View source for John Buchanan (English cricketer)

{{Short description|South African-born English cricketer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox cricketer
|          name =
|             country = England
|            fullname =	John Nevile Buchanan
|            nickname =
|          birth_date = {{Birth date|1887|5|30|df=yes}}
|        birth_place = [[Grahamstown]], [[Cape Colony]]
|          death_date = {{Death date and age|1969|10|31|1887|5|30|df=yes}}
|        death_place = [[St John's Wood]], [[London]], [[England]]
|            heightft =
|          heightinch =
|             heightm =
|             batting = Right-handed
|             bowling = Right-arm [[Seam bowling|medium-fast]]
|                role =
|              family = [[Edward Leigh (cricketer, born 1913)|Edward Leigh]] (nephew)
|               club1 = [[Buckinghamshire County Cricket Club|Buckinghamshire]]
|               year1 = 1925–1927
|         clubnumber1 =
|               club2 = [[Marylebone Cricket Club]]
|               year2 = 1910
|         clubnumber2 =
|               club3 = [[Cambridge University Cricket Club|Cambridge University]]
|               year3 = 1906–1909
|         clubnumber3 =
|             columns = 1
|             column1 = [[First-class cricket|First-class]]
|            matches1 = 34
|               runs1 = 1,536
|            bat avg1 = 26.48
|           100s/50s1 = 4/5
|          top score1 = 118
|         deliveries1 = 1,889
|            wickets1 = 26
|           bowl avg1 = 42.07
|            fivefor1 = –
|             tenfor1 = –
|       best bowling1 = 4/56
|  catches/stumpings1 = 45/–
|                date = 14 August
|                year = 2011
|              source = http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/10114.html Cricinfo
}}
'''John Nevile Buchanan''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|DSO|MC}} (30 May 1887 – 31 October 1969) was a [[South African people|South African]] born English [[cricket]]er.  Buchanan was a right-handed [[Batsman (cricket)|batsman]] who bowled right-arm [[Seam bowling|medium-fast]].  He was born in [[Grahamstown]], [[Cape Colony]] and educated at [[Charterhouse School]] in [[England]], where he played for and captained the school cricket team,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/28/28254/all_teams.html|title=Teams John Buchanan played for|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=14 August 2011}}</ref> before undertaking studies at [[Cambridge University]].  He later served in [[World War I]], becoming by war's end a highly decorated officer.
==Cricket career==
Buchanan made his [[first-class cricket|first-class]] debut for [[Cambridge University Cricket Club|Cambridge University]] against [[Yorkshire County Cricket Club|Yorkshire]] in 1906. He made 30 further first-class appearances for the university, the last of which came against [[Oxford University Cricket Club|Oxford University]] in 1909.<ref name="FCM">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/28/28254/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Claude Taylor|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=14 August 2011}}</ref> In 31 first-class appearances for the university, he scored 1,484 runs at an [[batting average (cricket)|average]] of 28.00, making 5 [[half century|half centuries]] and 4 [[century (cricket)|centuries]], with a top score of 118.<ref name="FCBAT">{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/28/28254/f_Batting_by_Team.html|title=First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by John Buchanan|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=14 August 2011}}</ref> This score came against [[Northamptonshire County Cricket Club|Northamptonshire]] in 1906.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/6/6978.html|title=Cambridge University v Northamptonshire, 1906|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=14 August 2011}}</ref> As a bowler, Buchanan took 26 wickets at a [[bowling average]] of 41.11, with best figures of 4/56.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/28/28254/f_Bowling_by_Team.html|title=First-class Bowling For Each Team by John Buchanan|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=14 August 2011}}</ref>
