England
1915-04-04
Andrew Ernest Stoddart, the only man to captain England at both cricket and rugby union and twice an Ashes-winning skipper in the 1890s, shot himself at his St John's Wood home on 4 April 1915. He was 52. His suicide was reported sympathetically in the press and quietly recorded by the inquest as the act of a man in poor health and worse spirits.
Australia and England
1914-07-30
Albert Trott, the only batsman ever to hit a ball over the Lord's pavilion and a Test cricketer for both Australia and England, shot himself at his Willesden Green lodgings on 30 July 1914 — five days before Britain entered the war. He was 41, ill, in debt, and had left a hand-written will on the back of a laundry bill bequeathing his wardrobe to his landlady.
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.