Reginald Northway
Encyclopedia
Reginald Philip Northway (14 August 1906– 26 August 1936) was a Sri Lanka
n-born cricketer who played first-class cricket
as an amateur for Somerset
and Northamptonshire
.
A defensive right-handed opening batsman and a good outfielder, Reggie Northway followed his older brother Edward
in playing occasional games for Somerset from the 1929 season up to 1933. In his second match, against Cambridge University
at Fenners in 1930, he made an unbeaten 75 which remained his highest first-class score. He played in 12 first-class games for Somerset in 1930, but only a handful over the next three years.
Northway reappeared in first-class cricket for Northamptonshire in the 1936 season. Northamptonshire was a very weak side at this time, finishing last in the County Championship
and failing to record a victory for four years from May 1935 to May 1939. Northway opened the batting for more than half of the matches in the 1936 season, batting alongside Fred Bakewell
, the England Test
batsman and the county's one genuine first-class player. In 17 matches he scored just 429 runs, with just one score of over 50– a 58 against his former county, Somerset, at Bath, when he batted for three hours.
Northway is perhaps best remembered for the tragic end to his cricket career and that of his opening partner Bakewell. Traveling home from the final match of the season, where Northamptonshire had made a surprisingly good showing against the season's County Champions, Derbyshire
, Northway's car overturned on the A6 road at Kibworth
, Leicestershire
. Northway was flung from the car and killed, his body being found in a roadside ditch. Bakewell, who had made an unbeaten 241 in Northamptonshire's second innings, had his arm crushed and despite optimism over several following years he never played first-class cricket again.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
n-born cricketer who played first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
as an amateur for Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
and Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club
Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the...
.
A defensive right-handed opening batsman and a good outfielder, Reggie Northway followed his older brother Edward
Edward Northway
Edward George Northway, born in Sri Lanka on 30 October 1901 and died at Marylebone, London on 4 August 1966, played first-class cricket for Somerset and for the Royal Air Force....
in playing occasional games for Somerset from the 1929 season up to 1933. In his second match, against Cambridge University
Cambridge University Cricket Club
Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...
at Fenners in 1930, he made an unbeaten 75 which remained his highest first-class score. He played in 12 first-class games for Somerset in 1930, but only a handful over the next three years.
Northway reappeared in first-class cricket for Northamptonshire in the 1936 season. Northamptonshire was a very weak side at this time, finishing last in the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
and failing to record a victory for four years from May 1935 to May 1939. Northway opened the batting for more than half of the matches in the 1936 season, batting alongside Fred Bakewell
Fred Bakewell
Fred Bakewell was a Northamptonshire and England opening batsman who was renowned as one of the most exciting players of his time, largely owing to his unorthodox methods, which allowed him to play some of the most brilliant innings in county cricket, despite the...
, the England Test
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
batsman and the county's one genuine first-class player. In 17 matches he scored just 429 runs, with just one score of over 50– a 58 against his former county, Somerset, at Bath, when he batted for three hours.
Northway is perhaps best remembered for the tragic end to his cricket career and that of his opening partner Bakewell. Traveling home from the final match of the season, where Northamptonshire had made a surprisingly good showing against the season's County Champions, Derbyshire
Derbyshire County Cricket Club
Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...
, Northway's car overturned on the A6 road at Kibworth
Kibworth
Kibworth is an area of the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, that contains two civil parishes—the villages of Kibworth Beauchamp and Kibworth Harcourt . According to the 2001 census, Kibworth Beauchamp has a population of 3,798, and Kibworth Harcourt has a population of 990. The two...
, Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
. Northway was flung from the car and killed, his body being found in a roadside ditch. Bakewell, who had made an unbeaten 241 in Northamptonshire's second innings, had his arm crushed and despite optimism over several following years he never played first-class cricket again.