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	[[Category:Hong Kong ~~people~~]]		[[Category:British expatriates in Hong Kong]]
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>Lettler: Adding local short description: "English cricketer", overriding Wikidata description "cricketer (1907-1982)" (Shortdesc helper)

2021-04-27T18:57:08Z

Adding local short description: "English cricketer", overriding Wikidata description "cricketer (1907-1982)" (Shortdesc helper)

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{{Short description|English cricketer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}

{{Infobox cricketer
| name = John Stephenson
| image =
| country = England
| fullname = John William Arthur Stephenson
| nickname =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1907|8|1|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Hong Kong]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1982|5|20|1907|8|1|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Mare Hill]], [[Pulborough]], [[Sussex]], [[England]]
| heightft =
| heightinch =
| role =
| batting = Right-handed
| bowling = Right-arm fast-medium
| club1 = [[Europeans cricket team|Europeans]]
| year1 = 1928/29–1930/31
| club2 = [[Madras cricket team|Madras]]
| year2 = 1930/31
| club3 = [[Essex County Cricket Club|Essex]]
| year3 = 1934–1939
| club4 = [[Worcestershire County Cricket Club|Worcestershire]]
| year4 = 1947
| columns = 1
| column1 = [[First-class cricket|FC]]
| matches1 = 103
| runs1 = 2,582
| bat avg1 = 21.33
| 100s/50s1 = 2/8
| top score1 = 135
| deliveries1 = 15,323
| wickets1 = 312
| bowl avg1 = 24.10
| fivefor1 = 16
| tenfor1 = 2
| best bowling1 = 9-46
| catches/stumpings1 = 60/0
| date = 21 October
| year = 2008
| source = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/5/5310/5310.html CricketArchive
}}
[[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant Colonel]] '''John William Arthur Stephenson''' [[Distinguished Service Order|DSO]] (1 August 1907 – 20 May 1982) was a Hong-Kong-born English [[first-class cricket]]er who played in India and England from the late 1920s until shortly after the [[Second World War]]. His ''[[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack|Wisden]]'' obituarist opined that "there would always have been fewer empty grounds" had more players been like him.<ref name="wisden-obit">Obituary. ''[[Wisden Cricketers' Almanack]]'' 1983.</ref> He was also a [[British Army]] officer, who saw service in the Second World War.

==Life and career==
===Cricket career===
John Stephenson was educated at [[Clayesmore School]]. On 2 February 1928, after having played some games for [[Buckinghamshire County Cricket Club|Buckinghamshire]] in the 1927 [[Minor Counties Championship]] while training at the [[Royal Military Academy Sandhurst|Royal Military College, Sandhurst]], he was commissioned as a [[second lieutenant]] into the [[Middlesex Regiment]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33353|pages=765–766|date=3 February 1928}}</ref> Posted to India, he made his first-class cricket debut for the [[Europeans cricket team|Europeans]] against the [[Muslims cricket team|Muslims]] at [[Bombay Gymkhana]] in the 1928/29 [[Bombay Quadrangular]] tournament, scoring 17 and 42 and taking 2 for 24 in the second innings.<ref>
{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/12/12928.html |title=Europeans v Muslims in 1928/29 |accessdate=2008-10-21|publisher=CricketArchive}}</ref> In his next match, against [[Parsees cricket team|Parsees]], he scored his maiden century, hitting 135 in the first innings.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/12/12929.html |title=Europeans v Parsees in 1928/29 |accessdate=2008-10-21 |publisher=CricketArchive}}</ref>
He played one more game for Europeans that season, then two more the following season, without much success. In 1930/31 he played for [[Madras cricket team|Madras]] against the [[Maharajkumar of Vizianagram]]'s XI, then returned to the Europeans side and produced a good all-round display against [[Indians cricket team|Indians]], making 117 (he never made another first-class century) and taking six wickets in an innings victory.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/13/13756.html |title=Europeans v Indians in 1930/31 |accessdate=2008-10-21 |publisher=CricketArchive}}</ref>

Stephenson was promoted to [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] on 2 February 1931,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=33686|page=747|date=3 February 1931}}</ref> and returned to England later that year. He again turned out for Buckinghamshire, but in August made his English first-class debut for the [[British Army cricket team|Army]] against [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] (MCC) at [[Lord's]]. In a low-scoring match, his 20 [[not out]] in the second innings helped guide the Army to a four-wicket win.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/14/14055.html |title=Marylebone Cricket Club v Army in 1931 |accessdate=2008-10-21 |publisher=CricketArchive}}</ref> Over the next couple of seasons, he mixed further appearances for the Army (although not achieving any particular success) with continued appearances for Buckinghamshire.

He began 1934 with a game for [[Free Foresters cricket team|Free Foresters]] against [[Cambridge University Cricket Club|Cambridge University]] at [[Fenner's]] in early June, and took 4–99 in the first innings; at that stage his best innings return.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/15/15019.html |title=Cambridge University v Free Foresters in 1934 |accessdate=2008-10-21 |publisher=CricketArchive}}</ref> A few days later, Stephenson commenced the [[Essex County Cricket Club|Essex]] career which he would continue until the outbreak of war. His most successful season was 1936, in which he recorded his highest aggregates of both runs (521 [[batting average (cricket)|at 18.60]]) and wickets (84 [[bowling average|at 22.19]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/5/5310/f_Batting_by_Season.html |title=First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by John Stephenson |accessdate=2008-10-21 |publisher=CricketArchive}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/5/5310/f_Bowling_by_Season.html |title=First-class Bowling and Fielding in Each Season by John Stephenson |accessdate=2008-10-21 |publisher=CricketArchive}}</ref> That summer also saw him record his best bowling figures, when he claimed 9-46 for the [[Gentlemen v Players|Gentlemen against the Players]] at Lord's, which remains the best innings return ever recorded for the Gentlemen.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/15/15903.html |title=Gentlemen v Players in 1936 |accessdate=2008-10-21 |publisher=CricketArchive}}</ref> Following this performance, there was talk that Stephenson might be preferred to [[Bill Copson]] for the [[The Ashes|Ashes]] tour that winter, but it was not to be.<ref name="wisden-obit" />

