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Biography
Claude Newberry (30 November 1888, Port Elizabeth, Cape Colony – 1 August 1916, Delville Wood, Somme, France) was a South African cricketer who played in four Tests in the 1913-14 season.
Little is known of Claude Newberry's life. His exact date of birth is in doubt, and he appears to have been raised by an aunt, Esther Roberts, after his parents abandoned him when he was a baby.
A pace bowler who batted in the lower order, Newberry played several matches for Transvaal in 1910-11 and 1911-12, taking 6 for 28 in March 1911 to dismiss Eastern Province for 77. When England toured South Africa in 1913-14, the First Test resulted in an innings victory to England. In the next match of the tour, against Transvaal, Newberry was the most successful of the local bowlers, taking 3 for 109 as MCC again won by an innings. Newberry was brought into the South African side for the Second Test, one of four changes, and retained his place for the rest of the series, taking 11 wickets at an average of 24.36, making him South Africa's second-most successful bowler in the series. He dismissed Frank Woolley four times.
In World War I Newberry enlisted in the South African Infantry and served in France. He fought in the Battle of the Somme at Delville Wood, where he was killed in action on 1 August 1916.