| Country: | England |
| Fullname: | John Frederick Ireland |
| Birth Date: | 12 August 1888 |
| Birth Place: | Port Louis, Mauritius |
| Death Place: | Uckfield, Sussex, England |
| Batting: | Right-handed |
| Bowling: | Right-arm roundarm medium |
| Club1: | Suffolk |
| Year1: | 1906–1911 |
| Club2: | Cambridge University |
| Year2: | 1908–1911 |
| Club3: | MCC |
| Year3: | 1912 |
| Type1: | FC |
| Debutdate1: | 14 May |
| Debutyear1: | 1908 |
| Debutfor1: | Cambridge University |
| Debutagainst1: | Yorkshire |
| Lastdate1: | 4 July |
| Lastyear1: | 1912 |
| Lastfor1: | MCC |
| Lastagainst1: | Cambridge University |
| Columns: | 1 |
| Column1: | First-class |
| Matches1: | 28 |
| Runs1: | 1,355 |
| Bat Avg1: | 28.82 |
| 100S/50S1: | 3/0 |
| Top Score1: | 123 |
| Deliveries1: | 1,561 |
| Wickets1: | 37 |
| Bowl Avg1: | 21.27 |
| Fivefor1: | 2 |
| Tenfor1: | 0 |
| Best Bowling1: | 5/25 |
| Catches/Stumpings1: | 21/– |
| Date: | 4 July |
| Year: | 2018 |
| Source: | http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/player/15431.html CricInfo |
Captain John Frederick Ireland (12 August 1888 – 16 October 1970) was an English amateur cricketer. Ireland was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm roundarm medium pace.
Ireland played cricket at Marlborough College where he was educated, captaining the Marlborough side in 1907.[1] He played for Cambridge University between 1908 and 1911, making 28 first-class appearances in total, 27 for the University and one for MCC in 1912.[2] He also played Minor Counties cricket for Suffolk between 1906 and 1911.
A three-sport athlete, Ireland played cricket, hockey and golf while attending Trinity College, winning blues in his freshman year in both cricket and hockey.[3] He held the unusual record of captaining three Cambridge University teams in those games and was a triple blue.[4]
Ireland's uncle, Frederick Ireland, also played cricket and made four first-class appearances between 1878 and 1887.[5] Ireland's brother-in-law, Eric Crankshaw, made one first-class appearance in 1909.[6]
Ireland was born on 12 August 1888 in Port Louis, Mauritius, the second son of George Hugh Ireland of Ireland Fraser & Co.,[7] Mauritius and his first wife, Margaret Guthrie Harvey, the daughter of John Harvey of Kent and Singapore.[8] He was the grandson of George Ireland, one of the founders of Ireland Fraser & Co., and the great-grandson of Walter Foggo Ireland, a Church of Scotland minister at the North Leith Parish Church within the Presbytery of Edinburgh.[9]
During the First World War, Ireland was a Captain in the Royal Field Artillery deployed in France. In September 1917 he was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry while in command of a battery that came under heavy bombardment.
Ireland married Philippa Sarah Bates, the daughter of Philip Bates, on 18 December 1917 at Holy Trinity Church, Upper Chelsea.[10]
Professionally, Ireland was a Director of Ireland Fraser, a company co-founded by his grandfather George Ireland, now called Ireland Blyth Limited, as well as Arbuthnot Latham & Co. and Mercantile Bank of India.[11]
Ireland died on 21 October 1970 at Uckfield in Sussex, England.