Richard Peter Hammond-Chambers-Borgnis, who died in France on May 28 aged 90, was a right-hand batsman and fast-medium bowler whose one-match first-class career was among the most remarkable of all time. Playing for the Combined Services against the 1937 New Zealand tourists at Portsmouth, Borgnis, a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, came in with the score at 18 for 4 and proceeded to notch 101 in 150 minutes with a mixture of sound defence and judicious hitting, and such was his confidence that he moved to 99 by sweeping H.G. Vivian for a leg-side six. Borgnis' runs came out of 180. In the second innings he was joint top-scorer with 23 in a total of 148. In the New Zealand first innings of 189 Borgnis opened the bowling and finished with the best figures of 3 for 38. Unfortunately he seemed to tire, bowling only seven overs for 19 runs in the second innings as the tourists won by nine wickets, but many years later Borgnis was to describe the game as that match about which every cricketer dreams. Borgnis, who was related to H.D.G. Leveson-Gower, played for Berkshire in 1931 but war and indifferent health saw him play little cricket after his dream game.
Robert Brooke, The Cricketer