Cricket and rugby were natural companions in the late Victorian era. Many leading sportsmen spent their summers on the cricket field and their winters on the rugby pitch, with a select few reaching the highest level in both games. Somerset produced four such men who represent the county at cricket and England at rugby: Sammy Woods, John Daniell, Herbert Gamlin and Percy Ebdon. Their stories are as varied as their sporting careers, ranging from fearless leadership and remarkable athleticism to misfortune, controversy and more than a little eccentricity.
Australian Sammy Woods (1867–1931) was an extraordinary character who was sent to school in England and remained there for the rest of his life. He shot to fame as a rugby player, winning seventeen England caps and captaining his country. After a match against Ireland in Dublin, he punched an Irish opponent to the ground, only to discover afterwards that his victim was the Irish heavyweight boxing champion. Woods became a legend at Somerset County Cricket Club, where he captained the county, and also played Test cricket for both Australia and England. His employment record was less distinguished. He was dismissed from a bank after helping himself to sovereigns and failed to last long in either a brewery or a pub. In later life he became increasingly unsteady on his feet, which he always blamed on a fall from a camel in his younger days.
John Daniell (1878–1963) was another Somerset cricket captain who also skippered England at rugby. His rallying cries in both sports were liberally sprinkled with expletives. Although he later became involved in Somerset rugby administration, he resigned after complaining that the county was “very slow, unintelligent and not a single personality”. When batsman Frank Lee was struck a painful blow, Daniell remarked: “In my day, we hit fours with our private parts.” He also berated the “weedy” Jack MacBryan for missing a match to compete in the 1920 Olympic hockey tournament.
Herbert Gamlin (1878–1937) played just three matches for Somerset as an off-break bowler, with spectacularly poor timing. In his debut, Essex piled up 692. In his second appearance, Lancashire amassed 801, with Archie MacLaren feasting on Gamlin’s bowling during his innings of 424. Gamlin also managed four ducks with the bat in those two matches, before improving his batting average with scores of two and five in his final appearance. Rugby brought him far greater success, earning fifteen England caps. Renowned for his strength, he could reputedly tackle “two men at the same time – one in either hand”, earning the nickname ‘Octopus’.
Percy Ebdon (1874–1943) was unkindly judged by some critics to have deserved neither his England rugby caps nor his place in the Somerset cricket team. It was claimed he won his two England appearances only because Hugh Fox, a former international and Percy’s employer at Messrs Fox Bros & Co. in Wellington, influenced the selectors. Others suggested his friendship with Sammy Woods secured his opportunities with Somerset. Percy, whose two brothers also played for the county, enjoyed little success with the bat. Characteristically modest, when congratulated on his sporting achievements he merely replied that he had been “rather lucky”.
These four men are among the many remarkable characters featured in The Lives of England Rugby Players 1871–1899 by local journalist and author Phil Hill and available on Amazon, which explores the lives, achievements and eccentricities of all 337 man who represented England during rugby’s formative years, along with photographs accompanying each player.
Photographs from Phil Hill – courtesy of Steve Hill and Barry Philips.
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