Ralph Oliver Prouton played both 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...

 and professional football in England

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...

.

He was born 1 March 1926, in Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, England. From 1949 to 1954, he played 52 first-class matches for Hampshire

Hampshire County Cricket Club

Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...

 as a wicketkeeper/batsman, scoring 982 runs at an average of 14.44, with 5 scores over 50, and taking 84 catches and 13 stumpings. Following the retirement of wicketkeeper Neil McCorkell

Neil McCorkell

Neil Thomas McCorkell is a former wicketkeeper for Hampshire County Cricket Club. He played cricket for Hampshire from 1932 to 1951 and scored more runs than any other wicketkeeper for the County....

 (played 396 first-class matches from 1932 to 1951), Prouton played 26 matches in 1952, missing only 3 games, and played 17 matches in the following season, but only 3 times in 1954.

Prouton was also signed as a footballer for Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

, but in 1952 moved to Swindon Town

Swindon Town F.C.

Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...

 without playing a first-team game for Arsenal. He played 13 league and 3 cup matches as wing-half for Swindon during 1952/53, but left the club at the end of the season.

Prouton umpired 27 Minor Counties Cricket Championship

Minor Counties Cricket Championship

The Minor Counties Cricket Championship is a season-long competition in England that is contested by those county cricket clubs that do not have first-class status...

 matches between 1957 and 1969.

His brother Geoffrey also has played Cricket for Hampshire and his nephew Thomas had trials for Southampton FC and Hampshire CCC.

He went on to be a teacher at Downside School

Downside School

Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent school for children aged 11 to 18, located in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, between Norton Radstock and Shepton Mallet in Somerset, south west England. It is attached to Downside Abbey...

.