Reginald Wood

Who was Reginald Wood?

Reginald Wood had one of the most unusual Test cricket careers in cricket history, with only Joseph McMaster laying claim to a more unusual one. The son of John Wood, a Birkenhead merchant, and Montreal-born Elizabeth, he was educated at Charterhouse and played six matches for Lancashire County Cricket Club as an amateur before emigrating to Australia. In 1885, he played two matches as a professional for Victoria, and then, when Billy Barnes was ruled out of a number of matches in Alfred Shaw's tour of Australia in 1886/7 after Barnes hit a wall rather than Australian captain Percy McDonnell, whom he was aiming for, the Englishmen had to find a replacement quickly. Wood was found and played three matches for Shaw's XI, the second one of which was the Second Test. He did not bowl and batted at number ten, scoring 0 and 6 and after one final game with the touring Englishmen never played first-class cricket again.