Reggie Ingle
Encyclopedia
Reginald Addington Ingle, known as "Reggie", (born at Bodmin
, Cornwall
, on 5 November 1903 and died at Bath, Somerset
on 19 December 1992) was a cricketer
who played first-class cricket
for Somerset
from 1923 to 1939 and captained the side from 1932 to 1937. Ingle also played cricket for Cambridge University
, but failed to win a blue
.
A right-handed middle-order batsman, Ingle was a regular player for 10 years in the Somerset side from 1927 to 1937, an era in which the county team was dominated by amateur cricketers. A member of a legal family from Bath, Ingle himself practised as a solicitor in the city and for much of the 1930s, the Somerset side had three Bath solicitors in its ranks, with Bunty Longrigg
, Ingle's successor as captain, appearing alongside Dickie Burrough
.
, heading the school batting averages in 1921. He made his first-class debut for Somerset in a rain-ruined match against Essex
at Taunton in August 1923. He made 54 in his first innings, one of only two Somerset players to make more than seven in a total of 189, and put on 97 for the sixth wicket with Jack MacBryan
, who made 101.
Ingle was at Cambridge University for the 1923 to 1926 seasons, but made little impact on cricket there. He did not play at all in 1923, was tried five times in 1924 and then fleetingly again in both 1925 and 1926, but in 15 innings for Cambridge he made only 138 runs, and was not picked for the University matches against Oxford
. In each season, though, once the university term was over he returned to play fairly regularly for Somerset.
Ingle's development as a batsman was slow and his batting average hovered around the mid teens for the whole of the mid 1920s. In 1926, he made his first century, an unbeaten 119 against Essex at Taunton in which he shared four 50-run partnerships over the course of four hours. But without that century, his batting average for the season, including a couple of games for Cambridge, would have been less than 12. The innings remained the highest of his career, although he hit nine other first-class centuries.
at Taunton, he hit 117 and 100 not out, only the third player, after Peter Randall Johnson
and John Daniell
, to achieve the feat for Somerset. The rest of the season did not live up to this start, but Ingle still finished the season by passing 1,000 runs for the first time and having an average for his 1,027 runs of 27.75, the first time he had passed 20 for a complete season.
The following three seasons saw no progression. Ingle's batting averages reverted to below 20 in each of them, and he did not approach 1,000 runs for the season. There was just one more century in these years: 108 against Cambridge University at Bath in 1929.
, Somerset captain since 1927, gave up the captaincy and Ingle was appointed for the 1932 season. He held the job for six seasons, and could be accounted relatively successful, since the side finished in the top half of the County Championship
twice in this period, a feat not achieved in the preceding seven seasons.
For Ingle personally, the first season of captaincy, 1932, was the best. Wisden
, in its review of the 1932 Somerset season for the 1933 annual, said he was to be "heartily congratulated" on the improvement in the side which had taken it from thirteenth to seventh place. It went on: "If taking some time really to find his form, he led the side with considerable ability and judgment and set his colleagues a creditable example in the matter of fielding. He put together three separate innings of over a hundred, increased his average by seven and finished with an aggregate of nearly a thousand." In fact, adding in his scores in one match for MCC
, Ingle passed 1,000 runs for the second time in his career, and his season total of 1,083 runs at an average of 24.06 was his best in aggregate.
In fact, the following season, 1933, Ingle fared even better with the bat, though he missed out on 1,000 for the season by missing half a dozen games. His average of 29.74 for 922 runs in the season was his highest, and he scored two centuries. The team as a whole, however, fell from seventh to eleventh in the Championship.
Ingle's batting fell away rather badly after this high point. In the next three seasons, he struggled to average 15 runs an innings, though he made one further century in 1935. Wisden noted that Ingle had become "a member of a rather pronounced 'tail'."
Somerset returned to seventh place in the County Championship in 1936, but again it proved to be a temporary success. After the 1937 season, in which the county returned to the lower reaches of the championship table, Ingle stood down as captain, being replaced by his fellow Bath solicitor, Longrigg. He played a few matches for the county in both 1938 and 1939, but did not reappear in first-class cricket after the Second World War.
which, according to Foot, he maintained was made worse by long train journeys: he told Foot that he would travel in the luggage rack to get some sleep and some respite from the dust.
Ingle was famously the captain when Harold Gimblett
arrived at Frome as an unknown for his legendary first-class debut. Players such as Arthur Wellard
, Horace Hazell
, Wally Luckes
and Bill Andrews
played as professionals for Somerset for many seasons and developed under Ingle. Ingle, wrote Foot, "had a gift for what today is rather glibly known as motivation". But he could also be a disciplinarian, suspending two of the professionals for a couple of matches for misbehaviour and warning an amateur off for providing the professionals with duff horse-racing tips.
Ingle also had a long and successful law career in which, according to Foot, he acquired a reputation for taking on and winning cases for the gipsy community. He was also the defence solicitor for the celebrated postwar case of Ann Cornock, a Bristol woman accused of murdering her husband George Cornock in his bath in December 1946, a charge of which she was acquitted: Ingle attributed the result partly to the prestige of Sir Bernard Spilsbury
, who had advised the defence, led by J. D. Casswell KC. Ingle told Foot that it was the Cornock case that had turned his hair white, though Foot added in his book that the cares of the Somerset captaincy were probably a contributory factor.
Bodmin
Bodmin is a civil parish and major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated in the centre of the county southwest of Bodmin Moor.The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character...
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, on 5 November 1903 and died at Bath, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
on 19 December 1992) was a 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 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...
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...
from 1923 to 1939 and captained the side from 1932 to 1937. Ingle also played cricket 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...
, but failed to win a blue
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...
.
A right-handed middle-order batsman, Ingle was a regular player for 10 years in the Somerset side from 1927 to 1937, an era in which the county team was dominated by amateur cricketers. A member of a legal family from Bath, Ingle himself practised as a solicitor in the city and for much of the 1930s, the Somerset side had three Bath solicitors in its ranks, with Bunty Longrigg
Bunty Longrigg
Edmund Fallowfield Longrigg, usually known as "Bunty", born at Batheaston, Somerset on 16 April 1906 and died at Bath, Somerset on 23 July 1974, played cricket for Somerset and Cambridge University...
, Ingle's successor as captain, appearing alongside Dickie Burrough
Dickie Burrough
Herbert Dickinson "Dickie" Burrough, born at Wedmore, Somerset, on 6 February 1909, and died at Padstow, Cornwall, on 9 April 1994, played 171 first-class cricket matches for Somerset in a career that last for 20 years from 1927....
.
Early life and cricket career
Ingle went to Oundle SchoolOundle School
Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...
, heading the school batting averages in 1921. He made his first-class debut for Somerset in a rain-ruined match 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...
at Taunton in August 1923. He made 54 in his first innings, one of only two Somerset players to make more than seven in a total of 189, and put on 97 for the sixth wicket with Jack MacBryan
Jack MacBryan
John "Jack" Crawford William MacBryan was an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University and Somerset and made one almost imperceptible appearance in a Test match for England...
, who made 101.
Ingle was at Cambridge University for the 1923 to 1926 seasons, but made little impact on cricket there. He did not play at all in 1923, was tried five times in 1924 and then fleetingly again in both 1925 and 1926, but in 15 innings for Cambridge he made only 138 runs, and was not picked for the University matches against Oxford
Oxford University Cricket Club
Oxford University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team, representing the University of Oxford. It plays its home games at the University Parks in Oxford, England...
. In each season, though, once the university term was over he returned to play fairly regularly for Somerset.
Ingle's development as a batsman was slow and his batting average hovered around the mid teens for the whole of the mid 1920s. In 1926, he made his first century, an unbeaten 119 against Essex at Taunton in which he shared four 50-run partnerships over the course of four hours. But without that century, his batting average for the season, including a couple of games for Cambridge, would have been less than 12. The innings remained the highest of his career, although he hit nine other first-class centuries.
County regular
From 1927, Ingle played regularly for Somerset for 11 seasons, never appearing in less than 21 games a year. He was allowed out of the family firm legal duties by his father, returning to the law for the winters. The first full season was mediocre, but in the first match of the 1928 season, against MiddlesexMiddlesex 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...
at Taunton, he hit 117 and 100 not out, only the third player, after Peter Randall Johnson
Peter Randall Johnson
Peter Randall Johnson, born at Wellington, New Zealand on 5 August 1880 and died at Sidmouth, Devon on 1 July 1959, was a cricketer who played for Cambridge University, Somerset and several amateur sides in a long first-class cricket career that stretched from 1900 to 1927. During his career, he...
and John Daniell
John Daniell (cricketer)
John Daniell, was an international rugby union player for England and a first-class cricketer for Somerset and Cambridge University Cricket Club....
, to achieve the feat for Somerset. The rest of the season did not live up to this start, but Ingle still finished the season by passing 1,000 runs for the first time and having an average for his 1,027 runs of 27.75, the first time he had passed 20 for a complete season.
The following three seasons saw no progression. Ingle's batting averages reverted to below 20 in each of them, and he did not approach 1,000 runs for the season. There was just one more century in these years: 108 against Cambridge University at Bath in 1929.
Somerset captain
At the end of the 1931 English cricket season, Jack WhiteJack White (cricketer)
John Cornish White, known as "Farmer" or "Jack", was an English cricketer who played for Somerset and England. White was named Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1929...
, Somerset captain since 1927, gave up the captaincy and Ingle was appointed for the 1932 season. He held the job for six seasons, and could be accounted relatively successful, since the side finished in the top half of the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
twice in this period, a feat not achieved in the preceding seven seasons.
