Ronald Lagden
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ronald Owen Lagden | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
21 November 1889 Maseru, Basutoland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died |
1 March 1915 (aged 25) St. Eloi, Belgium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting style | Right-handed batsman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Right-arm fast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | All-rounder | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1909-1912 | Oxford University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Source: CricketArchive | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ronald Owen Lagden (21 November 1889 – 1 March 1915) was an English sportsman who played first-class cricket for Oxford University and represented England at rugby union.
Early life and family
Lagden was born in Maseru in what is now Lesotho (previously part of the British colony of Basutoland). He is one of only a handful of first-class cricketers to be born in that country.[lower-alpha 1] Lagden had a younger brother, Reginald, who was a first-class cricketer for Oxford's rivals, Cambridge University, as well as playing with Surrey.[1] Their father, Godfrey, had appeared in a single first-class match for the Marylebone Cricket Club at the age of 54.[2]
Cricket
A right arm fast bowler, Lagden batted in the lower order but often contributed valuable runs. His best innings was 99 not out, which he made in 1912 against the H. D. G. Leveson-Gower's XI, missing out on a century when Australian Neville Fraser was adjudged leg before wicket to Ernest Smith for a duck.[3]
Apart from University Matches, Lagden also played against touring international sides, Australia in 1909, India in 1911 and South Africa in 1912.[4] One of his two victims in the match against India was captain Bhupinder Singh of Patiala.[5]
The final time Lagden played with Oxford was at Lord's in July 1912, another University Match. He scored 68 in his final innings and dismissed his brother Reginald as his 56th and last first-class wicket.[6]
Rugby
While at Oxford University, Lagden took part in three Varsity matches. He was capped once for England, in the final match of their 1911 Five Nations Championship campaign, a Calcutta Cup match against Scotland at Twickenham. Lagden, a number eight, kicked two conversions in the 13 to 8 win.[7]
War
In 1914, Lagden joined the King's Royal Rifle Corps and was then attached to the 4th Battalion which were to fight in the Western Front. Just before the Second Battle of Ypres, Captain Lagden was one of 300 soldiers that ventured over the trench walls in an attack on the Germans, but was killed.[8]
See also
- List of cricketers who were killed during military service
- List of international rugby union players killed in action during the First World War
Notes
- ↑ Others include his brother (Reginald Lagden), Alan Barr, George Boyes, Harry Boyes, Arthur Lewis, and Dennis Piers.
References
- ↑ Reginald Lagden – CricketArchive. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
- ↑ Godfrey Lagden – CricketArchive. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
- ↑ "HDG Leveson-Gower's XI v Oxford University 1912". CricketArchive.
- ↑ "First-Class Matches played by Ronald Lagden". CricketArchive.
- ↑ "Oxford University v Indians 1911". CricketArchive.
- ↑ "Oxford University v Cambridge University 1912". CricketArchive.
- ↑ "Five Nations - Twickenham, 18 March 1911". Scrum.com.
- ↑ "Ronald Lagden". The Rugby History Society.