Stephenson was promoted to [[captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] on 12 April 1937,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34414|page=4250|date=2 July 1937}}</ref> and for the 1937 and 1938 cricket seasons his army duties precluded his playing a full season of cricket,<ref name="wisden-obit" /> but he continued to turn out for Essex when he could, and managed about 50 wickets in each season. In 1939 he played much more, and acted as captain on a number of occasions, one of three players so employed by Essex that year.<ref name="wisden-obit" />

===War service===
Stephenson retired from the army on 1 July 1939,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=34641|supp=y|page=4438|date=30 June 1939}}</ref> but the outbreak of war soon saw him recalled. During the [[World War II|Second World War]] he continued to serve with the Middlesex Regiment, rising to the war substantive rank of [[major (United Kingdom)|major]], and as a temporary [[Lieutenant colonel (United Kingdom)|lieutenant colonel]] he commanded the 1/7th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, a [[Army Reserve (United Kingdom)|Territorial Army]] unit, in North Africa from mid-1942 onwards.

For his leadership of the battalion (which formed the machine gun battalion of the [[51st (Highland) Division]]) at the [[Second Battle of Alamein]] in October/November and during the subsequent advance on [[Tripoli]] — and particularly for his actions at [[Corradini]] and during the attack on the [[Mareth Line]] — the division's [[General officer commanding|General Officer Commanding]] (GOC), [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major General]] [[Douglas Wimberley]], recommended him for an immediate award of the [[Distinguished Service Order]] (DSO). The recommendation for the award describes how he personally ensured that the battalion supported the infantry, sometimes leading individual companies under heavy fire, and his carrying out of reconnaissance under fire. The commander of [[Eighth Army (United Kingdom)|Eighth Army]] (the Desert Rats), [[General (United Kingdom)|General]] [[Bernard Montgomery|Sir Bernard Montgomery]], endorsed the recommendation with the words, "I very strongly recommend this award".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/details-result.asp?Edoc_Id=7656733|title=Recommendations for Honours and Awards (Army)—Image details—Stephenson, John William Arthur|work=Documents Online|publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]]|format=fee may be required to view full original recommendation|accessdate=2008-10-22}}</ref> The award of the DSO was [[London Gazette|gazetted]] on 17 June 1943.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36057|supp=y|page=2759|date=15 June 1943}}</ref> Stephenson was also subsequently [[mentioned in despatches]] on 13 January 1944.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36327|supp=y|pages=258–265|date=11 January 1944}}</ref>

===Later life===
Stephenson did not continue in active service after the war, but was promoted to substantive major in the Reserve of Officers on 1 January 1949, and granted honorary rank as a lieutenant-colonel at the same time.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=39503|supp=y|pages=1809–1810|date=28 March 1952}}</ref> He remained in the reserve until he reached the age limit for service on 6 November 1957.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=41216|supp=y|page=6399|date=1 November 1957}}</ref>

The Second World War effectively ended his cricket career, although he did play three first-class matches afterwards. The first of these, for [[England national cricket team|England]] against the [[Australian Services cricket team|Australian Services]] in May 1945, was in fact the first first-class game in England since 1939, and Stephenson took 5–116 in the first innings.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/17/17475.html |title=England v Australian Services in 1945 |accessdate=2008-10-21 |publisher=CricketArchive}}</ref> He also played a single match for [[Worcestershire County Cricket Club|Worcestershire]] against [[Leicestershire County Cricket Club|Leicestershire]] in May 1947,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/18/18003.html |title=Worcestershire v Leicestershire in 1947 |accessdate=2008-10-21 |publisher=CricketArchive}}</ref> and finally one game for South v [[Glamorgan County Cricket Club|Glamorgan]] at the end of 1948,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/18/18708.html |title=Glamorgan v South in 1948 |accessdate=2008-10-21 |publisher=CricketArchive}}</ref> though he did nothing remarkable in either match.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{cricketarchive|ref=Archive/Players/5/5310/5310.html}}
* {{cricinfo|ref=england/content/player/20361.html}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephenson, John}}
[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:British Army cricketers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Buckinghamshire cricketers]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:English cricketers of 1919 to 1945]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:Essex cricketers]]
[[Category:Essex cricket captains]]
[[Category:Europeans cricketers]]
[[Category:Free Foresters cricketers]]
[[Category:Gentlemen cricketers]]
[[Category:Gentlemen of England cricketers]]
[[Category:Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst]]
[[Category:Hong Kong people]]
[[Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers]]
[[Category:Middlesex Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Tamil Nadu cricketers]]
[[Category:Worcestershire cricketers]]
[[Category:North v South cricketers]]

John Stephenson (cricketer, born 1907) - Revision history

UpdateBot: robot: Update article (please report if you notice any mistake or error in this edit)

>Lettler: Adding local short description: "English cricketer", overriding Wikidata description "cricketer (1907-1982)" (Shortdesc helper)