Alex Bowell
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Horace Alexander William Bowell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 27 April 1880 Jericho, Oxfordshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 28 August 1957 (aged 77) Oxford, Oxfordshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm medium-fast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Norman Bowell (son) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1902–1927 | Hampshire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 4 February 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Horace Alexander William Bowell (27 April 1880 – 28 August 1957) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket as a batsman for Hampshire between 1902 and 1927.
Life and cricket career
Pre-war cricket
Bowell was born on 27 April 1880 in Jericho, Oxford. He moved from Oxford to Hampshire in around 1899 to 1900 for employment as a carpenter with Messrs, Martin, Wells, and Co. of Aldershot.[1] In Aldershot, he played club cricket for Aldershot Athletic Cricket Club.[1] An opening batsman, Bowell joined the staff at Hampshire as a professional in 1902.[2] Later in the 1902 season, he would make his debut for Hampshire in first-class cricket against Derbyshire in the County Championship.[3] He intitally batted in Hampshire's middle order in his first four County Championship matches, however in their final match of the 1902 season against Warwickshire, he was promoted to open the batting alongside Charlie Llewellyn.[4] He established himself in the Hampshire team in 1903, making fifteen first-class appearances, he scored 373 runs at an average of 14.92;[5] toward the end of the season, he was again elevated to open the batting, and in his second match in that role he scored a maiden half century, making 61 runs against Leicestershire.[6]
The following season, Llewellyn again returned to Hampshire's middle order, but from mid-July onward he opened the batting with Arthur Webb. He made sixteen appearances during the season, scoring 628 runs at an average of 22.42;[5] he made scores of note against the touring South Africans (65 runs)[7] and Somerset (95 runs).[8] He began the 1905 season opening the batting, but returned to the middle order during the seasons middle stages, before returning to the opening position toward its conclusion. In 21 matches during the season, he scored 883 runs at an average of 22.64;[5] he recorded his maiden century (101 runs) against Derbyshire in June.[9] As in previous seasons, in 1906 he again spent the season fluctuating between the middle order and opening the batting, scoring 774 runs at an average of 22.11 from nineteen matches.[5] In 1907, he would pass a thousand runs in a season for the first time, scoring 1,046 at an average of 23.24;[5] it was during this season that he began to consistently open the batting, predominantly doing so alongside Phil Mead.
He played 475 matches for Hampshire from 1902 until 1927, scoring over 18,000 runs.[10] Bowell died in hospital in Oxford on 28 August 1957.[11]
Umpiring
Bowell stood as an umpire in two first-class matches in 1919. He stood firstly in the match between Oxford University and the Gentlemen of England, with the second being played between Oxford University and the Australian Imperial Force Touring XI, with both matches played at Oxford.[12]
References
- ^ a b "Constitution of the Teams". Aldershot News. 20 August 1904. p. 5. Retrieved 21 August 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Eagar, Desmond (15 April 1952). "Growth of Hampshire cricket". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
- ^ "First-Class Matches played by Alex Bowell". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
- ^ "Match at Bournemouth". Bournemouth Daily Echo. 28 August 1902. p. 3. Retrieved 21 August 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b c d e "First-Class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Alex Bowell". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
- ^ "Leicestershire v Hampshire, County Championship 1903". CricketArchive. Retrieved 21 August 2025.
- ^ "Circket Matches". Hampshire Telegraph. Portsmouth. 9 July 1904. p. 3. Retrieved 22 August 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Cricket". Bournemouth Daily Echo. 18 July 1904. p. 4. Retrieved 22 August 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Bowell's Maiden Century". Bournemouth Daily Echo. 13 June 1905. p. 4. Retrieved 22 August 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ Alex Bowell from CricketArchive retrieved 3 June 2008
- ^ "Obituary". The Times. London. 29 August 1957. p. 10. Retrieved 21 August 2025 – via Gale.
- ^ "Alex Bowell as Umpire in First-Class Matches". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 August 2025.