Tom Enthoven

Henry Enthoven, who died at his home in London on June 29, aged 72, had a distinguished career for Harrow, Cambridge, Middlesex and the Gentlemen. After four years in the Harrow XI in which he twice played a big part in bowling out Eton, he got his blue as a Freshman in 1923 and in 1924 caused some surprise by making 104 at Lord's, a performance far in advance of anything he had done before. When on the other hand he followed this next year with 129, thus becoming the second player to make a hundred twice in the University match, there was no surprise. That year he topped the Cambridge batting with 779 runs at an average of 51.93, was second in the bowling with 50 wickets at 22.14 and was one of four Cambridge players picked for the Gentlemen at Lord's.

As Captain of Cambridge in 1926, he made 51 and 23 and took in the two innings six for 79, thus having a considerable share in his side's victory by 34 runs. Playing again for the Gentlemen, he finished the first innings of the Players by doing the hat-trick--the first Gentleman ever to perform this feat at Lord's in the long history of the match.

For Middlesex he played frequently, though never regularly, from 1925 to 1936, and in 1933 and 1934 shared the captaincy with Nigel Haig. Among many good performances three stood out. In 1927 Middlesex, faced with a total of 413, were in grave trouble against Lancashire at Lord's: Macdonald was then probably the most dangerous bowler in the world, eight wickets were down for 209 and Enthoven had reached a brave but rather unconvincing 50 in two hours and twenty-five minutes. At this point he started to attack, adding 89 out of 110 in fifty-five minutes and dealing especially severely with Macdonald. As Nigel Haig wrote years afterwards, `Better hitting a high-class fast bowling can rarely, if ever, have been seen'. In 1930 he scored a hundred in each innings against Sussex at Lord's: in the first innings the last wicket put on 107 in seventy-five minutes of which his share was 102. Finally in 1934 he did the hat-trick against the Australians.

He never had the style or elegance of the typical Public School and University batsman of his time, but he was a courageous player with a strong defence, who took full toll of anything loose and when he was set could disrupt any bowling. An accurate medium-paced bowler who moved the ball chiefly from the off, he opened the bowling for Cambridge in his last two years, but in county cricket was used simply as a change. By profession he was a stockbroker.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack