#cricket tragedy

2 incidents tagged

Arthur Shrewsbury's Suicide — 'Give Me Arthur' Shoots Himself in Gedling, May 1903

Nottinghamshire, England

1903-05-19

Arthur Shrewsbury, the Nottinghamshire opener whom W.G. Grace called the only contemporary he would 'rather have in my side', shot himself at his sister's home in Gedling on 19 May 1903 aged 47. Convinced he was incurably ill — though doctors had repeatedly told him otherwise — he had bought a revolver in mid-April and shot himself first in the chest, then in the head when the first wound proved non-fatal. The Notts side at Hove abandoned their match the next morning.

#arthur-shrewsbury#1903#suicide

🥊Serious

George Lohmann's South African Exile — The Best Bowler in the World Goes Home to Die, 1897

Surrey, Western Province

1897-09-15

In 1897, George Lohmann — Test cricket's most efficient bowler ever, with 112 wickets at 10.75 — moved permanently to the British Cape Colony. He had been diagnosed with tuberculosis in late 1892 and had survived through annual winters in South Africa; the disease had progressively worsened. He played one full first-class season for Western Province in 1897-98, returned to England in 1901 to manage a South African tour, and died at Matjiesfontein on 1 December 1901 aged 36. His Test bowling average remains the lowest in cricket history.

#george-lohmann#1897#tuberculosis