Francis Bacon

Francis Hugh Bacon (24 June 1869 – 31 October 1915) was an English first-class cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm slow bowler.

Career

Bacon first played for Hampshire in 1894, the season in which the county club regained its first-class status, although Bacon made no first-class appearances for the county that season. The following season Bacon made his first-class debut for Hampshire against Somerset.

Bacon played 75 first-class matches for Hampshire, with the 1903 season being his most successful 357 runs at a batting average of 18.78, with a high score of 39*. In terms of batting average, the 1906 season was Bacon's best with 308 runs at a batting average of 23.69, with three fifties and a high score of 60.

Bacon's final match for Hampshire came in the 1911 County Championship against Lancashire at Old Trafford in Manchester. In Bacon's 75 first-class matches for the county he scored 1,909 runs at a batting average of 15.77, with five half centuries and a single century which gave Bacon his highest score of 110 against Leicestershire in 1907. Bacon also took 6 wickets at a bowling average of 31.66, with best figures of 2/23.

Bacon was also a scorer in four Hampshire v Warwickshire matches in 1911, 1912, 1913 and 1914.

World War I service and death

Bacon died at sea off the coast of Belgium aboard the Royal Yacht Squadron's steam yacht Aries. The ship was mined by UC-6 while on an Auxiliary Patrol near the South Goodwin Lightship on 31 October 1915. Bacon, serving as an Assistant Paymaster, died in the sinking, along with 21 others on board.