David Peter Tower Deshon (19 June 1923 – 18 January 1992) was a successful school cricketer whose later progress in first-class cricket was limited by his career as a full-time officer in the Royal Artillery. He was born at Marylebone, London and died suddenly of a heart attack at Heathrow Airport.[1]

David Deshon
Personal information
Full name
David Peter Tower Deshon
Born(1923-06-19)19 June 1923
Marylebone, London
Died18 January 1992(1992-01-18) (aged 68)
Heathrow Airport, London
BattingRight-handed
RoleBatsman
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1947–1953Somerset
FC debut9 July 1947 Somerset v Nottinghamshire
Last FC6 June 1953 Somerset v Lancashire
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 4
Runs scored 82
Batting average 11.71
100s/50s 0/0
Top score 21
Catches/stumpings 1/–
Source: CricketArchive, 23 May 2010

Cricket career

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Deshon was a successful schoolboy cricketer at Sherborne School and was selected for the annual Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) schools cricket festival in 1941, where he scored a century and outshone Trevor Bailey in a big partnership.[1] He was a middle-order right-handed batsman.

As an officer in the regular army, his first-class cricket was very restricted. He made four appearances for Somerset, three of them in 1947 and a final one in 1953. His final match was Bertie Buse's infamous benefit match at Bath against Lancashire in 1953, when the entire match was completed in a single day; Deshon's contributions to the debacle were innings of 0 and 9.[2] In all, he scored 82 first-class runs at an average of 11.71, with a highest score of 21. He appeared in non-first-class inter-services cricket, as well as playing for the Royal Artillery.[3]

Military career

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On leaving school, Deshon was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery on 24 October 1942.[4] After the Second World War ended, he remained within the Army and was promoted to Lieutenant (1946), Captain (1950) and Major (1957).[5][6][7] He retired from the Royal Artillery with the rank of major in 1958.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Obituaries". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1993 ed.). Wisden. p. 1272.
  2. ^ "Scorecard: Somerset v Lancashire". www.cricketarchive.com. 6 June 1953. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  3. ^ "David Deshon". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  4. ^ "Supplement to the London Gazette". London Gazette. 24 November 1942. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  5. ^ "Supplement to the London Gazette". London Gazette. 1 October 1946. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  6. ^ "Supplement to the London Gazette". London Gazette. 20 June 1950. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  7. ^ "Supplement to the London Gazette". London Gazette. 14 June 1957. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  8. ^ "Supplement to the London Gazette". London Gazette. 14 October 1958. Retrieved 23 May 2010.