Robert Harris, 4th Baron Harris
| Missing image Lord HarrisEngland_flag_large.png English Flag England (Eng) | ||
| Missing image Cricket_no_pic.png Lord Harris | ||
| Batting style | Right-handed batsman (RHB) | |
| Bowling type | n/a | |
| Tests | First-class | |
| Matches | 4 | 224 |
| Runs scored | 145 | 9990 |
| Batting average | 29.0 | 26.85 |
| 100s/50s | 0/1 | 11/55 |
| Top score | 52 | 176 |
| Balls bowled | 32 | 3446 |
| Wickets | 0 | 75 |
| Bowling average | n/a | 23.44 |
| 5 wickets in innings | 0 | 1 |
| 10 wickets in match | 0 | 0 |
| Best bowling | n/a | 5/57 |
| Catches/Stumpings | 2/0 | 190/0 |
| Test debut: 2 January, 1879 Last Test: 13 August, 1884 Source: [1] Edit this template | ||
Robert George Canning Harris, 4th Baron Harris (born St Anne's, Trinidad 3 February 1851, died 24 March 1932), better known as just Lord Harris was a British politician and cricket player. He succeeded to his title in 1872, before which he was known as the Hon. George Harris.
He was born in Trinidad when his father, George Harris, 3rd Baron Harris, was serving as Governor there, then moved to Madras when his father was posted to the governorship there. At the age of 13, the young Harris was sent to Eton to finish his education.
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Cricket Career
Lord Harris was the second-ever captain of the English cricket team. He also played for Kent and Oxford University. He won two of his four Tests as English captain, losing one and drawing the other.
In 1878-1879, Harris led a touring England side to Australia. They played one Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground – the third Test ever played. Australia, led by Dave Gregory, won by 10 wickets. Later in the tour, a match against New South Wales led to the Sydney Riot of 1879 when an umpire employed by the English team made a decision against the locals.
Harris led England against Australia on three further occasions:
- 1880 at The Oval – England won by 5 wickets.
- 1884 at Lord's – England win by an innings and 5 runs.
- 1884 at The Oval – Drawn.
Following his political career, he also served as president of the Marylebone Cricket Club, and later the International Cricket Council.
Political Career
Lord Harris served in the House of Lords as Under-Secretary of State for India from 25 June, 1885, then as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for War from 4 August, 1886 to 1890 in the Conservative Government.
He served as Governor of the Presidency of Bombay in British India from 1890 to 1894. His appointment was not universally well regarded, with one anonymous writer penning a poem expressing the hope that Bombay would not suffer too greatly from Harris' political inexperience.
His governorship was notable mainly for his enthusiastic pursual of the sport of cricket amongst his fellow Europeans in the colony, at the expense of connecting with the native population. When the interracial Bombay riots of 1893 broke out, Harris was out of the city at Ganeshkind enjoying cricket matches. He returned to Bombay only on the ninth day of rioting, and then primarily to attend a cricket match there.
Many later writers credited Harris with almost single-handedly introducing and developing the sport in India. The game was, however, well established among the natives before his arrival. Furthermore, in 1890, he rejected a petition signed by over 1,000 locals to relocate European polo players to another ground so that the locals could use the area for cricket matches. It was only in 1892 that he granted a parcel of land to the newly formed Mahomedan Gymkhana for a cricket field, adjacent to land already used by the Parsi Gymkhana. His reluctance to do so is evident in his written comment:
- I don't see how we can refuse these applicants; but I will steadfastly refuse any more grants once a Gymkhana has been established under respectable auspices by each nationality, and tell applicants that ground having been set apart for their nationality they are free to take advantage of it by joining that particular club.
When Harris left India, a publisher circulated a collection of newspaper extracts from his time as governor. The introduction stated:
- Never during the last hundred years has a Governor of Bombay been so sternly criticised and never has he met with such widespread unpopularity on account of his administration as Lord Harris.
On his return to England, Harris again served in the Conservative Government, as a Lord in Waiting, from 16 July, 1895 to 4 December, 1900.
Memorial_Stone_to_Lord_Harris_in_the_Harris_Garden_at_Lord's.JPG
| Preceded by: James Lillywhite | English national cricket captain 1878/9-1880 | Succeeded by: Alfred Shaw |
| Preceded by: Honourable Ivo Bligh | English national cricket captain 1884 | Succeeded by: Arthur Shrewsbury |
| Preceded by: George Harris | Baron Harris | Succeeded by: George Harris |
See also
Reference
- A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport, Ramachandra Guha, Picador, 2002.