John Trask (cricketer)

Surgeon-Captain John Ernest Trask (27 October 1861 – 25 July 1896) was an English cricketer who made 16 first-class appearances. He played nine times for Somerset between 1884–1895, and also appeared in first-class matches in India. He served in the Army Medical Services from 1887 until his death from cholera in Sudan during 1896.

Cricket career
Trask played three matches for Somerset in 1884 and 1885, making 44 runs in his five innings, but didn't return for the county until their successful 1890 season, when they won the 'Second-class Championship'. After helping Somerset regain their first-class status, he travelled to India with the Army, where he remained for four and a half years. During his time in the country, he made six first-class appearances for the Europeans cricket team, and also played for Bombay. It was during this time that he made his highest score in first-class cricket, making 78 opening against Parsees. He played six more matches for Somerset on his return home in 1895, but left again after a couple of months.

Army career
After being educated in Bath, Trask attended the Bristol Medical School, and entered the Army Medical Department in 1887, after a short probationary period he was commissioned on 27 July 1887. After two years at Aldershot, he was posted to India for almost five years. After a couple of months back in England during 1895, he was seconded to the Egyptian Army on 23 August 1895. During this posting, he died of cholera during the Dongola Expedition on 25 July 1896. He was Mentioned in Despatches by Sir Herbert Kitchener (later Earl Kitchener) in a despatch dated 30 September 1896. In an official notice relating to his estate published in the London Gazette, his address is given as 40 St James Square, Holland Park.

Arthur Conan Doyle's The New Revelation
In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1918 work The New Revelation, Doyle gives his own views and thoughts on the relationship between spiritual revelations and conventional religious dogma. Within The New Revelation, he makes reference to a conversation held with a spirit he chooses to call (for the purposes of the book) Dodd. Andrew Lycett, author of The Man Who Created Sherlock Holmes; The Life and Times of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, claims that this spirit is in fact that of John Trask. Dodd is described as a famous cricketer that Doyle spoke to in Cairo, who had since died as part of the Dongolese Expedition. He then remarks that the event occurred in 1896. These statements all support the assertion that the spirit is Trask, as his posting to the Egyptian Army would likely have seen him in Cairo, while his death is well documented as occurring during the Dongolese Expedition of 1896. His cricketing exploits in England and India may well have also been known to Doyle, who himself played ten first-class matches for the MCC.