Frank Tuff
Frank Noel Tuff (26 November 1889 – 5 November 1915) was an English first-class cricketer. The son of a Conservative Party Member of Parliament, Tuff played first-class cricket for Oxford University and the Free Foresters, before serving in the First World War, in which he was killed from wounds sustained during a bomb accident while taking part in the Gallipoli Campaign.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Frank Noel Tuff | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 26 November 1889 Rochester, Kent, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 5 November 1915 (aged 25) Imtarfa, Malta | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm medium-fast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1910–1911 | Oxford University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 2 June 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Life, cricket and WWI service
Tuff was born at Rochester, Kent in November 1889, the son of Charles Tuff and his wife, Mary Ann Tuff.[1] He was educated at the Abbey School in Beckenham, before going up to Malvern College, where he played for the college cricket team for three years.[1] From Malvern he went up to Brasenose College, Oxford, where he studied law.[1] While studying at Oxford he made his debut in first-class cricket for Oxford University against the Gentlemen of England at Oxford in 1910.[2] He made eight further first-class appearances for Oxford University across the 1910 and 1911 seasons,[2] scoring 128 runs with a high score of 34 not out,[3] while with his right-arm medium-fast bowling he took 18 wickets at an average of 30.55, with best figures of 5 for 28.[4] Tuff also represented the combined Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricket team in a first-class match against a combined Army and Navy cricket team at Aldershot in 1910,[2] in which he also took a five wicket haul with figures of 7 for 47 in the Army and Navy first-innings.[5] He gained a blue in 1910.[1] In addition to playing cricket for the university, he also played football for Oxford University A.F.C. and Corinthians.[1] He married Muriel Mary Smith in 1912.[1] He made a final appearance in first-class cricket for the Free Foresters against Oxford University in 1914.[2]
Tuff served in the British Army during World War I, enlisting with the Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles as a Second Lieutenant in June 1915.[6] He saw action during the Gallipoli Campaign and was seriously wounded in a bomb accident at Cape Helles. He was evacuated to Malta, where he died from his wounds on 5 November 1915.[1] He was buried at the Pietà Military Cemetery.[1]
References
- McCrery, Nigel (30 July 2015). Final Wicket: Test and First Class Cricketers Killed in the Great War. Pen and Sword. p. 168. ISBN 978-1473864191.
- "First-Class Matches played by Frank Tuff". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
- "First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Frank Tuff". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
- "First-class Bowling For Each Team by Frank Tuff". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
- "Army and Navy v Oxford and Cambridge Universities, 1910". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
- "No. 29192". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 1915. p. 5738.