Obituaries in 1994

ABBOTT, ROY, who died in September 1993, aged 77, was head groundsman at Perth's WACA ground for 36 years from the late 1940s. His skill at pitch preparation was vital in winning Perth Test status in 1970 and in sustaining the ground's reputation for having one of the fastest and truest pitches in the world.

ABEYSEKERA, CLARENCE, who died on December 16, 1993, aged 77, won an unofficial cap for Ceylon against Pakistan in 1949.

AITCHISON, Rev. JAMES, who died in Glasgow on February 13, 1994, aged 73, was regarded as Scotland's finest post-war batsman. He may even have been the finest Scottish batsman too, but no comparison is possible since, unlike Mike Denness, he never played county cricket. He was an orthodox but attractive player who appeared in 50 first-class matches for Scotland and was a regular in the team from 1946 to 1963, scoring 2,786 runs at 32.77. He scored seven centuries for Scotland, a record until 1992. Five of them were first-class, including 190 not out against Ireland in Dublin in 1959. In two-day matches he made 106 not out, carrying his bat, against the South Africans at Paisley in 1947 and 100 against the Australians at the end of their 1956 tour; Ray Lindwall and Keith Miller later called it the best innings they had seen all summer. Aitchison made 56 centuries in Scottish club cricket. He was a minister in the Church of Scotland, in Edinburgh for 11 years and in Glasgow for 23, until his retirement in 1986. After Aitchison played a long, chancy innings against Worcestershire, Roly Jenkins said that with his luck he should be an Archbishop.

ALSTON, ARTHUR REX, died on September 8, 1994, aged 93. Rex Alston was, along with John Arlott and E. W. Swanton, one of the triumvirate who dominated radio cricket commentary in the years after the war while Brian Johnston was still concentrating on television. He was an all-round sports broadcaster and in the 1940s and 1950s his precise, light baritone was a familiar sound on rugby, tennis and athletics as well as cricket. He looked rather like a vicar - his father was a Suffragan Bishop - and sounded like a schoolmaster: he taught at Bedford School until the war, when some BBC men were billeted on him and one suggested his voice might be just right. He was a considerable sportsman: on the wing for Bedford and Rosslyn Park, running second in the 1923 University athletics match to Harold Abrahams - later his partner in the commentary box - and playing cricket for the Crusaders at Cambridge and for Bedfordshire, whom he captained in 1932.

Alston commentated on about a hundred Tests, but did hardly any after 1964, three years after he had officially retired from the BBC. Thereafter he wrote a column in Playfair Cricket Monthly, notable for its fierce opposition to the break with South Africa, and continued reporting county matches for the Daily Telegraph until 1987. He made a broadcasting comeback that year on the Saturday of the MCC bicentenary game when, despite some understandable difficulties ("It's little Abdul what-not. He's a good bowler, my word he is"), he delighted everyone so much he was given a 20-minute encore. His broadcasting style was described as "pleasant and courteous" in an obituary in The Times in 1985. This was accurate; however, Alston was not dead. A mix-up in the office had led to his obituary being published instead of merely updated for the files. By a horrid coincidence, Alston had collapsed the previous evening at a dinner and so had the doubly disconcerting experience of being shown his obituary by a nurse at the Westminster Hospital. Reports that he found it all very humorous were as exaggerated as his death. The following year he proved his fitness by remarrying and became perhaps the first man to have his death and marriage reported in The Times in that order. He ascribed his continuing vigour to daily cold baths.

BARKER, HUGHLEY WOODBINE, who died in April 1994, aged 68, was a tall and powerfully built Barbadian fast bowler, a prototype of the great generation that followed him. A terror while playing for the Empire club, he made four first-class appearances for Barbados between 1952 and 1956, but took only 12 wickets, averaging 30.66.

BENAUD, LOUIS RICHARD, who died at Sydney on January 9, 1994, was father of the Test players Richie and John. Lou Benaud was a schoolteacher who never became a first-class cricketer, but he played bush and grade games until he was past 50, and once took 20 wickets in a match, a feat his sons could not emulate. He was the author of The Young Cricketer, published in 1964.

BLAKELY, DOUGLAS JAMES, died on July 22, 1994, aged 72. Jim Blakely was a middle-order batsman who played five matches for Otago between 1940-41 and 1950-51.

BODKIN, Dr PETER ERNEST, who died on September 18, 1994, aged 70, won wartime Blues at Cambridge and went on to captain the University in the first post-war contest at Lord's in 1946. He was a promising schoolboy left-arm medium-pace bowler at Bradfield, but his batting had taken over by the time he was at university. He played nine first-class matches, all for Cambridge in 1946.

BOURNE, GORDON ALISTER, who died on September 13, 1993, aged 80, was the one of the youngest players ever to appear for Queensland: 17 years, 241 days against Victoria at Melbourne in 1930-31, a summer of dissension among the Queensland players. He scored four and six not out and never played again.

