Nicholas Vere-Hodge

Nicholas Vere-Hodge MB, FRCS, BCh, LRCP[1][2] (31 October 1912 – 7 December 2005) was an English cricketer and Royal Air Force officer. In cricket, Vere-Hodge was a right-handed batsman who fielded occasionally as a wicket-keeper. He was born in Woodford Green, Essex.

He made his first-class debut for Essex in the 1936 County Championship against Kent. He made 22 further first-class appearances for Essex, the last of which came against Gloucestershire in the 1939 County Championship.[3] In his 23 first-class appearances, he scored 713 runs at an average of 22.28, in the process making 3 half centuries and 2 centuries.[4] His highest score of 108 came against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in the 1937 County Championship.[5] This season, in which he featured in 12 first-class matches, was also his most successful with the bat, with Hodge scoring 509 runs at an average of 26.78.[6] The start of World War II after the 1939 season brought an end to his first-class career.

During the war, Vere-Hodge served in the Royal Air Force, with him holding the rank of flight lieutenant by February 1942.[2] In the final months of the war, Vere-Hodge was by then a part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.[7] After the war, he played for the Royal Air Force cricket team against the Army at Lord's Cricket Ground, in a match which did not have first-class status.[8] He died in Salisbury, Wiltshire on 7 December 2005.[1]