Major Booth

Major William Booth (10 December 1886 – 1 July 1916) was a cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1908 and 1914, a season in which he was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.

Note that "Major" was a given name, not a military rank. His international career was restricted to the 1913–14 tour of South Africa, which was the last Test match tour before the First World War. After receiving a commission in the West Yorkshire Regiment, Booth became Second Lieutenant Major Booth, and died just under a year later. Having gone 'over the top' on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Somme offensive near Serre, he was severely wounded. He was taken into a crater where in his dying moments he was held by Abe Waddington, who survived the war and went on to play for Yorkshire and England himself. After his death his sister would light a candle in his room every night in the hope that he would return.

Cricket career Booth's earliest cricket was played at Fulneck School, and later he was associated with Pudsey St. Lawrence and the Wath Athletic Club, which played in the Mexborough League, and of which he was captain. He appeared regularly for Yorkshire Second Eleven in 1907 and the two following seasons, and in 1908 received his first trial for the county against Somerset at Dewsbury without success. He did not, however, secure a regular place in the team until two years later, but in 1911 he scored 1,125 runs for his county and took seventy-four wickets, with a highest innings of 210 against Worcestershire on the Worcester ground. Booth increased his reputation as a bowler in the following summer, and in 1913 made over a thousand runs and took 158 wickets for Yorkshire, whilst his aggregate of 181 wickets in first-class matches was the highest of any bowler that season. In 1914 he was not so successful in batting – it was said during the 1913 season that he should concentrate on bowling as his build was not ideal for hard work

Notable feats His best feats with the ball may be summarised thus:

Army service In the First World War Booth joined the British Army as an enlisted man and rose to the rank of sergeant before being commissioned as a second lieutenant on 16 July 1915. Later that year he was posted to Egypt, arriving on 22 December 1915,