David Merry (1923 – 4 May 1944) was a Tobagonian first-class cricketer and Royal Air Force officer.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 1923 Tobago | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | (aged 21) near Penhold, Alberta, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Cyril Merry (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1940–1941 | Trinidad | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 26 July 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born in Tobago in 1923, Merry was educated at the Queen's Royal College, where he played cricket and association football.[1] He appeared in two first-class matches for Trinidad against Barbados, both in February 1941 and both at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain.[2] During these two matches, Merry scored 135 runs with a batting average of 45 and a high score of 80.[3] He also represented North Trinidad in two matches of the Beaumont Cup, scoring 114 runs in his second appearance.[4] Merry's final cricket match, representing the West Indies against Lancashire, took place on 7 June 1942 at Longsight.[5] He gained 9 runs before being caught by Henry Butterworth and bowled by Winston Place.[5]
Merry served as a flying officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War and was assigned as a flying instructor to the No. 36 Service Flying Training School in Canada.[6][7] Piloting Airspeed Oxford X6734 during a night training exercise on 4 May 1944, Merry died when the aircraft crashed near Penhold. He had held the aircraft steady to allow his pupils to bail out and was consequently killed.[8][9] Merry is buried at the Red Deer Cemetery.[6]
References
editCitations
edit- ^ McCrery 2017, p. 449.
- ^ "First-Class Matches played by David Merry". CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ "First-Class Batting and Fielding for Each Team by David Merry". CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ "North Trinidad v South Trinidad in 1940/41". CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ a b "Lancashire XI v West Indies XI in 1942". CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ a b "Casualty Details: David Merry". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ "Men of 36 Service Flying Training School, Penhold, Alberta". AviationArchaeology. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ McCrery 2017, p. 450.
- ^ "Caribbean aircrew in the RAF during WW2 » Blog Archive » MERRY David". CaribbeanAircrew. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
Sources
edit- McCrery, Nigel (2017). The Coming Storm: Test and First-Class Cricketers Killed in World War Two. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. ISBN 978-1-52670-695-9.