Humphrey Yates

Humphrey William Maghull Yates (25 March 1883 — 21 August 1956) was an English first-class cricketer and cricket scorer.

The son of the cricketer and barrister Joseph Yates, he was born in March 1883 at Ellesmere Park, Lancashire. He was educated at Winchester College,[1] before attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. Yates graduated from there into the Lancashire Fusiliers in April 1903,[2] with promotion to lieutenant following in May 1908, at which point he transferred to the Royal Irish Fusiliers.[3] A prominent player in army cricket,[4] Yates made his debut in first-class cricket for Hampshire against Worcestershire at Worcester in the 1910 County Championship. He played all of his first-class cricket for Hampshire prior to the First World War, making thirteen appearances.[5] In these matches, he scored 242 runs at an average of 15.12, with one half century score of 65 not out.[6] He also played first-class cricket prior to the war for services-based teams, making two appearances for a combined Army and Navy cricket team and four for the British Army cricket team.[5]

Having been promoted to captain in March 1913,[7] Yates served during the war, in the course of which he was made a brevet major in January 1918.[8] Seconded to the staff, Yates relinquished his appointment there following the war in September 1919.[9] After the war, he made a further first-class appearance for the British Army cricket team, against the Royal Navy at Lord's in 1920.[5] His five first-class matches for the army saw him score 249 runs at an average of 35.57, as well as making his highest first-class score of 97.[6] Yates later emigrated to South Africa, where he continued to play club cricket to a good standard until he was 60.[4] In South Africa, he took up scoring for the Transvaal Cricket Union in first-class and Test matches in Johannesburg from 1945 to 1956.[4] He died in Abbotsford in Johannesburg on 21 August 1956.[4] His cousin, James Yates, was also a first-class cricketer.