Geoffrey Adams (cricketer)

Geoffrey Adams
Personal information
Full name
Geoffrey Coker Arding Adams
Born(1909-05-24)24 May 1909
Hampstead, London, England
Died10 February 1998(1998-02-10) (aged 88)
Geelong, Victoria, Australia
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium-pace
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1928–1930Hampshire
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 18
Runs scored 421
Batting average 13.58
100s/50s –/–
Top score 42
Balls bowled 283
Wickets 4
Bowling average 40.50
5 wickets in innings –
10 wickets in match –
Best bowling 1/0
Catches/stumpings 3/–
Source: Cricinfo, 21 September 2009

Geoffrey Coker Arding Adams MBE (24 May 1909 — 10 February 1998) was an English first-class cricketer and newspaper proprietor.

The son of Hugh Geoffrey Coker Adams, he was born at Hampstead in May 1909. He was educated at Radley College,[1] before matriculating to Pembroke College, Cambridge. Although a member of the Cambridge University Cricket Club, he did not feature for the first eleven. However, he did gain a blue playing rugby union for Cambridge University R.U.F.C..[2] During his summer holiday from Cambridge, Adams played first-class cricket for Hampshire, making his debut against Worcestershire in the 1928 County Championship. Having played once in 1928, he made a further twelve appearances in 1929 and five in 1930.[3] In eighteen first-class matches for Hampshire, Adams had modest success as a middle-order batsman.[2] He scored 421 runs at an average of 13.58, with a highest score of 42.[4]

Adams married Betty Clover in June 1935 at Whitegate, Cheshire.[5] He later served in the Second World War with the British Army, being commissioned into the Royal Welch Fusiliers as a second lieutenant in March 1940.[6] Following the war, he resigned his commission in January 1946 having reached the war substantive rank of major and was granted the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel.[7] He followed in his fathers footsteps by emigrating to Australia,[5] where he built a newspaper group in rural Victoria.[2] He was instrumental in preserving papers concerning the 1932–33 Bodyline tour.[8] For his services to publishing in Victoria, Adams was made an MBE in the 1969 Birthday Honours.[9] He died at Geelong in February 1998.[2]

  1. ^ Register, 1847-1923. Oxford University Press. 1923. p. 411.
  2. ^ a b c d "Wisden - Obituaries in 1998". ESPNcricinfo. 6 December 2005. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  3. ^ "First-Class Matches played by Geoffrey Adams". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  4. ^ "First-Class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Geoffrey Adams". CricketArchive. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Social and Personal". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 June 1935. p. 9. Retrieved 18 August 2023 – via Trove.
  6. ^ "No. 34813". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 March 1940. p. 1620.
  7. ^ "No. 37451". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 January 1946. p. 757.
  8. ^ Frith, David (24 June 2013). Bodyline Autopsy. London: Aurum. p. 303. ISBN 9781781311936.
  9. ^ "No. 44863". The London Gazette (Supplement). 6 June 1969. p. 5983.