View source for Dudley Pontifex

{{short description|English cricketer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2016}}
{{Infobox cricketer
|                name = Dudley Pontifex
|               image =
|             country = England
|            fullname = Dudley David Pontifex
|          birth_date = {{Birth date|1855|2|12|df=yes}}
|        birth_place = [[Weston, Bath|Weston]], [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], [[Somerset]], England
|          death_date = {{Death date and age|1934|9|27|1855|2|12|df=yes}}
|        death_place = [[West Dulwich]], London, England
|             batting = Right-handed
|             bowling =
|                role = Batsman
|               club1 = [[Surrey County Cricket Club|Surrey]]
|               year1 = 1881
|               club2 = [[Somerset County Cricket Club|Somerset]]
|               year2 = 1882
|               club3 = [[Marylebone Cricket Club|MCC]]
|               year3 = {{nowrap|1883–1896}}
|               type1 = [[First-class cricket|FC]]
|          debutdate1 = 3 June
|          debutyear1 = 1878
|           debutfor1 = [[Gentlemen v Players|Gentlemen of England]]
|       debutagainst1 = [[Oxford University Cricket Club|Oxford University]]
|           lastdate1 = 19 May
|           lastyear1 = 1896
|            lastfor1 = MCC
|        lastagainst1 = [[Essex County Cricket Club|Essex]]
|             columns = 1
|             column1 = [[First-class cricket|First-class]]
|            matches1 = 17
|               runs1 = 357
|            bat avg1 = 13.73
|           100s/50s1 = 0/1
|          top score1 = 89
|         deliveries1 = 13
|            wickets1 = 0
|           bowl avg1 = –
|            fivefor1 = –
|             tenfor1 = –
|       best bowling1 = –
|  catches/stumpings1 = 3/–
|                date = 11 July
|                year = 2011
|              source = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3761/3761.html CricketArchive
}}
'''Dudley David Pontifex''' (12 February 1855 &ndash; 27 September 1934) was an English [[cricket]]er who played [[first-class cricket]] for [[Surrey County Cricket Club|Surrey]], [[Somerset County Cricket Club|Somerset]] and the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]], plus other amateur sides, between 1878 and 1896.<ref name="prof">{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/3/3761/3761.html| title = Dudley Pontifex | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 2011-07-04}}</ref> He was born at [[Weston, Bath|Weston]], [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], [[Somerset]], and died at [[West Dulwich]], [[London]].
Pontifex was a right-handed middle-order or opening batsman. Educated in Bath, he appeared in a [[freshman|freshmen]]'s trial match at [[Cambridge University Cricket Club|Cambridge University]] but failed to make the first team; he did, however, win a [[university sporting blue|Blue]] for [[billiards]].<ref>{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Articles/1/1240.html| title = Brief profile of D.D. Pontifex | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 2011-07-07}}</ref>
Appearing in minor cricket for amateur sides in Somerset and for Somerset County Cricket Club in non-first-class matches from 1877, Pontifex made his first-class cricket debut in 1878 against [[Oxford University Cricket Club|Oxford University]] for a Gentlemen of England side, and was successful neither in that nor in the South v North match that followed.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/2/2178.html| title = Scorecard: Oxford University v Gentlemen of England| date = 1878-06-03 | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 2011-07-07}}</ref> After university, Pontifex moved to London to qualify as a lawyer and in 1881 he appeared fairly regularly in first-class matches for Surrey. In the match against [[Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club|Nottinghamshire]] at [[The Oval]], he opened the batting and scored 89; this was his only score of more than 50 in first-class cricket.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/2/2488.html| title = Scorecard: Surrey v Nottinghamshire | date = 1881-07-21 | publisher = www.cricketarchive.com | accessdate = 2011-07-07}}</ref> This was his only season of regular cricket. In 1882, he made a single first-class appearance in Somerset's debut season as a first-class team. He then played for MCC irregularly, and only very occasionally in first-class matches, over the next 14 seasons until his final first-class match in 1896.
His obituary in ''[[The Times]]'' in 1934 stated that after the age of 45 he took up golf and "became a scratch player"; he was also known as a [[real tennis]] and [[billiards]] player.<ref>{{cite news| title = Obituaries: Mr D. D. Pontifex | newspaper = The Times |issue = 46874 | page = 19 | location = London | date = 2 October 1934 }}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pontifex, Dudley}}
[[Category:1855 births]]
[[Category:1934 deaths]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:Surrey cricketers]]
[[Category:Somerset cricketers]]
[[Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers]]
[[Category:Gentlemen of England cricketers]]
[[Category:North v South cricketers]]
[[Category:Cricketers from Bath, Somerset]]