HARRY HOLLINGSWORTH FORSYTH died in Dublin on 19 July 2004 but his death escaped the notice of the cricket media at the time.
Aged 100 years and 24 days, he was at the time of his death the tenth longest lived of the eleven first class cricketers known to have passed their 100th birthdays.
Educated at Wesley College, before entering Dublin University to read law, Harry was a left hand batsman, whose place in the order was, to say the least, flexible and a capable wicket keeper.
Though never fully establishing himself in the University Ist XI, he was in the side which travelled to the county ground at Wantage Road, Northampton to take on the county side in what proved to be the final such match undertaken by the University.
They were heavily defeated by an innings but Harry had a much better match than some. Batting high in the order at 5, he made a first innings 43, second only Australian Pat Dixon's 47. Together they added 57 for the 4th wicket, being the only two batsmen to come to terms with a far from powerful county attack.
That season also saw a remarkable batting performance by Harry against Cork County at The Mardyke. Batting first in a two day game the hosts amassed a score of 446, with the former Warwickshire amateur MC Parry making an undefeated double century. The visitors batted consistently but were still 275/9 when Harry, who had come in at the fall of the seventh wicket was joined by last man Sean Jeffares, who like Harry was not a regular member of the XI but played in the Northamptonshire match. They put on a record 120 for the last wicket before Jeffares fell for 19, leaving Harry undefeated for a wonderfully good 81.
Coincidentally the list of those first class cricketers to have achieved their century of years also includes another Dublin University player George Richard Uniacke Harman, who played in one match v MCC in College Park in 1895. Much better known as rugby international, George, who became a doctor in Cornwall, lived to be 101 years and 191 days before his death in 1975.
To Harry, however, belongs the honour of having been the last surviving cricketer to have played the game at first class level for Dublin University, a distinction wrongly accorded in recent years to both Sir Colville Deverell (died 1994) and David Gwynn ( died 1998).
Edward Liddle April 2011
