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Montagu Toller

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Montagu Toller
a black and white sketch of Toller's head and neck
An 1895 sketch of Toller
Personal information
Full name
Montagu Henry Toller
Born(1871-01-01)1 January 1871
Barnstaple, Devon, England
Died5 August 1948(1948-08-05) (aged 77)
Meon Beach, Titchfield, Hampshire, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1889–1895Devon
1897Somerset
FC debut17 May 1897 Somerset v Yorkshire
Last FC26 July 1897 Somerset v Yorkshire
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 6
Runs scored 77
Batting average 7.70
100s/50s 0/0
Top score 17
Balls bowled 25
Wickets 1
Bowling average 15.00
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 1/15
Catches/stumpings 1/–
Source: CricketArchive, 22 December 2015
Medal record
Representing  United Kingdom
Men's Cricket
Gold medal – first place 1900 Paris Olympics Two-day 12-man

Montagu Henry Toller (1 January 1871 – 5 August 1948) was an English cricketer who played for both Devon and Somerset in the late 19th century. He made six first-class appearances for Somerset, all in 1897, but was predominantly a good club cricketer. In 1900, he was part of the Devon Wanderers team that represented Great Britain in the 1900 Summer Olympics, the only time cricket has featured in the Olympics.

Life

Montagu Henry Toller was born in Barnstaple, Devon on 1 January 1871,[1] the son of William Henry Toller.[2] He attended Blundell's School in Tiverton, where he played for both the cricket XI and the rugby XV. Like his father before him, he became a solicitor, but after marrying Harriet Jones in 1901, he assumed joint-management of the Royal & Fortescue Hotel in Barnstaple with his new wife.[1] He took an active role in local politics, and was elected as an independent candidate to both the County and Town Councils.[3][4] He later split from his wife, who maintained management of the hotel, while Toller moved to Brighton where he once again practiced as a solicitor. He died after a short illness in Meon Beach, Titchfield, Hampshire, on 5 August 1948, aged 77.[1][5]

Sporting career

Toller was described in an article about him in the Western Evening Herald as being "an adept" at both rugby and cricket, and was an all-round sportsman who also played tennis, golf and billiards to a respectable level.[6] At cricket, Toller was a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast bowler,[7] with a strong and sturdy physique.[8] He was described by the Somerset cricket historian Stephen Hill as a prominent club cricketer who was a "leading light" for the Devon and Somerset Wanderers.[1] He played second-class cricket for Devon between 1889 and 1895,[9] during which time he was presented with many awards for his bowling and batting performances. During 1895 he was invited to play for W. G. Grace's team towards the end of the season, in which he scored 41 runs in the first innings.[6] He had a successful trial with Somerset in 1897,[10] in which he scored 33 runs for "Sammy Woods' XI",[a][7] and he subsequently made six first-class appearances for the county that season as an amateur.[8] Hill describes his usage for Somerset as strange; in club cricket Toller was best regarded for his fast bowling, and yet he only bowled once for Somerset, taking one wicket for 15 runs against Philadelphia.[1] By the end of the 1897 season, Cricket magazine said that he had "proved an entire failure" for Somerset.[10]

His obituary in the North Devon Journal praised his rugby prowess for Barnstaple RFC, one of the prominent clubs in the south-west at the time. He played as a three-quarter back, and was also capped at county level for Devon,[12][13] for whom he first appeared in 1889. In the 1894–95 season, he achieved the rare feat of scoring three drop goals in one match for Barnstaple. He was offered the captaincy of Barnstaple more than once, but declined it on each occasion.[6]

Olympics

Main article: Cricket at the 1900 Summer Olympics

Toller was a member of the gold medal-winning Great Britain cricket team at the 1900 Summer Olympics,[14] the only time cricket has featured in the Olympics. In the only game, against France, he scored two runs in the Great Britain first innings and did not bat in the second. He took seven wickets, all of them bowled, while conceding only nine runs in the French second innings, helping Great Britain to victory with just five minutes to spare in the match.[15][16]

Notes

  1. ^ Sammy Woods was Somerset's captain from 1894 to 1906.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Hill, Stephen (2016). Somerset Cricketers 1882 – 1914. Wellington, Somerset: Halsgrove. pp. 180–181. ISBN 978-0-85704-291-0.
  2. ^ "Death: Mr W. H. Toller". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 6 January 1923. p. 6 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. ^ "Notices". North Devon Journal. 31 October 1907. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Notices". North Devon Journal. 7 November 1907. p. 1 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ^ "Births, Marriages, Deaths". North Devon Journal. 12 August 1948. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ^ a b "Player profile: Montagu Toller". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  7. ^ a b Foot, David (1986). Sunshine, Sixes and Cider: The History of Somerset Cricket. Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles. p. 70. ISBN 0-7153-8890-8.
  8. ^ "Player profile: Monty Toller". CricketArchive. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  9. ^ a b "First-class cricketers in 1897". Cricket: a weekly record of the game. 28 October 1897. p. 441. Retrieved 3 May 2022 – via Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians.
  10. ^ Roebuck, Peter (1991). From Sammy to Jimmy: The Official History of Somerset County Cricket Club. London: Partridge Press. p. 409. ISBN 185225-0852.
  11. ^ "Death of Mr. M. H. Toller". North Devon Journal. 12 August 1948. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ^ "Monty Toller". North Devon Journal. 19 August 1948. p. 4 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ "Olympians Who Played First-Class Cricket". Olympedia. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  14. ^ Berry, Scyld; Booth, Lawrence (2015). The Shorter Wisden 2011 – 2015. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 406. ISBN 978-1-47292-733-0.
  15. ^ "Final, Vincennes, August 19–20, 1900, Olympics". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
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