Monty Bowden

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Monty Bowden
Bowden in 1885
Personal information
Full name
Montague Parker Bowden
Born(1865-11-01)1 November 1865
Stockwell, Surrey, England
Died19 February 1892(1892-02-19) (aged 26)
Umtali, Rhodesia
BattingRight-handed
RoleWicket-keeper
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 61)12 March 1889 v South Africa
Last Test26 March 1889 v South Africa
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1883–1888Surrey
1889/90Transvaal
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class
Matches 2 86
Runs scored 25 2,316
Batting average 12.50 20.13
100s/50s 0/0 3/7
Top score 25 189 not out
Balls bowled 0 75
Wickets 2
Bowling average 17.50
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 2/7
Catches/stumpings 1/0 73/14
Source: CricketArchive, 23 September 2008

Montague Parker Bowden (1 November 1865 – 19 February 1892) was an English first-class cricketer, a wicket-keeper, who played two Test matches against South Africa in 1888/89.

Bowden was born in Stockwell, Surrey, and educated at Dulwich College.[1][2] Aged 23 years 144 days, he became England's youngest captain on 25 March 1889, when he captained England to victory in the second of his two Tests. Bowden had been deputy to C. Aubrey Smith, but Smith missed the second test through illness.

Bowden stayed in South Africa to participate in the Witwatersrand Gold Rush, went to Rhodesia with the Pioneer Column, and ended up smuggling liquor.[3] In 1892, he died in Umtali Hospital, Umtali, Rhodesia (now Mutare, Zimbabwe). Officially he died of epilepsy, although a fall from his cart, leading him to be trampled under the hooves of his own oxen contributed to his death. Umtali Hospital was nothing more than a glorified mud hut, where his body had to be protected from marauding lions, prior to being interred in a coffin made from whiskey cases.[4][5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hodges, S, (1981), God's Gift: A Living History of Dulwich College, p. 232. London: Heinemann.
  2. ^ Monty Bowden, CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 October 2022. (subscription required)
  3. ^ Keating, Frank (16 December 2009). "The spinner who saved the day for 'Jim' Swanton". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  4. ^ Frindall, Bill (2009). Ask Bearders. BBC Books. p. 215. ISBN 978-1-84607-880-4.
  5. ^ "Australia's nemesis". ESPN Cricinfo. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.

External reference[edit]