Hubert Melville Martineau (24 October 1891 – 11 September 1976)[1] was an English patron of cricket and organiser of his own team.[2] He also played three first-class matches between 1931 and 1932. When he played, he was a right-handed batsman and left-arm orthodox spin bowler.[3]
Born in Westminster in 1891,[3] the son of Sir Philip Martineau,[4] Hubert Martineau was educated at Eton, though he did not play for the school's cricket team. He did however develop a great love of the game.[2]
Club cricket of a high standard was played at his private ground near Maidenhead between 1923 and 1939, and four national sides touring England began their tours playing against his personal XI; Australia in 1926, New Zealand in 1927, the West Indies in 1928 and India in 1932.[2] Martineau himself played in all those matches with the exception of the 1926 match against Australia.[6]
In 1927, he went on a tour of Egypt with the Free Foresters, playing two matches against the national side.[6] He took his own team to the country each year between 1929 and 1939,[2] and Martineau played in each match.[6]
He played three first-class matches in the early 1930s, for HDG Leveson-Gower's XI. He played against Oxford University in 1931 and against Cambridge and Oxford University in 1932.[7] He died in Westminster in 1976.[3]
His stepson was Henry Martineau.[8]