Hugh Bromley-Davenport      

Hugh Richard Bromley-Davenport, who died on May 23, aged 83, was in the Eton XI from 1886 to 1889, being captain in the last two seasons, and was described by Wisden of the time as the best Public School bowler of 1887. Fast left-arm, he achieved considerable success in his first two matches against Harrow, for in 1886 he dismissed nine batsmen for 152 and the following season eight for 111.

Going up to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, he gained a Blue in 1892 and 1893 under the captaincy of F. S. Jackson. In the second meeting with Oxford he obtained a match record of five wickets for l l runs. An incident in that game led to a change in the Laws. Convinced that Oxford intended to throw away their last wicket, which, as they were 84 behind, would have meant that they would be compelled to follow-on and thus leave Cambridge to take last innings on a deteriorating pitch, C. M. Wells frustrated any such attempt by bowling two wides to the boundary. In the end Cambridge won by 266 runs, and the following year the follow-on became compulsory only if a side finished the first innings 120 or more behind their opponents' total.

After going down from the University, Bromley-Davenport, who was born on August 18, 1870, played for his native county, Cheshire, and from 1896 to 1898 for Middlesex. In 1893 he appeared with such celebrities as K. S. Ranjitsinhji and C. B. Fry under the captaincy of W. G. Grace for Gentlemen at The Oval, where the Players won in an exciting finish by eight runs. Twice he toured the West Indies, with R. S. Lucas's team in 1894-95 and with Lord Hawke's side in 1897, visited South Africa with Lord Hawke in 1895-96 and 1898-99, and went to Portugal with T. Westray's team in 1898. A Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers during the first Great War, he was awarded the OBE.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack