Eric Hatfeild

Charles Eric Hatfeild, MC (11 March 1887 – 21 September 1918), known as Eric Hatfeild, was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Kent County Cricket Club in the years before the First World War. Hatfeild was an officer in the Royal East Kent Yeomanry and the East Kent Regiment. He was decorated for gallantry during the war and was killed in action in September 1918 at Cambrai on the Western Front.

Eric Hatfeild

Personal information
Full name	Charles Eric Hatfeild
Born	11 March 1887 Hartsdown, Margate, Kent
Died	21 September 1918 (aged 31) Cambrai, France
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Slow left-arm orthodox
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1907–1909	Oxford University
1910–1914	Kent
FC debut	23 May 1907 Oxford University v Worcestershire
Last FC	13 July 1914 Kent v Essex
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 65 Runs scored 1,498 Batting average 16.10 100s/50s 0/8 Top score 74 Balls bowled 2,906 Wickets 64 Bowling average 23.04 5 wickets in innings 2 10 wickets in match 0 Best bowling 5/48 Catches/stumpings 45/–
Source: CricInfo, 30 April 2016

Early life and education

Hatfeild was born at Hartsdown House near Margate in Kent in 1887, the son of a captain in the 1st King's Dragoon Guards and JP in a prominent local family.[1][2][3][4] He was the eldest child, having three brothers and three sisters. He was educated locally at Wellington House School at Westgate-on-Sea and later at Eton College where he played in the school's cricket First XI in from 1903 to 1906, captaining the side, which included Herbert, in his final year.[1][5] He was a very promising bowler at school, taking 12 wickets against Harrow School in a match at Lord's in 1903 but later developed as more of a batsman.[4] He went to New College, Oxford, and played for Oxford University Cricket Club in 15 first-class cricket matches, gaining a cricket Blue in 1908.[4][6]

After graduating from university Hatfeild attended Wye Agricultural College in 1910–11.[2]

Cricket career

Hatfeild made his debut for Kent in June 1910 in a County Championship match against Derbyshire at the County Ground, Derby.[5] He played only two matches in 1910 as Kent won the County Championship, before gaining a more regular place in the Kent side in the following seasons. He was described in his Wisden obituary as an "enthusiastic cricketer" who played "whenever he was wanted", making 15 appearances in 1912 and 12 in 1913 as Kent won the last of their four Championship titles of the years before the First World War.[6][5] In total he made 45 appearances for the county as an all-rounder at a time when Kent were one of the dominant first-class counties and had a good supply of excellent players and, as a prominent and well-connected amateur, was considered a candidate to succeed Ted Dillon as captain of the side when he resigned after the 1913 season.[7] He was elected a member of the Kent Committee in 1913.[7]

He toured Argentina with MCC in 1911–12 alongside his Kent colleague Lionel Troughton.[2] He played in all three first-class matches on the tour, the first first-class matches played by the Argentina national cricket team,[5] taking 16 first-class wickets on the tour including his best first-class bowling figures of five wickets for 48 runs.[8] He also toured the USA with Incogniti in 1913.[7]

Hatfeild made his final first-class appearance in July 1914 against Essex at Tunbridge Wells just before he was mobilised after the start of the First World War.[2][7]

Military career and death

Hatfeild was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal East Kent Yeomanry in 1913 and later transferred to the East Kent Regiment, serving in the 10th battalion.[7][2] He was mobilised immediately after the outbreak of war in 1914 and served throughout the First World War, seeing action in the Gallipoli Campaign, Egypt, Palestine and on the Western Front in France. He rose to the rank of Captain and commanded a company.[2] Hatfeild was killed in action on 21 September 1918 fighting near Cambrai in northern France during the Hundred Days Offensive.[7] He was posthumously awarded the Military Cross for the "conspicuous gallantry" he had shown three days before his death leading his company in an attack at Templeux-le-Guérard during the offensive.[2][4]

References

1. Lewis P (2013) For Kent and Country, p.194. Brighton: Reveille Press.
2. McCrery N (2015) Final Wicket: Test and First Class Cricketers Killed in the Great War Pen and Sword, pp.1910–1912. Available online, retrieved 2016-04-30.
3. Grave No.5 - The Grave of Charles Taddy Hatfeild Archived 8 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Friends of Margate Cemetery. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
4. Renshaw A (2014) Wisden on the Great War: The Lives of Cricket's Fallen 1914-1918, A&C Black, p.409. Available online, retrieved 2016-04-30.
5. Eric Hatfeild, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
6. Hatfeild, Capt Charles Eric - obituaries during the war, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1919. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
7. Lewis Op. cit., pp.194–197.
8. First-class bowling for Marylebone Cricket Club in Argentina 1911–12, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2016-04-30.

External links

• Eric Hatfeild at ESPNcricinfo