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Arthur Frederic Bickmore (19 May 1899 – 18 March 1979), known as Eric Bickmore, was an English school teacher and who played for Kent County Cricket Club and Oxford University between 1919 and 1929.
He was posted to the 52nd Division in France in August 1918, joining the Divisional Ammunition Column, taking loads of ammunition towards the front line. He served during the Hundred Days Offensive and the Advance to the Hindenburg Line until the Armistice in November 1918. He left the army at the end of January 1919 with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant.
Bickmore was awarded his Kent county cap in 1920 after scoring over 600 runs, including his maiden first-class century, Capped Male Players, Kent County Cricket Club. Retrieved 2021-07-20. and went up to Magdalen College, Oxford the same year, winning the first of his two cricket Blues. He graduated after two years, completing a special, shortened war degree and became a school teacher, becoming joint Headteacher of Yardley Court with his brother Maurice. This restricted his cricketing appearances and he played only a few matches after the 1923 season, although he remained prolific in club cricket for teams such as Yellowhammers, Free Foresters and Band of Brothers. His last first-class appearance was for Kent in 1929 against Warwickshire at Nevill Ground.
As well as teaching English at Tunbridge School, he remained Head of Yardley Court until his retirement in the 1970s, for a time alongside his son John. Amongst his pupils was Bob Woolmer who went on to play for Kent and England. Woolmer recalled that Bickmore "drummed into his charges that the umpire's decision was final."Dickie Bird, Bob Woolmer (2006) Will challenging umpires undermine spirit of cricket?, The Guardian, 2006-05-10. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
Wisden's obituary of Bickmore said that "he was one of the great outfields of his day and was equally good at short-leg." He married Lillias Lawson in 1924, and when he died in Tonbridge in 1979 aged 79, he was the last survivor of the 1920 Oxford team.
Cricketing career and later life
Bickmore played in 64 first-class cricket matches, making his debut for Kent against Essex at Leyton in June 1919. Eric Bickmore, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2017-03-19. He was a right handed opening batsman who scored 2,254 runs, including two centuries, and appeared in two University matches for Oxford. Bickmore, Arthur Frederic, Obituaries in 1979, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1980. Retrieved 2017-03-19. Arthur Bickmore, ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 2017-03-19. He played 48 matches for Kent.
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Categories: 1899 Births, 1979 Deaths, English Cricketers, Kent Cricketers, Oxford University Cricketers, People Educated At Clifton College, Royal Field Artillery Officers, British Army Personnel Of World War I, Alumni Of Magdalen College, Oxford, Schoolteachers From Kent, People From Tonbridge, Cricketers From Kent, 20th-century English Sportsmen
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