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{{short description|English cricketer and Royal Navy officer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| name =
| image =
| country = England
| fullname = John Barnes Sparks
| birth_date = 31 May 1873
| birth_place = [[Morar Cantonment|Morar]], [[Gwalior State]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1920|3|29|1873|5|31}}
| death_place = [[Marylebone]], [[London]], England
| heightft =
| heightinch =
| nickname =
| family =
| batting = Right-handed
| bowling =
| role =
| club1 =
| year1 =
| columns = 1
| column1 = [[First-class cricket|First-class]]
| matches1 = 1
| runs1 = 17
| bat avg1 = 8.50
| 100s/50s1 = –/–
| top score1 = 13
| hidedeliveries = true
| catches/stumpings1 = –/–
| date = 6 December
| year = 2019
| source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/20944.html Cricinfo
}}

Captain '''John Barnes Sparks''' {{postnominal|CBE}} (31 May 1873 – 29 March 1920) was an [[English people|English]] first-class [[cricket]]er and [[Royal Navy]] officer.

==Life==
The son of [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]] John Barnes Sparks of the [[Indian Staff Corps|Bengal Staff Corps]], he was born in May 1873 at [[Morar Cantonment|Morar]] in [[British India]]. Sparks was educated in England at the [[Britannia Royal Naval College]], before entering into the [[Royal Navy]] as a [[Sub-lieutenant#Navies|sub-lieutenant]]. He was promoted to the rank of [[Lieutenant (navy)|lieutenant]] in September 1894.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=26552|date=14 September 1894|page=5311}}</ref>

Sparks served in the [[Mahdist War]], commanding the steam gunboat ''Sheikh''. He was [[mentioned in dispatches]] for his role in the [[Anglo-Egyptian_conquest_of_Sudan#Campaign_of_1898|Nile Expedition of 1898]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27009|date=30 September 1898|page=5731}}</ref><ref>Richard Hill and R. L. Hill, ''A Register of Named Power-Driven River and Marine Harbour Craft Commissioned in the Sudan 1856-1964—II'', Sudan Notes and Records Vol. 53 (1972), pp. 204–214, at p. 208. Published by: University of Khartoum {{jstor|42678024}}</ref> In June 1900 he was appointed in command of the [[Ship's tender|tender]] [[HMS Columbine (1897)|HMS ''Columbine'']], serving on the [[North America and West Indies Station]]. The ship visited [[Bermuda]], [[Saint Lucia]] and [[Trinidad]] in late 1902.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Naval & Military intelligence |date=8 December 1902 |page=11 |issue=36945}}</ref> He was promoted to the rank of [[Commander (Royal Navy)|commander]] in December 1905.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27870|date=2 January 1906|page=25}}</ref>

Sparks served in the [[First World War]], during which he was promoted to the rank of [[Captain (Royal Navy)|captain]] in December 1914.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=29024|date=29 December 1914|page=6|supp=y}}</ref> He was made a [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] in the [[1919 New Year Honours]] for services rendered during the war and was mentioned in dispatches in April 1919.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31099|date=31 December 1918|page=111|supp=y}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=31286|date=8 April 1919|page=4735|supp=y}}</ref> He was invalidated from active service due to [[esophageal cancer]], succumbing to the disease in March 1920. He is buried in [[Brompton Cemetery]], London.

==Cricket==
Sparks made a single appearance in [[first-class cricket]], captaining the [[Royal Navy Cricket Club|Royal Navy]] against the [[British Army cricket team]] at [[Lord's]] in 1913.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/32/32945/First-Class_Matches.html |title=First-Class Matches played by John Sparks |publisher=CricketArchive |accessdate=2019-12-11}}</ref> Batting twice in the match, he was dismissed for 13 runs in the navy first-innings by [[Francis Wyatt (cricketer)|Francis Wyatt]], while in their second-innings he was dismissed for 4 runs by [[Harold Fawcus]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/9/9003.html |title=Army v Royal Navy, 1913 |publisher=CricketArchive |accessdate=2019-12-11}}</ref> He also acted as wicket-keeper.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bailey|first1=Philip|authorlink1=Philip Bailey (statistician)|last2=Thorn|first2=Philip|last3=Wynne-Thomas|first3=Peter|title=Who's Who of Cricketers|year=1984|publisher=Newnes Books|location=London|isbn=0600346927|page=951}}</ref>

==Family==
Sparks married in 1902 Dorothy Talbot Nicholson, daughter of John Nicholson of [[Saint John, New Brunswick]]; she died in 1909. At the time of the marriage he was serving on [[HMS Columbine (1897)|HMS ''Columbine'']].<ref>{{cite news |title=n/a |work=Portsmouth Evening News |date=15 August 1902}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Debrett's Peerage |date=1920 |page=1814 |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cricinfo|id=20944}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sparks, John}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1920 deaths]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]
[[Category:People from Gwalior]]
[[Category:Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College]]
[[Category:Royal Navy officers]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of the Mahdist War]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:Royal Navy cricketers]]
[[Category:Royal Navy personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Deaths from esophageal cancer]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in England]]

John Sparks (cricketer, born 1873) - Revision history

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