John Eggar

John Eggar

Personal information
Full name	John Drennan Eggar
Born	1 December 1916 Nowshehra, India
Died	3 May 1983 (aged 66) Hinton St George, Somerset, England
Batting style	Right-handed batsman
Bowling style	Right-arm medium pace bowler
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1938	Oxford University
1938	Hampshire
1946–1954	Derbyshire
First-class debut	30 April 1938 Oxford University v Gloucestershire
Last First-class	14 August 1954 Derbyshire v Worcestershire
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 41 Runs scored 1847 Batting average 31.84 100s/50s 4/9 Top score 219 Balls bowled 354 Wickets 1 Bowling average 193.00 5 wickets in innings 10 wickets in match Best bowling 1-2 Catches/stumpings 20/-
Source: , January 2012

John Drennan Eggar (1 December 1916 — 3 May 1983) was an English schoolmaster and cricketer who played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Hampshire in 1938 and for Derbyshire from 1946 to 1954.

Eggar was born in Nowshehra, India, the son of John Norman Eggar and his wife Emily Garret. He was educated in England at Winchester College and then went to Oxford University. He played cricket for Oxford University holding a stand in the drawn University match in 1938. He also played for Hampshire during the 1938 season. During the Second World War he served in the Rifle Brigade.^[1]

After the war, Eggar became a master at Repton School and played for Derbyshire. Eggar with Guy Willatt, and Dick Sale formed a trio of Repton masters who played for the county.^[2] In the 1947 season he shared a record-breaking partnership of 349 with Charlie Elliott in the year when Derbyshire finished 5th. In the 1949 season he scored 218 in a match against Yorkshire. Eggar played regularly until the 1950 season when Derbyshire were fifth. He had a break until the 1954 season when he played two games and Derbyshire finished in third place in the County Championship. He held a testimonial match at Repton that summer. Two years later he played in a 2nd XI match for Derbyshire. He was a right-handed batsman and played 64 innings in 41 first class matches. His top score was 219 and his average 31.84. He was a right-arm medium-pace bowler but took only one wicket.^[3]

In 1963 Eggar became headmaster of newly established Shiplake College. Under his headmastership, numbers went from 100 to 300. He retired in 1979 and died on a tennis court at Hinton St George, Somerset four years later.^[4]

Eggar's father-in-law was John Crommelin-Brown, another Repton master who played cricket for Derbyshire during the 1920s. His son Tim Eggar became a Member of Parliament.^[5]

References

1. The Times Obituary John Eggar Saturday 7 May 1983
2. Obituary Guy Willatt The Times 13 June 2003
3. John Eggar at Cricket Archive
4. University of Reading alumni and Staff Cricket Club
5. Shiplake College Governors