1911, Spooner was able to manage his business to permit him to play regularly until after the August Bank Holiday. He scored 2,312 runs at an average of more than 51 per innings, but announced he would not be able to tour Australia because of business. In 1912, Spooner played all six Tests, including his only Test century against South Africa. Disaster struck though the following year when an accident while hunting prevented him playing. Moreover, business demands were such that Spooner never played more than a few matches a year from 1914 onwards. Yet, so well-thought-of was he that, after the First World War, Spooner was offered, and accepted, the captaincy of the
Spooner was a
In rugby, Spooner was a centre three-quarter for Liverpool R.F.C. and played for England against Wales at Swansea in 1902–03.
References
- ^ "Spooner, Reginald Herbert" in Marlborough College Register 1843–1952 (The Bursar, Marlborough, 1953), p. 382
- ^ "No. 27497". The London Gazette. 21 November 1902. p. 7536.