Harold Prest


Harold Edward Westray Prest was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club either side of the First World War.

Early life

Prest was both in Beckenham in what was then part of Kent. He attended Malvern College where he played in the school First XI for three years, making a high score of 174 not out in 1908 as he headed the Malvern batting averages. He was considered by Wisden as a fine, aggressive schoolboy batsman with "excellent style" as well as a good fielder. He went on to Pembroke College, Cambridge and played for Cambridge University twelve times, appearing in Varsity matches in 1909 and 1911.

Cricket career

Prest made his debut for Kent in 1909, playing four times for the County during the season and being awarded his County cap as Kent won the 1909 County Championship. He did not play any first-class cricket in 1910 before resuming his career in 1911, playing 19 matches in total during the season, by far his most productive. He played ten times for Kent and nine times for Cambridge during the season and made a total of 747 runs, including his only first-class century, a score of 133 not out against Somerset.
Prest played a total of 19 matches for Kent during his career, playing only a handful of games in 1912 before appearing in two County Championship matches in 1922. He died in 1955 aged 64.