Major Booth

Major William Booth, better known as William Booth, (born 10 December 1886 in Lowtown, Pudsey, Yorkshire, England; died 1 July 1916 near La Cigny, France) was a cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club between 1908 and 1914, a season in which he was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. His international career was restricted to playing for England in the 1913-14 tour of South Africa, which was the last Test match tour before the First World War. After receiving a battlefield commission, Booth was known as Second Lieutenant Major Booth, and died soon afterwards when he went over the top on the trenches on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Somme offensive.

References

• [http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/england/content/story/155536.html Booth's Obituary in the 1917 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, which is now out of copyright and on which a large portion of this article is absed.
• CricketArchive page on Major Booth
• Cricinfo page on Major Booth
• A profile of William Booth by Dave Liverman and Kevin Morrill
• Photograph of Booth's grave