David Deshon

David Peter Tower Deshon (19 June 1923 – 18 January 1992) was a successful school cricketer whose later progress in first-class cricket was limited by his career as a full-time officer in the Royal Artillery. He was born at Marylebone, London and died suddenly of a heart attack at Heathrow Airport.[1]

David Deshon

Personal information
Full name	David Peter Tower Deshon
Born	19 June 1923 Marylebone, London, England
Died	18 January 1992 (aged 68) Heathrow Airport, London, England
Batting	Right-handed batsman
Role	Batsman
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1947–1953	Somerset
First-class debut	9 July 1947 Somerset v Nottinghamshire
Last First-class	6 June 1953 Somerset v Lancashire
Career statistics
Competition First-class Matches 4 Runs scored 82 Batting average 11.71 100s/50s –/– Top score 21 Balls bowled – Wickets – Bowling average – 5 wickets in innings – 10 wickets in match – Best bowling – Catches/stumpings 1/–
Source: CricketArchive, 23 May 2010

Cricket career

Deshon was a successful schoolboy cricketer at Sherborne School and was selected for the annual Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) schools cricket festival in 1941, where he scored a century and outshone Trevor Bailey in a big partnership.[1] He was a middle-order right-handed batsman.

As an officer in the regular army, his first-class cricket was very restricted. He made four appearances for Somerset, three of them in 1947 and a final one in 1953. His final match was Bertie Buse's infamous benefit match at Bath against Lancashire in 1953, when the entire match was completed in a single day; Deshon's contributions to the debacle were innings of 0 and 9.[2] In all, he scored 82 first-class runs at an average of 11.71, with a highest score of 21. He appeared in non-first-class inter-services cricket, as well as playing for the Royal Artillery.[3]

Military career

On leaving school, Deshon was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Artillery on 24 October 1942.[4] After the Second World War ended, he remained within the Army and was promoted to Lieutenant (1946), Captain (1950) and Major (1957).[5][6][7] He retired from the Royal Artillery with the rank of major in 1958.[8]

References

1. "Obituaries". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1993 ed.). Wisden. p. 1272.
2. "Scorecard: Somerset v Lancashire". www.cricketarchive.com. 6 June 1953. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
3. "David Deshon". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
4. "Supplement to the London Gazette". London Gazette. 24 November 1942. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
5. "Supplement to the London Gazette". London Gazette. 1 October 1946. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
6. "Supplement to the London Gazette". London Gazette. 20 June 1950. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
7. "Supplement to the London Gazette". London Gazette. 14 June 1957. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
8. "Supplement to the London Gazette". London Gazette. 14 October 1958. Retrieved 23 May 2010.