Roger Human
Encyclopedia
Roger Henry Charles Human (11 May 1909–21 November 1942) was an English
cricketer
who played 59 first-class
matches in the 1930s. He mainly played for Cambridge University
and then Worcestershire
, but also appeared once each for the Gentlemen
and MCC
. Human also played minor counties cricket for Berkshire
and (once) Oxfordshire
. He gained Blues
at both cricket and football
.
Human was educated at Repton School
, where in 1928 he captained the cricket XI and had considerable success as an all-rounder
.
By the age of 17, he was playing in the Minor Counties Championship for Berkshire, scoring 64 against Wiltshire
at Marlborough College
in August 1926.
The following year he appeared twice at Lord's
: once for Public Schools against the Army
, then as captain of Young Amateurs versus Young Professionals, in which match he scored 51 and 2 and took 2-15, including the wicket of future England Test cricket
er Jim Smith
.
In August 1929, he scored 138 against Devon
.
Human continued to play for Berkshire until 1934, but meanwhile he had made his first-class debut, for Cambridge against Leicestershire
at Fenner's
in May 1930; his maiden wicket (and only one in the match) was that of Les Berry
. He played several more times for Cambridge that season, hitting 67 and taking 3-87 in an eventful match in late June against Surrey County Cricket Club
: Thomas Shepherd made 234 out of 565 for Surrey, in reply to which Cambridge fell to 284/6 before a seventh-wicket partnership of 257 between Trevil Morgan and Freddie Brown gave the university a seven-run first-innings lead. The game in the end was drawn.
He took 4-42 (his career best) against MCC in early July, and was selected as a late choice
for the 1930 Varsity Match immediately thereafter. However, he did very little to contribute toward's his university's victory, his only wicket being that of the Nawab of Pataudi
, later to become his team-mate at Worcester.
1931 saw Human turn out 11 times for Cambridge, but his performances tended to be rather disappointing: he passed fifty only once, making 67 against Leicestershire in June, though with the ball he did collect 21 wickets — the most he ever managed in a season — at a respectable average
of 35.52. He was again picked for the Varsity Match, but this time managed no wickets at all. That match marked the end of his first-class cricket for two seasons, though he continued to turn out fairly regularly for Berkshire, and made his only appearance for Oxfordshire against the touring Indians at Christ Church Ground
, taking two wickets including that of captain K. S. Limbdi.
Human's first-class career resumed in late June 1934, when he made his Worcestershire debut, against his old university, at Worcester
, hitting 75 in the first innings. Although most of his matches that summer were still with Berkshire, he did make two further first-class appearances in September. The first of these was for the Gentlemen against the Players at Scarborough, when he appeared with his brother, John
; neither sibling had much success.
A few days later he scored 51 for MCC against Kent
at Folkestone.
All his remaining first-class games were for Worcestershire, for whom he continued to play a few times a season up until 1939; he was prevented from turning out more regularly by his position as a master
at Bromsgrove School
.
Although he reached fifty 14 times in first-class cricket, he never made more than the 81 he hit against Essex
in 1938. This was one of two occasions on which he captained the county, the other being versus Derbyshire
ten days later. By now his bowling had fallen away considerably, and in his entire Worcestershire career he took only ten wickets at more than 60 runs apiece. His last game of all was an innings defeat by Kent at Worcester in August 1939; Human scored 15 and 9, and bowled not one ball.
Human was surprisingly chosen for the 1939-40 tour of India
, but this tour never took place owing to the outbreak of the Second World War.
He did in fact go to India, but as a soldier with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
. Having reached the rank of captain
, he died on active service in that country aged just 33.
His brother, the aforementioned John, played over 100 first-class matches, mostly for Cambridge, MCC and Middlesex
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
cricketer
Cricketer
A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....
who played 59 first-class
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...
matches in the 1930s. He mainly played for 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...
and then Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire 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 Worcestershire...
, but also appeared once each for the Gentlemen
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
and MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
. Human also played minor counties cricket for Berkshire
Berkshire County Cricket Club
Berkshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Berkshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and MCCA Knockout Trophy....
and (once) Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire County Cricket Club
Oxfordshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Oxfordshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy...
. He gained Blues
University Sporting Blue
A Blue is an award earned by sportsmen and women at a university and some schools for competition at the highest level. The awarding of Blues began at Oxford and Cambridge Universities...
at both cricket and football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
.
Human was educated at Repton School
Repton School
Repton School, founded in 1557, is a co-educational English independent school for both day and boarding pupils, in the British public school tradition, located in the village of Repton, in Derbyshire, in the Midlands area of England...
, where in 1928 he captained the cricket XI and had considerable success as an all-rounder
All-rounder
An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...
.
By the age of 17, he was playing in the Minor Counties Championship for Berkshire, scoring 64 against Wiltshire
Wiltshire County Cricket Club
Wiltshire County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Wiltshire and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy....
at Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
in August 1926.
The following year he appeared twice at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
: once for Public Schools against the Army
Army cricket team
There have been several Army cricket teams to have played first-class cricket:*British Army cricket team*Indian Army cricket team*New Zealand Army cricket team*South Africa Army cricket team *Sri Lanka Army Sports Club cricket team...
, then as captain of Young Amateurs versus Young Professionals, in which match he scored 51 and 2 and took 2-15, including the wicket of future England Test cricket
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...
er Jim Smith
Jim Smith (cricketer)
Cedric Ivan James Smith was an English cricketer who played in 5 Tests from 1935 to 1937....
.
In August 1929, he scored 138 against Devon
Devon County Cricket Club
Devon County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Devon and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy....
.
