Hubert Martineau

Hubert Melville Martineau (24 October 1891 – 11 September 1976)^[1] was an English patron of cricket and organiser of his own team.^[2] He also played three first-class matches between 1931 and 1932. When he played, he was a right-handed batsman and left-arm orthodox spin bowler.^[3]

Biography

Born in Westminster in 1891,^[3] the son of Philip Martineau,^[4] Hubert Martineau was educated at Eton, though he did not play for the school's cricket team. He did however develop a great love of the game.^[2]

Club cricket of a high standard was played at his private ground near Maidenhead between 1923 and 1939, and four national sides touring England began their tours playing against his personal XI; Australia in 1926, New Zealand in 1927, the West Indies in 1928 and India in 1932.^[2] Martineau himself played in all those matches with the exception of the 1926 match against Australia.^[5]

In 1927, he went on a tour of Egypt with the Free Foresters, playing two matches against the national side.^[5] He took his own team to the country each year between 1929 and 1939,^[2] and Martineau played in each match.^[5]

He played three first-class matches in the early 1930s, for HDG Leveson-Gower's XI. He played against Oxford University in 1931 and against Cambridge and Oxford University in 1932.^[6] He died in Westminster in 1976.^[3]

References