The Club is sad to announce the death of Malcolm Watson on 23rd September 2026. 

The Memorial Service is at RMA Sandhurst on 28th October at 2 pm.  To attend you must contact HHQ@queensroyalhussars.org.

The attached photos show Malcolm at the Club Dinner in 2011, a scoresheet from Nairobi CC and the 1984 Cryptics team in Berlin (although sadly without Malcolm).

With thanks to Tony Beadles for the following.

COLONEL MALCOLM WATSON. QOH (1948-2026)

Soldier, cricketer, man of letters (his description)

Malcolm Watson, who died in September 2026, was a most enthusiastic and loyal Cryptic in his playing days and in later years contributed hugely to the Club. It was always a treat and great fun to play cricket with Malcolm, and he later brought his generous energy, his special humour and many good ideas to the administration of the Club.

Malcolm was originally from Yorkshire and always treasured his northern roots. He was educated at Oundle School and then at RMA Sandhurst before joining The Queen’s Own Hussars. He spent 39 years in the army, serving all round the world.

Malcolm was an elegant opening bat and a very useful medium pace bowler, offering a nagging length and a good outswinger.

He played some representative Army cricket, and he was a part of the Old Oundelian Cricketer Cup side in the early days of that competition.

He was a member of a number of wandering cricket clubs, but always was greatly attached to the Cryptics, playing regularly on the Northern tour and at times on the Southern tour.

He came on the first of the three Cryptics Tours of Kenya in 1981, and was responsible for the start of some entertaining and quite wild Cryptics Tours of Berlin when he was stationed there in the 1980s.

He was a regular member over many years of the Cryptics Committee and was active in promoting the Club. In particular, he was responsible for the Club’s move for its annual dinner to

the excellent facilities of the Oxford University Officers’ Training Corps building at Falklands House.

In later years Malcolm was a most remarkable and prolific letter writer to many newspapers. He addressed a wide variety of topics, offering interesting information and entertaining thoughts. He produced three volumes of these letters for friends, entitled ‘The Wit and Wisdom of an Ordinary Subject.’ Some Cryptics will have them in their house, probably in the downstairs loo!

One that I particularly remember is from November 2012 in The Cricketer, headed ‘No spleen to vent.’

‘Your subtitle to the Letters page is ‘Spleen vented’, but I don’t have one. As a matter of fact, nor does Geoffrey Boycott. In 1973 Geoffrey and I put on 150 (99 and 44 not out) for the first wicket at a match at Pateley Bridge during the Nidderdale Show, the annual Yorkshire Dales agricultural event. I wonder if there is a spleenless partnership that exceeds our own.’

One book ends with an extract from a Regular Army Confidential Report on Malcolm.

‘He will speak his mind whenever the occasion warrants it (and perhaps some when it does not!)

Thank you, Malcolm, for a unique and wonderful contribution to the Cryptics Cricket Club over many years.