Gerald Hough

Captain Gerald de Lisle Hough (14 May 1894 – 29 September 1959) was an English amateur cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club. He served in the Royal West Kent Regiment during World War I and worked as Manager and Secretary of Kent between 1933 and 1949. As of 2017, he is one of only three Kent players to have taken a wicket with his first ball in first-class cricket.

Early life Hough was born at Brompton in London in 1894, the second son of Alfred and Mildred Hough. His father was born in British India and had been a colonial administrator with the British Burma Commission and in Karachi. He taught Burmese at University College London.

Hough was educated at Winchester College where he was in the school cricket XI between 1911 and 1913, captaining the team in his final year. He also played association football for Winchester.

On returning to France in July 1916, Hough joined the 6th Battalion of the RWK at Vauchelles. He was wounded by artillery fire in August, a day after moving into the front line, and spent the remainder of the war in the UK. and as Assistant Provost marshal in Cambridge and Bovington, ending the war with the rank of Captain. He was Mentioned in Dispatches for his work on the home front and resigned his commission in September 1921, retaining the rank of captain. He made his first-class cricket debut in May 1919 for Lionel Robinson's XI against the Australian Imperial Force Touring XI at Old Buckenham Hall in Norfolk, scoring 30 not out and 87 not out in the match. Seven Kent players were on the same team, including Lionel Troughton the Kent captain, and Hough was invited to play for the county the following month, qualifying through his regimental connections with the RWK. His war wounds restricted his bowling action and he only bowled seven overs of off-spin in his first-class career, all in this match. He played twice for Kent's Second XI in the Minor Counties Championship – once in 1920 and once in 1934 – and played in other matches for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) as well as club cricket for Free Foresters and Band of Brothers.

Later life After working as a teacher at Bradfield College for ten years, Hough took over the position of Manager at Kent in 1933 following the death of Lionel Troughton. From 1935 he combined this with the role of Secretary, working in these capacities for the club until 1949 when he was forced to retire due to ill-health. In his final years working at the club he was largely responsible for the installation of new wrought iron gates at the entrance to the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury as a memorial to the club players who died during World War II. Hough died in hospital at Canterbury in 1959 aged 65.