Jock Thompson      

RHODESIAN cricket and public affairs generally in that country have considerable cause to regret the death of Jock Thompson on April 11, at the age of 73. He was born in the Cape, but his whole life belonged to Rhodesia. He played cricket for that country between 1927-28 and 1935-36 and captained the team in his last match against Victor Richardson's Australians. He was not only a useful bat but also the regular wicketkeeper, surprisingly for such a tall man. He was also a good enough rugger player to represent Rhodesia at full-back against the 1928 All Blacks and to be chosen for the Trials to select the South African Test team, though he withdrew from these at his own request. On the administrative side he was a vice-president of the Rhodesia Cricket Union and among many benefactions -- for he was a wealthy man -- was a gift of the electrically-operated scoreboard which is used on the Queens Ground, Bulawayo. He was the author of A History of Sport in Southern Rhodesia, published in 1935. In its own way this is as valuable a piece of source material to cricket historians as are the two Luckin volumes for South Africa, though cricket is only one of 19 sports with which he dealt. He served on numerous boards and committees in a voluntary capacity and was the type of person who improved everything which he touched. During the last war he served in West Africa, North Africa, and later in Europe, and after the war became CO of the 2nd Battalion of the Rhodesia Regiment.
The Cricketer