{{short description|English cricketer and British Army officer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = | image = | country = England | fullname = George Arthur Murray Docker | birth_date = 18 May 1876 | birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|1914|11|17|1876|5|18|df=yes}} | death_place = Touquet, Hainaut, Belgium | nickname = | family = Joseph Docker (grandfather)<br>Arthur Docker (father)<br>Ernest Docker (uncle)<br>Cyril Docker (cousin)<br>Keith Docker (cousin)<br>Phillip Docker (cousin) | batting = Right-handed | bowling = Right-arm fast | role = | club1 = Marylebone Cricket Club | year1 = 1911&ndash;1914 | columns = 1 | column1 = First-class | matches1 = 11 | runs1 = 185 | bat avg1 = 11.56 | 100s/50s1 = –/– | top score1 = 36* | deliveries1 = 210 | wickets1 = 5 | bowl avg1 = 33.80 | fivefor1 = – | tenfor1 = – | best bowling1 = 2/66 | catches/stumpings1 = 3/– | date = 20 April | year = 2021 | source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/12203.html Cricinfo }}

'''George Arthur Murray Docker''' (18 November 1876 – 17 November 1914) was an Australian-born English first-class cricketer, British Army officer and barrister.

The son of Arthur and Florence Lucy Docker, he was born at Sydney in November 1876. Emigrating to England with his family, he was educated at Highgate School, before going up to Oriel College, Oxford to read law.<ref name="BOOK">{{cite book|last=McCrery|first=Nigel|title=Final Wicket: Test and First Class Cricketers Killed in the Great War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6mphCgAAQBAJ|date=30 July 2015|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1473864191|page=43-4}}</ref> However, he was unable to complete his studies as Docker volunteered for military service in the Second Boer War with the King's Own Royal Regiment, being commissioned as a second lieutenant in January 1900.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27154|date=16 January 1900|page=291}}</ref> He commanded a section of mounted infantry at The Battle of Zand River in June 1900, in addition to taking part in the actions at Ladybrand in September 1900 and the pursuit of Christiaan de Wet in the Orange Free State. Docker transferred to the King's Regiment (Liverpool) in August 1900,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27217|date=3 August 1900|page=4788}}</ref> before being promoted to lieutenant in October 1901, the same year in which he transferred to the Royal Fusiliers.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=27368|date=25 October 1900|page=6919}}</ref><ref name="BOOK"/> He received the Queen's South Africa Medal, with four clasps for his service in South Africa.<ref name="MAS">{{cite web|url=https://www.masonicgreatwarproject.org.uk/legend.php?id=858|title=Captain George Arthur Murray Docker|publisher=www.masonicgreatwarproject.org.uk|access-date=2021-04-20}}</ref> He was invalided home in 1903, after suffering from rheumatic fever.<ref name="BOOK"/> He was appointed in April 1907 as an instructor of military law and administration to F Company at Sandhurst, a position he held until 1911.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28016|date=26 April 1907|page=2813}}</ref><ref name="BOOK"/> While instructing at the college, he was promoted to captain in September 1908.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28199|date=24 November 1908|page=8700}}</ref>

A keen amateur cricketer, Docker was a member of the Free Foresters Cricket Club and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) since 1898, playing first-class cricket for the latter.<ref name="BOOK"/> He made his first-class debut for the MCC in 1911 against Middlesex at Lord's, with Docker making a total of eleven appearances at first-class level for the MCC, including seven during the MCC tour of the West Indies in 1912–13.<ref name="FCM">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/29/29102/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by George Docker|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=2021-04-20|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Docker scored 185 runs across his eleven matches, with a highest score of 36 not out.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/29/29102/f_Batting_by_Team.html|title=First-Class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by George Docker|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=2021-04-20|url-access=subscription}}</ref> With his right-arm fast bowling he took 5 wickets.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/29/29102/f_Bowling_by_Team.html|title=First-Class Bowling For Each Team by George Docker|publisher=CricketArchive|access-date=2021-04-20|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Docker also exceeded as a sportsman in polo and won prizes in both golf and athletics.<ref name="BOOK"/> Having returned to the Royal Fusiliers in September 1911,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28533|date=22 September 1911|page=6950}}</ref> he was seconded to be an adjutant with the Middlesex Regiment in May 1912.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28604|date=3 May 1912|page=3183}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=28607|date=14 May 1912|page=3478}}</ref> He finally completed his legal studies as a member of the Inner Temple and was called to the bar in June 1914.<ref name="MAS"/>

When the First World War began in July 1914, Docker was sent with the Middlesex Regiment to Sittingbourne, where he briefly commanded the 10th Battalion due to illness to the battalion colonel and his second-in-command.<ref name="MAS"/> At the end of October 1914, the battalion were ordered to British India and were aboard their ship and ready to embark when at the last minute Docker was recalled by telegram to join the King's Own Royal Regiment on the Western Front.<ref name="BOOK"/> He left England on 8 November to take part in the First Battle of Ypres, reaching the 1st Battalion, King's Own Royal Regiment on 15 November. Docker entered the trenches the following evening near Touquet in Belgium and was killed in action on the morning of 17 November.<ref name="MAS"/><ref name="BOOK"/> He was survived by his wife and their four children.<ref name="MAS"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{cricinfo|id=12203}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Docker, George}} Category:1876 births Category:1914 deaths Category:Cricketers from Sydney Category:Australian emigrants to England Category:People educated at Highgate School Category:Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Category:King's Own Royal Regiment officers Category:British Army personnel of the Second Boer War Category:King's Regiment (Liverpool) officers Category:English cricketers Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Category:Members of Lincoln's Inn Category:English barristers Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:Royal Fusiliers officers Category:British military personnel killed in World War I Category:Military personnel from Sydney