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{{short description|English cricketer and British Indian Army officer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox cricketer
| name =
| image =
| country = England
| fullname = Ralph Alexander Spitteler
| birth_date = 16 November 1915
| birth_place = [[Kannur|Cannanore]], [[Madras Presidency]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1946|3|14|1915|11|16|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Jakarta|Djakarta]], [[West Java]],<br>[[Dutch East Indies]]
| nickname =
| family =
| batting = Left-handed
| bowling = Right-arm [[Fast bowling|fast-medium]]
| role =
| club1 = [[Europeans cricket team|Europeans]]
| year1 = 1938/39–1940/41
| club2 = [[Tamil Nadu cricket team|Madras]]
| year2 = 1938/39
| columns = 1
| column1 = [[First-class cricket|First-class]]
| matches1 = 4
| runs1 = 24
| bat avg1 = 12.00
| 100s/50s1 = –/–
| top score1 = 11[[not out|*]]
| deliveries1 = 867
| wickets1 = 19
| bowl avg1 = 21.42
| fivefor1 = 2
| tenfor1 = –
| best bowling1 = 5/29
| catches/stumpings1 = 5/–
| date = 15 December
| year = 2021
| source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/34445.html Cricinfo
}}

'''Ralph Alexander Spitteler''' (16 November 1915 – 14 March 1946) was an [[English people|English]] first-class [[cricket]]er and [[British Indian Army]] officer.

The son of Charles and Daisy Spitteler, he was born in [[British India]] at [[Kannur]] in November 1915. He spent his youth living with his parents at the [[Yercaud]] hill station in [[Madras Presidency]] and later studied at the [[University of Madras]].<ref name="BOOK">{{cite book |last1=McCrery |first1=Nigel |title=The Coming Storm: Test and First-Class Cricketers Killed in World War Two |date=2011 |publisher=Pen and Sword |page=571-2 |volume=2nd volume |isbn=978-1526706980 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RYQwDwAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> He played made his debut in [[first-class cricket]] for the [[Europeans cricket team|Europeans cricket team]] against the [[Indians cricket team|Indians]] at [[M. A. Chidambaram Stadium|Madras]] in January 1939 in the [[Madras Presidency Matches|Madras Presidency Match]], with him taking 9 wickets in the match, including a [[five wicket haul]] in the Indians second innings.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/16/16875.html|title=Europeans v Indians, Madras Presidency Match 1938/39|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=2021-12-16|url-access=subscription}}</ref> A few weeks after this match, he played for the [[Tamil Nadu cricket team|Madras cricket team]] in the [[1939–40 Ranji Trophy|Ranji Trophy]] against [[Bengal cricket team|Bengal]].<ref name="FCM">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/14/14612/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Ralph Spitteler|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=2021-12-16|url-access=subscription}}</ref> He appeared in two further first-class matches for the Europeans against the Indians in January of 1940 and 1941, with Spitteler again impressing in the 1940 fixture with another five wicket haul.<ref name="BOOK"/> With his right-arm [[Fast bowling|fast-medium bowling]] across four first-class matches, he managed to take 19 wickets at an [[bowling average|average]] of 21.42.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/14/14612/f_Bowling_by_Team.html|title=First-Class Bowling For Each Team by Ralph Spitteler|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=2021-12-16|url-access=subscription}}</ref> With the [[Japanese declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire]] in December 1941, Spitteler played no further first-class matches as he undertook military duties in the [[British Indian Army]] with the [[10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles|10th Gurkha Rifles]]. Initially serving as a non-commissioned officer,<ref name="BOOK"/> Spitteler was an emergency commission to the rank of [[Lieutenant (British Army and Royal Marines)|lieutenant]] in February 1942.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=35570|date=22 May 1942|page=2246}}</ref> He saw action in the [[Burma campaign]] and was seriously wounded while fighting the Japanese at [[Scraggy Hill]] and [[Shenam Pass]] in 1944.<ref name="BOOK"/> He was subsequently captured by the Japanese and transported as a [[Prisoner_of_war#Empire_of_Japan|prisoner of war]] to [[Java]] in the [[Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies]],<ref name="ROLL">{{cite web|url=https://www.roll-of-honour.org.uk/Java_Index/S/html/sp_database_114.htm|title=A database of those imprisoned by the Japanese in Java and their transports|publisher=www.roll-of-honour.org.uk|accessdate=2021-12-16}}</ref> where he was to remain until the end of the war. He never recovered from his wounds, eventually succumbing to them six months after the end of the war in March 1946.<ref name="BOOK"/> He was the last first-class cricketer to die as a direct result of the war. Spitteler was buried at the Jakarta War Cemetery.<ref name="ROLL"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cricinfo|id=34445}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spitteler, Ralph}}
[[Category:1915 births]]
[[Category:1946 deaths]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Kannur]]
[[Category:University of Madras alumni]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:Europeans cricketers]]
[[Category:Tamil Nadu cricketers]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:Royal Gurkha Rifles officers]]
[[Category:British World War II prisoners of war]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel killed in World War II]]
[[Category:World War II prisoners of war held by Japan]]

Ralph Spitteler - Revision history

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