Following his studies, he made a single first-class appearance for the [[Marylebone Cricket Club]] against Oxford University in 1910.<ref name="FCM"/> In this match, he scored 5 runs in the MCC first-innings, before being dismissed by [[Frank Tuff]], while in their second-innings he was dismissed for a [[duck (cricket)|duck]] by [[Philip Le Couteur]], in a match which the Oxford University v Marylebone Cricket Club won by 259 runs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/8/8155.html|title=Oxford University v Marylebone Cricket Club, 1910|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=14 August 2011}}</ref> Four years later he played his first first-class match for the [[Free Foresters Cricket Club|Free Foresters]] against Oxford University, with his second and final first-class appearance for the Free Foresters coming after [[World War I]], against Cambridge University in 1921.<ref name="FCM"/> He later played for [[Buckinghamshire County Cricket Club|Buckinghamshire]] as an opening batsman, making his debut for the county in the 1925 [[Minor Counties Championship]] against the [[Kent County Cricket Club|Kent Second XI]].  He played [[Minor counties of English and Welsh cricket|Minor counties]] cricket for Buckinghamshire from 1925 to 1927, making 8 Minor Counties Championship appearances.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/28/28254/Minor_Counties_Championship_Matches.html|title=Minor Counties Championship Matches played by John Buchanan|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=14 August 2011}}</ref>
==Military career==
With the start of [[World War I]] in 1914, Buchanan was joined up with the [[Grenadier Guards]] as a [[second lieutenant]] in August of that year.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=28886 |date=1 September 1914 |page=6904 }}</ref> In September 1917 he was still serving in the Grenadier Guards, by this time he held the full rank of [[lieutenant]] and the temporary rank of acting captain,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=29946 |date=13 February 1917 |supp=y |page=1625 }}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30744 |date=11 June 1918 |supp=y |page=7024 }}</ref> it was in this month that he was mentioned in dispatches in the ''[[London Gazette]]'' as having been awarded the [[Military Cross]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30308 |date=25 September 1917 |supp=y |page=9973 }}</ref>
{{quote|text=For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during an attack. He led his company with great skill and determination, capturing two enemy strong points, together with two machine guns, seven officers, and about sixty men. The success of the action on this part of the field was entirely due to his fine leadership, and his men were greatly encouraged by his personal example and admirable coolness under fire.|sign=[[London Gazette]], 9 January 1918, reporting on the rationale behind his Military Cross|source=<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30466 |date=9 January 1918 |supp=y |page=591 }}</ref>}}
In June 1919, Buchanan was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31370 |date=30 May 1919 |page=6817 }}</ref> By 1919, he held the temporary rank of [[Major (United Kingdom)|major]], but later relinquished his appointment on 2 April 1919.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31400 |date=10 June 1919 |supp=y |page=7535 }}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=31752 |date=23 January 1920 |supp=y |page=1055 }}</ref>
==Personal life==
Buchanan spent part of his life living in the Buckinghamshire village of [[Bledlow Ridge]] for some time.  He married Nancy Isabel Bevan, and together they had four children:  John David Buchanan MBE (headmaster of [[Oakham School]], 1958–1977); Mary Elizabeth Ward, née Buchanan; Peter Alexander Buchanan; and Arthur Geoffrey Buchanan (who died fighting in North Africa, 1943).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.geni.com/people/John-Buchanan/6000000002898011269|title=John Neville Buchanan, M.C. D.S.O|publisher=geni.com|accessdate=8 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thepeerage.com/p6220.htm|title=Profile: John Buchanan|publisher=thepeerage.com|accessdate=14 August 2011}}</ref> Buchanan died in [[St John's Wood]], [[London]] on 31 October 1969.  He was the nephew of [[Edward Leigh (cricketer, born 1913)|Edward Leigh]].
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/10114.html John Buchanan] at [[ESPNcricinfo]]
*[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/28/28254/28254.html John Buchanan] at CricketArchive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchanan, John Nevile}}
[[Category:1887 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at Charterhouse School]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:English cricketers]]
[[Category:Cambridge University cricketers]]
[[Category:Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers]]
[[Category:Free Foresters cricketers]]
[[Category:Buckinghamshire cricketers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Grenadier Guards officers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order]]
[[Category:Military personnel from the Eastern Cape]]
[[Category:Cape Colony emigrants to the United Kingdom]]