Robert Nelson (cricketer, born 1912)

Robert Nelson
Personal information
Full name
Robert Prynne Nelson
Born(1912-08-07)7 August 1912
Fulham, London, England
Died29 October 1940(1940-10-29) (aged 28)
Deal, Kent, England
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingSlow left-arm orthodox
RoleAll-rounder
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1931–34Hertfordshire
1932–33Middlesex
1934–36Cambridge University
1937–39Northamptonshire
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 77
Runs scored 3394
Batting average 27.37
100s/50s 2/24
Top score 123*
Balls bowled 5,367
Wickets 62
Bowling average 35.61
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 3/7
Catches/stumpings 34/–
Source: Cricket Archive, 6 August 2025

Robert Prynne Nelson (7 August 1912 – 29 October 1940) was an English cricketer active from 1931 to 1939 who played for Middlesex and Northamptonshire (Northants). He was Northants club captain in the 1938 to 1939 seasons. He appeared in 77 first-class matches as a left-handed batsman who bowled left-arm orthodox spin. He scored 3,394 runs with a highest score of 123 not out, one of two centuries, and took 62 wickets with a best performance of three for 7.[1]

During the Second World War, Nelson was a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Marines. He died when the barracks at Deal, where he was serving, were hit by a bomb dropped from an Italian Fiat BR.20 bomber, part of a squadron sent to attack military installations around the Kent coast.[2] He was just 28. His gravestone in the military section of Deal Cemetery records that he was "a lover of cricket [and] he maintained in his life the spirit of the game".[3]

References

  1. ^ Robert Nelson at CricketArchive
  2. ^ Sandford, Christopher (2024). The Cricketers Of 1945: Rising from the Ashes of World War Two (1st ed.). London: Pitch Publishing (Brighton) Limited. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-80150-757-8.
  3. ^ CricketArchive – Last resting place of Robert Nelson

Second Lieutenant Robert Prynne Nelson at CWGC