Background
Lagden was born in Maseru in what is now Lesotho (previously part of the British colony of Basutoland).
Lagden was born in Maseru in what is now Lesotho (previously part of the British colony of Basutoland).
He is one of only a handful of first-class cricketers to be born in that country. Lagden had a younger brother, Reginald, who was a first-class cricketer for Oxford"s rivals, Cambridge University, as well as playing with Surrey. Their father, Godfrey, had appeared in a single first-class match for the Marylebone Club at the age of 54.
A right arm fast bowler, Lagden batted in the lower order but often contributed valuable runs.
His best innings was 99 not out, which he made in 1912 against the H. Doctorate. G. Leveson-Gower"s XI, missing out on a century when Australian Neville Fraser was adjudged leg before wicket to Ernest Smith for a duck. Apart from University Matches, Lagden also played against touring international sides, Australia in 1909, India in 1911 and South Africa in 1912.
One of his two victims in the match against India was captain Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. The final time Lagden played with Oxford was at Lord"s in July 1912, another University Match.
While at Oxford University, Lagden took part in three Varsity matches.
In 1914, Lagden joined the King"s Royal Rifle Corps and was then attached to the 4th Battalion which were to fight in the Western Front. Just before the Second Battle of Ypres, Captain Lagden was one of 300 soldiers that ventured over the trench walls in an attack on the Germans, but was killed.