For Ingle personally, the first season of captaincy, 1932, was the best. Wisden
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
, in its review of the 1932 Somerset season for the 1933 annual, said he was to be "heartily congratulated" on the improvement in the side which had taken it from thirteenth to seventh place. It went on: "If taking some time really to find his form, he led the side with considerable ability and judgment and set his colleagues a creditable example in the matter of fielding. He put together three separate innings of over a hundred, increased his average by seven and finished with an aggregate of nearly a thousand." In fact, adding in his scores in one match for 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...
, Ingle passed 1,000 runs for the second time in his career, and his season total of 1,083 runs at an average of 24.06 was his best in aggregate.
In fact, the following season, 1933, Ingle fared even better with the bat, though he missed out on 1,000 for the season by missing half a dozen games. His average of 29.74 for 922 runs in the season was his highest, and he scored two centuries. The team as a whole, however, fell from seventh to eleventh in the Championship.
Ingle's batting fell away rather badly after this high point. In the next three seasons, he struggled to average 15 runs an innings, though he made one further century in 1935. Wisden noted that Ingle had become "a member of a rather pronounced 'tail'."
Somerset returned to seventh place in the County Championship in 1936, but again it proved to be a temporary success. After the 1937 season, in which the county returned to the lower reaches of the championship table, Ingle stood down as captain, being replaced by his fellow Bath solicitor, Longrigg. He played a few matches for the county in both 1938 and 1939, but did not reappear in first-class cricket after the Second World War.
Personal style
Ingle was a well-liked captain, according to David Foot's history of Somerset cricket, and unlike some Somerset amateurs got on well with the limited numbers of professionals the county employed. The life of a Somerset captain in the inter-war years was rarely easy, because the county rarely had more than half a dozen professionals, and the team was perennially made up of an itinerant band of amateurs of variable talent. In one of Ingle's more successful seasons, 1936, Somerset played 34 different cricketers in the County Championship matches. Ingle himself missed some games most seasons because of chronic hay feverHay Fever
Hay Fever is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Laura Hope Crews played the role in New York...
which, according to Foot, he maintained was made worse by long train journeys: he told Foot that he would travel in the luggage rack to get some sleep and some respite from the dust.
Ingle was famously the captain when Harold Gimblett
Harold Gimblett
Harold Gimblett was a cricketer who played for Somerset and England. He was known for his fast scoring as an opening batsman and for the much-repeated story of his debut...
arrived at Frome as an unknown for his legendary first-class debut. Players such as Arthur Wellard
Arthur Wellard
Arthur William Wellard was a cricketer who played for Somerset and England. A late starter in county cricket, having been told by his native county, Kent, that he would be better off taking up a career as a policeman, Wellard played on into his late 40s...
, Horace Hazell
Horace Hazell
Horace Leslie Hazell was a cricketer who played for Somerset County Cricket Club in English first-class cricket....
, Wally Luckes
Wally Luckes
Walter Thomas "Wally" Luckes, born in Lambeth, London on 1 January 1901 and died at Bridgwater, Somerset on 27 October 1982, was a cricketer who played for Somerset....
and Bill Andrews
Bill Andrews (cricketer)
Bill Andrews was an English cricketer who played for Somerset. He was a right-arm fast-medium pace bowler and useful middle-order right-handed batsman...
played as professionals for Somerset for many seasons and developed under Ingle. Ingle, wrote Foot, "had a gift for what today is rather glibly known as motivation". But he could also be a disciplinarian, suspending two of the professionals for a couple of matches for misbehaviour and warning an amateur off for providing the professionals with duff horse-racing tips.
After cricket and outside cricket
There is a suggestion in Ingle's obituary in the 1993 Wisden that the parting at the end of the 1937 season was less than amicable. "Ingle eventually resigned the captaincy, or was manoeuvred out of it, amid some bitterness," it said. "He rarely returned to the ground thereafter."Ingle also had a long and successful law career in which, according to Foot, he acquired a reputation for taking on and winning cases for the gipsy community. He was also the defence solicitor for the celebrated postwar case of Ann Cornock, a Bristol woman accused of murdering her husband George Cornock in his bath in December 1946, a charge of which she was acquitted: Ingle attributed the result partly to the prestige of Sir Bernard Spilsbury
Bernard Spilsbury
Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury was an English pathologist. His cases include Hawley Harvey Crippen, the Seddon case and Major Armstrong poisonings, the "brides in the bath" murders by George Joseph Smith, Louis Voisin, Jean-Pierre Vaquier, the Crumbles murders, Norman Thorne, Donald Merrett, the...
, who had advised the defence, led by J. D. Casswell KC. Ingle told Foot that it was the Cornock case that had turned his hair white, though Foot added in his book that the cares of the Somerset captaincy were probably a contributory factor.