Dawson Eddie Image 3 Leicestershire 1930

Description

Paddington, London born right-handed batsman Eddie Dawson was a cricketer who by sheer application and strict adherence to the basic princples of batting reached a higher place than many players of greater natural ability. Educated at Eton College and Cambridge University, he excelled for Eton’s Cricket XI, scoring 159 in the traditional fixture against Harrow in 1923. He had already made 113 against Winchester, sharing in a record second wicket stand of 301, the first boy to make a century in both matches in the same year, and he finished with an average of over 50. In both the 1922 and 1923 seasons he had trials for Leicestershire.He then went up to Magdalene College, Cambridge, and retained his place as an opening batsman throughout his four years, earning his Blue as a freshman in 1924, captaining the University in 1927, leading them to victory in the 1927 Varsity match.

His performances for Leicestershire showed him to be by now fully up to County standard, and after leaving Cambridge he took over the County captaincy and held it in 1928, 1929, 1931 and 1933. In his first captaincy season he scored five hundreds, making 1,777 runs at an average of 34.84. He also proved himself, as he had at Cambridge, an outstanding captain, besides being one of the County’s most reliable batsmen. He played for The Gentlemen four times at Lord’s in 1925 and 1927 and for The Rest against England in a trial match, he was then a member of the M.C.C. sides touring South Africa in 1927-28 and New Zealand in 1929-30. He also toured The West Indies with Sir Julien Cahn’s XI in 1929.

He did not truly do himself justice in Test cricket, making only 14 and 9 on his debut against South Africa at Durban in February 1928 and failing in the majority of his seven innings in New Zealand in 1929-30. He did, however, make 44 in the Wellington Test and 55 in the last, at Auckland, opening both times with Ted Bowley, and finished with a Test average of 19.44 from his five Test matches.

In his 282 match first class career he scored 12,597 runs with an average of 27.09, and made 14 hundreds and 63 half centuries. He also took 110 catches in first class play. His last innings for Leicestershire was a faultless 91 against The Australians in 1934.

As a member of the Coldstream Guards during the Second World War, his duties included guarding Rudolf Hess while in captivity in Sussex.

NB although published in 1930, and of course difficult to prove, this image appears to show Dawson playing for Cambridge University, so it was probably taken no later than 1927.

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