Frank Tuff

Frank Tuff
Personal information
Full name
Frank Noel Tuff
Born26 November 1889
Rochester, Kent, England
Died5 November 1915(1915-11-05) (aged 25)
Imtarfa, Malta
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium-fast
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1910–1911Oxford University
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 11
Runs scored 188
Batting average 14.46
100s/50s –/–
Top score 35
Balls bowled 1,359
Wickets 25
Bowling average 26.80
5 wickets in innings 2
10 wickets in match
Best bowling 7/47
Catches/stumpings 6/–
Source: Cricinfo, 2 June 2019

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.

Life, cricket and WWI service

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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

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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.
  2. ^ a b c d "First-Class Matches played by Frank Tuff". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  3. ^ "First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Frank Tuff". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  4. ^ "First-class Bowling For Each Team by Frank Tuff". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Army and Navy v Oxford and Cambridge Universities, 1910". CricketArchive. Retrieved 2 June 2019.
  6. ^ "No. 29192". The London Gazette (Supplement). 11 June 1915. p. 5738.
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