James Bush (sportsman)


James Arthur Bush was an English sportsman who played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire and represented England at rugby union.

Family

Bush, the son of Major Robert Bush and his wife Emily, was educated at Clifton College, as were three younger brothers who played rugby for the Clifton Rugby Football Club. One of them, Robert Edwin Bush, also played cricket at Gloucestershire and later moved to Western Australia where he went exploring and became a member of the Western Australian Legislative Council. Another brother, John Edward Bush, had an accomplished military career where he reached the rank of Brigadier General. The third brother to play rugby at Clifton was James Paul Bush, who also served in the military as a surgeon with the Bristol Royal Infirmary and was at one time the Deputy Lieutenant for Gloucestershire.

Cricket

Born in India, Bush played at Gloucestershire as an amateur. He was Gloucestershire's wicket-keeper in their strong side of the 1870s which won the only four championships in their history, one of them shared. Bush was a good friend of captain W.G. Grace and was the best man at his wedding. He toured Australia with a W.G. Grace XI in 1873/74 which caused him to miss a rugby international against Scotland.
Bush made just two half centuries in his first-class career, with a highest score of 57 against Yorkshire in an 1879 County Match.
Aside from playing at Gloucestershire, Bush also represented the Gentlemen cricket team in a couple of Gentlemen v Players fixtures and also played a match for the South of England cricket team.

Rugby

Bush was capped five times for England at international rugby, playing as a forward. All but one of those came against Scotland, with games in 1872, 1873, 1875 and 1876. He won his only other cap when he lined up for England against Ireland at Leinster in 1875. Before his England debut, Bush had made five appearances for Blackheath.
He also played some association football matches as a goalkeeper for Clifton F.C.