James Cassels (British Army Officer) - Cricket Career

Cricket Career

A right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium/Off spin bowler, he played first-class cricket between 1928 and 1935 and also represented the Egyptian national team.

His first recorded match came in 1921 when he played for his school team against Marlborough College at Lord's. His first-class debut was in 1928 when he played for the Europeans against the Hindus in the Lahore Tournament, a tournament similar to the more famous Bombay Quadrangular Tournament but played in Lahore, then a part of India. He played for a Punjab Governor's XI against Northern India team in his second first-class match later that month, also in Lahore. He took 6/51 in the second innings of that match, his best innings bowling performance in first-class cricket.

He played his next first-class match in Delhi in February 1932, playing for a Viceroy's XI against the Roshanara Club. He played his first first-class match in England that June, playing for the British Army cricket team against the RAF at The Oval, making his highest first-class score of 72. The following year he played for the Egyptian national side against HM Martineau's XI in Alexandria, taking five wickets in the second innings of the visitors.

He played his final first-class match in the 1935 English season, playing for the Army against Cambridge University. He continued to play cricket at a lower level, playing for Delhi against Lord Tennyson's XI in 1938. After the war, he played twice for the Army against the Royal Navy, in 1948 and 1949, and against Cambridge University in 1949.