John Dowie Harcombe (13 March 1883 – 19 July 1954) played first-class cricket for Somerset in seven matches stretched across the years from 1905 to 1919.[1] He was born at Cape Town in Cape Colony and died at Taunton, Somerset.

John Harcombe
Personal information
Full name
John Dowie Harcombe
Born(1883-03-13)13 March 1883
Cape Town, Cape Colony
Died19 July 1954(1954-07-19) (aged 71)
Taunton, Somerset, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm slow
RoleAll-rounder
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1905–19Somerset
First-class debut19 June 1905 Somerset v Lancashire
Last First-class10 June 1919 Somerset v Gloucestershire
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 7
Runs scored 76
Batting average 7.60
100s/50s –/–
Top score 29
Balls bowled 144
Wickets 3
Bowling average 44.00
5 wickets in innings
10 wickets in match
Best bowling 3/51
Catches/stumpings 2/–
Source: CricketArchive, 20 March 2011

Cricket career

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Harcombe was a right-handed lower-order batsman and a right-arm slow bowler. He played for Somerset in three matches in 1905, one more in 1914 and then a final three in 1919. He had limited success both as a batsman and as a bowler. His only wickets were taken in his very first match, against Lancashire in 1905.[2] As a batsman he reached double figures only twice in a dozen innings and his highest score was 29, made batting at No 11 in his second first-class match, against Kent in 1905.[3] Harcombe settled in Kenya and played minor cricket there for the Settlers side in the 1920s and 1930s.[4]

War service

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Harcombe enlisted as a soldier with the Somerset Light Infantry in the First World War and was a sergeant when he was commissioned in 1916 as a temporary second lieutenant and transferred to the Devonshire Regiment.[5] Earlier in the same year he had been awarded the Military Medal.[6] In 1917 he was granted the rank of acting captain while serving as an adjutant to the Devonshire Regiment.[7] He was allowed to retain the rank of captain when discharged as a second lieutenant in February 1919.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "John Harcombe". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  2. ^ "Somerset v Lancashire". www.cricketarchive.com. 19 June 1905. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
  3. ^ "Somerset v Kent". www.cricketarchive.com. 17 August 1905. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
  4. ^ "Other Matches Played by John Harcombe". www.cricketarchive.com. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2011.
  5. ^ "No. 29858". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 December 1916. p. 12096.
  6. ^ "No. 29794". The London Gazette (Supplement). 21 October 1916. p. 10218.
  7. ^ "No. 30456". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1918. p. 261.
  8. ^ "No. 32362". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 1921. p. 4894.