Human continued to play for Berkshire until 1934, but meanwhile he had made his first-class debut, for Cambridge against Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
at Fenner's
Fenner's
Fenner's is the University of Cambridge's cricket ground.-History:Fenner's has hosted first-class cricket since 1848, and many of the world's great players have graced the wicket. The ground was established on land leased for the purpose by Francis Fenner, after whom the ground is named.Playing for...
in May 1930; his maiden wicket (and only one in the match) was that of Les Berry
Les Berry
George Leslie "Les" Berry, born at Dorking, Surrey on 28 April 1906 and died at Great Glen, Leicestershire on 5 February 1985, was a cricketer who played for Leicestershire and holds many of the county's first-class batting records....
. He played several more times for Cambridge that season, hitting 67 and taking 3-87 in an eventful match in late June against Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club
Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...
: Thomas Shepherd made 234 out of 565 for Surrey, in reply to which Cambridge fell to 284/6 before a seventh-wicket partnership of 257 between Trevil Morgan and Freddie Brown gave the university a seven-run first-innings lead. The game in the end was drawn.
He took 4-42 (his career best) against MCC in early July, and was selected as a late choice
for the 1930 Varsity Match immediately thereafter. However, he did very little to contribute toward's his university's victory, his only wicket being that of the Nawab of Pataudi
Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi
Iftikhar Ali Khan , sometimes I.A.K. Pataudi was the 8th Nawab of Pataudi and captain of the Indian cricket team. He was one of few cricketers to have played for two countries, having also played for the English Test side...
, later to become his team-mate at Worcester.
1931 saw Human turn out 11 times for Cambridge, but his performances tended to be rather disappointing: he passed fifty only once, making 67 against Leicestershire in June, though with the ball he did collect 21 wickets — the most he ever managed in a season — at a respectable average
Bowling average
Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket.A bowler's bowling average is defined as the total number of runs conceded by the bowlers divided by the number of wickets taken by the bowler, so the lower the average the better. It is similar to earned...
of 35.52. He was again picked for the Varsity Match, but this time managed no wickets at all. That match marked the end of his first-class cricket for two seasons, though he continued to turn out fairly regularly for Berkshire, and made his only appearance for Oxfordshire against the touring Indians at Christ Church Ground
Christ Church Ground
Christ Church Ground is a cricket ground in Oxford, England. The ground is part of Christ Church College, one of the Oxford University colleges. The first recorded match on the ground was in 1850, when Oxfordshire played an All-England Eleven.In 1878, Oxford University played the Gentlemen of...
, taking two wickets including that of captain K. S. Limbdi.
Human's first-class career resumed in late June 1934, when he made his Worcestershire debut, against his old university, at Worcester
New Road, Worcester
New Road, Worcester, England, has been the home cricket ground of Worcestershire County Cricket Club since 1896. Immediately to the northwest is a road called New Road, part of the A44, hence the name.- Overview :...
, hitting 75 in the first innings. Although most of his matches that summer were still with Berkshire, he did make two further first-class appearances in September. The first of these was for the Gentlemen against the Players at Scarborough, when he appeared with his brother, John
John Human
John Hanbury Human was an English cricketer.John Human was educated at Repton and Cambridge University. He toured twice with the MCC and was considered unlucky not to be capped by England. He toured India, while still an undergraduate, but could not force his way into a strong batting side...
; neither sibling had much success.
A few days later he scored 51 for MCC against Kent
Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the 18 first class county county cricket clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the county of Kent...
at Folkestone.
All his remaining first-class games were for Worcestershire, for whom he continued to play a few times a season up until 1939; he was prevented from turning out more regularly by his position as a master
Schoolmaster
A schoolmaster, or simply master, once referred to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British public schools, but is generally obsolete elsewhere.The teacher in charge of a school is the headmaster...
at Bromsgrove School
Bromsgrove School
Bromsgrove School, founded in 1553, is a co-educational independent school in the Worcestershire town of Bromsgrove, England. The school has a long history and many notable former pupils.-History:...
.
Although he reached fifty 14 times in first-class cricket, he never made more than the 81 he hit against Essex
Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...
in 1938. This was one of two occasions on which he captained the county, the other being versus 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...
ten days later. By now his bowling had fallen away considerably, and in his entire Worcestershire career he took only ten wickets at more than 60 runs apiece. His last game of all was an innings defeat by Kent at Worcester in August 1939; Human scored 15 and 9, and bowled not one ball.
Human was surprisingly chosen for the 1939-40 tour of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, but this tour never took place owing to the outbreak of the Second World War.
He did in fact go to India, but as a soldier with the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army.The regiment was formed as a consequence of Childers reforms, a continuation of the Cardwell reforms, by the amalgamation of the 43rd Regiment of Foot and the 52nd Regiment of Foot , forming the 1st...
. Having reached the rank of captain
Captain (OF-2)
The army rank of captain is a commissioned officer rank historically corresponding to command of a company of soldiers. The rank is also used by some air forces and marine forces. Today a captain is typically either the commander or second-in-command of a company or artillery battery...
, he died on active service in that country aged just 33.
His brother, the aforementioned John, played over 100 first-class matches, mostly for Cambridge, MCC and Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex 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 Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
.
External links
- Statistical summary from CricketArchiveCricketArchiveCricketArchive is a website that aims to provide a comprehensive archive of records relating to the sport of cricket. It claims to be the most comprehensive cricket database on the internet, including scorecards for all matches of first-class cricket , List A cricket , Women's Test cricket and...
- Lists of matches and detailed statistics for Roger Human from CricketArchiveCricketArchiveCricketArchive is a website that aims to provide a comprehensive archive of records relating to the sport of cricket. It claims to be the most comprehensive cricket database on the internet, including scorecards for all matches of first-class cricket , List A cricket , Women's Test cricket and...