{{Short description|English cricketer and educator}} {{EngvarB|date=August 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = | country = England | fullname = Merrick Beaufoy Elderton | nickname = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1884|2|21|df=yes}} | birth_place = Brentford, Middlesex, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|1939|12|11|1884|2|21|df=yes}} | death_place = Sherborne, Dorset, England | heightft = | heightinch = | heightm = | batting = Right-handed | bowling = | role = Wicket-keeper | family = | club1 = Minor Counties | year1 = 1931 | clubnumber1 = | club2 = Dorset | year2 = 1921–1938 | clubnumber2 = | club3 = Cambridge University | year3 = 1907 | clubnumber3 = | columns = 1 | column1 = First-class | matches1 = 5 | runs1 = 74 | bat avg1 = 12.33 | 100s/50s1 = –/– | top score1 = 24 | deliveries1 = – | wickets1 = – | bowl avg1 = – | fivefor1 = – | tenfor1 = – | best bowling1 = – | catches/stumpings1 = 4/5 | date = 21 November | year = 2011 | source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/12636.html Cricinfo }}
'''the Merrick Beaufoy Elderton''' MBE (21 February 1884 – 11 December 1939) was an English cricketer and educator. Elderton was a right-handed batsman who fielded as a wicket-keeper. He was born in Brentford, Middlesex.
Elderton was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood and later attended Clare College, Cambridge.<ref name="PRO">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/29/29249/29249.html|title=Player profile: Merrick Elderton|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref> While attending Clare College, Elderton made his debut in first-class cricket for Cambridge University against Lancashire in 1907. He made a further first-class appearances for the university in that season, against Yorkshire. His two appearances had limited success, with him scoring 17 runs at an average of 5.66, with a high score of 9, while behind the stumps he took 3 catches and made 3 stumpings.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/29/29249/f_Batting_by_Team.html|title=First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Merrick Elderton|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref> He also played for the Gentlemen of England against Cambridge University in 1907.<ref name="FCM">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/29/29249/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Merrick Elderton|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref> He graduated from Cambridge in 1907, and in that same year he took up a teaching position with Sherborne School in Dorset, remaining there for the rest of his life apart from a period of war service. He taught Alan Turing there.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://alexbellos.com/?p=1674|title=Turing's school reports}}</ref>
thumb|left|Elderton taught at Sherborne School from 1907 to 1939 Elderton served during World War I with the Royal Garrison Artillery, entering service in 1915. By July 1917, he hed been promoted from 2nd Lieutenant to Lieutenant.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30517 |date=8 February 1918 |supp=y |page=1881 }}</ref> Later in September 1917 he was promoted to Acting Captain.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30366 |date=2 November 1917 |supp=y |page=11419 }}</ref> He left the army in November 1918.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31144 |date=24 January 1919 |supp=y |page=1321 }}</ref> Following the war, Elderton first appeared for Dorset in the Minor Counties Championship, making his debut for the county against Devon in 1921. In 1927, some twenty years after his last appearance in first-class cricket, he played a first-class match for the West against the touring New Zealanders at the County Ground, Exeter. In this match, Elderton scored 20 runs in the West's first-innings, before being dismissed by Tom Lowry.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/12/12433.html|title=West v New Zealanders, 1927|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref> His final first-class appearance came for the Minor Counties against the touring New Zealanders in 1931.<ref name="FCM"/> In this match, he scored 13 runs in the Minor Counties first innings, before being dismissed by Cyril Allcott, while in the second innings he was not required to bat.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/13/13900.html|title=Minor Counties v New Zealanders, 1931|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref> He continued to play Minor counties cricket for Dorset until 1938, making between 1921 and then, 134 Minor Counties Championship appearances.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/29/29249/Minor_Counties_Championship_Matches.html|title=Minor Counties Championship Matches played by Merrick Elderton|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=21 November 2011}}</ref>
He continued to teach at Sherborne School until his death on 11 December 1939.<ref name="PRO"/> He died after being in collision with a cyclist while walking near his home in Sherborne.<ref>{{cite news| title = Obituary: Mr M. B. Elderton| newspaper = The Times |issue = 48486 | page = 11 | location = London | date = 12 December 1939 }}</ref> The cyclist was a boy named Alfred William Hatcher. Elderton had stepped on the road from the pavement and emerged from a behind a car when the cycle struck him on the right side. He fell face first on the road and died from a fracture of the skull and laceration of the brain.<ref name="death1">{{cite news |title=Death of Mr M.B.Elderton|work=Western Gazette|date=15 December 1939|accessdate=19 March 2015 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000407/19391215/011/0003| via = British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/12636.html Merrick Elderton] at ESPNcricinfo *[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/29/29249/29249.html Merrick Elderton] at CricketArchive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elderton, Merrick}} Category:1884 births Category:1939 deaths Category:People from Brentford Category:Cricketers from the London Borough of Hounslow Category:People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Category:Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Category:English cricketers Category:Cambridge University cricketers Category:Dorset cricketers Category:Minor Counties cricketers Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:Royal Artillery officers Category:Schoolteachers from London Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:West of England cricketers Category:Gentlemen of England cricketers Category:Wicket-keepers Category:20th-century English sportsmen