Desmond Eagar

Desmond Eagar
Personal information
Full name	Edward Desmond Russell Eagar
Born	8 December 1917; Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England
Died	13 September 1977 (aged 59); Kingsbridge, Devon, England
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Slow left-arm orthodox
Domestic team information
1935–1939	Gloucestershire
1938–1939	Oxford University
1946–1957	Hampshire
1952–1958	Marylebone Cricket Club
Career statistics
Matches	363
Runs scored	12178
Batting average	21.86
100s/50s	10/52
Top score	158*
Balls bowled	1972
Wickets	31
Bowling average	47.77
5 wickets in innings	1
10 wickets in match	–
Best bowling	6/66
Catches/stumpings	369/–
	Source: Cricinfo, 13 August 2009

Edward Desmond Russell Eagar (8 December 1917 – 13 September 1977) was an English first-class cricketer who as secretary and captain of Hampshire was instrumental, through organisation, captaincy and recruitment, in raising the county team from perennial also-rans to the point where, in the seasons after he retired from playing, it was runner-up and then, in 1961, the champions in the County Championship for the first time in its history. As a cricketer, he was a right-handed middle-order batsman who bowled occasional slow left-arm orthodox spin, and a fearless fielder at short leg.^[1]

Eagar was educated at Cheltenham College and played for Gloucestershire from 1935 to 1939, and for Oxford University in 1938 and 1939. During the Second World War no first-class cricket was played in England. It was therefore seven years before Eagar resumed his county career with Hampshire, for whom he played between 1946 and 1957, captaining the side for those twelve seasons.

Eagar retired from first-class cricket at the end of the 1958 season after playing for the Marylebone Cricket Club. He died in 1977 in Kingsbridge, Devon, at the age of 59. In August 1958 he did some cricket commentary for BBC Radio in the South and West of England only^[2] and in 1960 he commentated for Southern Television.^[3]

The cricket photographer Patrick Eagar is his son.^[4]

References[]

^ Cricketer, November 1977, p. 51.
^ Radio Times West of England edition, 24–30 August 1958
^ "Kent v. S.A. on TV", East Kent Gazette page 1, 12 August 1960
^ Wisden Cricketer's Almanack, 1978 edition, Obituaries in 1977

External links[]

Desmond Eagar at Cricinfo
Desmond Eagar at CricketArchive

[1] Cricketer, November 1977, p. 51.

[2] Radio Times West of England edition, 24–30 August 1958

[3] "Kent v. S.A. on TV", East Kent Gazette page 1, 12 August 1960

[4] Wisden Cricketer's Almanack, 1978 edition, Obituaries in 1977

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