Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium 1926–1927 Oxford University | Role All-rounder Batting style Right-handed | |
Full name Reginald Edmund Compton Butterworth Born 16 August 1906 ( 1906-08-16 ) Semarang, Dutch East Indies Relations John Butterworth (brother) 1930–1939 Marylebone Cricket Club Died 21 May 1940, Saint-Martin-au-Laërt, France | ||
Reginald Edmund Compton Butterworth (16 August 1906 – 21 May 1940) was an English cricketer who played at first-class level for Oxford University and Middlesex.
Butterworth was born in Semarang, Java (then part of the Dutch East Indies), and was educated at Harrow School before going on to Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first-class debut for Oxford in May 1926. Butterworth's maiden first-class century came the following season, when he made 101 against the Free Foresters. He also scored 110 against Surrey a few games later, which was to be his highest first-class score. Butterworth made his County Championship debut for Middlesex in 1995, against Warwickshire, and played two further seasons at the county. In 1937, he toured Ceylon and Malaya with a team organised by Sir Julien Cahn, which was his only overseas tour. Butterworth's final first-class appearance came in May 1939, when he played for the MCC against Yorkshire.
In the Second World War, Butterworth enlisted with the Royal Air Force (RAF). In May 1940, while serving as an air gunner with the No. 13 Squadron, his plane was shot down near Saint-Martin-au-Laërt, killing him. His older brother, John Compton Butterworth, who was also a first-class cricketer, was killed in action less than a year later.