BOTEK, FRANZ IVOR, who died on March 23, 1994, aged 52, after a long illness, was formerly treasurer of the West Indies Cricket Board of Control and chairman of its Marketing Committee. He played a major role in setting up the Board's sponsorship deals. He was an opening batsman at club level and captained the University of the West Indies team in the Jamaica Senior Cup.

BURROUGH, HERBERT DICKINSON, died on April 9, 1994, aged 85. "Dickie" Burrough was a notably enthusiastic amateur batsman who played 171 matches for Somerset from 1927 to 1947. He was a front-foot hitter, who made 5,316 runs at 20.92, including four centuries, and chased round outfields with great zest through the 1930s, whenever he could break away from his law firm. His 135 at Kettering in 1932 lasted only three hours. His father also played for Somerset and an uncle and a cousin played first-class cricket as well. He failed to win a Blue at Cambridge for either cricket or hockey but played three times for England at hockey.

BYERLEY, FREDERICK WILLIAM ALFRED, who died on August 19, 1994, aged 84, made one first-class appearance, for Auckland against the South Africans in 1931-32, but distinguished himself by scoring 77 in a tail-end partnership of 117 with Mal Matheson, rescuing his team from 123 for six.

CALDWELL, TIMOTHY CHARLES JOHN, OBE, died on June 17, 1994, aged 80. Tim Caldwell succeeded Sir Donald Bradman as Chairman of the Australian Cricket Board in 1972, and held the job for three years. He played Sydney grade cricket for 21 years, having converted from leg-spin to off-spin, and three matches for New South Wales in the mid-1930s. During the Packer controversy, he joined Bradman and the then-chairman, Bob Parish, on the three-man ACB Emergency Committee which first fought Packer's organisation and then negotiated. He was a successful banker and is remembered as an astute administrator.

CARR, JAMES LLOYD, who died on February 26, 1994, aged 81, was an author and publisher who ran a one-man business from his home in Kettering. Two of J. L. Carr's eight novels were short-listed for the Booker Prize; another, A Season in Sinji, is arguably the best of all novels with a cricketing backdrop. He also published, in 1977, Carr's Dictionary of Extraordinary English Cricketers, with an enlarged edition in 1983. Factually not for the purist, the book remains a humorous gem. Carr was originally a schoolmaster and enthusiastic club cricketer. whose literary ability surfaced when he was editing the Northamptonshire County League handbook in the 1950s and contributing his own idiosyncratic notes. He was the Wisden book reviewer in 1993.

CARTER, HORATIO STRATTON, died on October 9, 1994, aged 80. "Raich" Carter was a lower-order batsman and medium-pace bowler who played three away matches for Derbyshire in June 1946. He had appeared for Durham in 1933 and 1934. He managed only eight runs and two wickets in first-class cricket, but achieved considerably more fame as a footballer. He scored 216 goals in 451 league games with Sunderland, Derby County and Hull City, won one League Championship, two FA Cups and 13 England caps (in a career interrupted by the war) and was described by The Times on his death as one of the half-dozen geniuses of the game in England. He was one of five England footballers to play first-class cricket for Derbyshire - the others being Billy Foulke, the 21-stone goalkeeper, John Goodall, Ernest Needham and Harry Storer (jun.). He was, though, almost certainly the only man in history to be out for a duck in a county match at Stourbridge six weeks after receiving an FA Cup winner's medal.

CHATTERJEE, CHANDRANATH, died in hospital in Calcutta on March 4, 1994, aged 40, after collapsing from a heart attack while batting in a local league match at Eden Gardens. Chandu Chatterjee made one appearance for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy, in 1986-87.

CHOUDHARY, YOGENDRA MOHAN, who died on July 11, 1994, aged 59, was a successful right-hand batsman for Delhi and Railways in the Ranji Trophy between 1953-54 and 1966-67, scoring 2,600 runs at 40.62. He scored 211 for Delhi against Patiala in 1955-56, but considered his 113 against a much stronger Bombay attack six weeks later to be his best-ever innings. In November 1956 Choudhary was a member of a strong Indian team, led by Polly Umrigar, which toured Ceylon.

COHEN, HARRY ALFRED, died on June 23, 1994, aged 90. Hal Cohen had been interested in cricketana since the 1920s and built one of the world's foremost collections, which made £257,010 net at auction in January 1995. He was Birmingham's chief dental officer for many years.

CORKE, MARTIN DEWE, who died on June 8, 1994, his 71st birthday, played in five first-class matches for the Free Foresters between 1953 and 1958. He was a forceful, somewhat unorthodox, batsman who played for Suffolk from 1946 to 1964, for the last 11 seasons as captain.

CORNISH, DOUGLAS JOHN, died on March 22, 1994, aged 74. "Kicker" Cornish was a good medium-pace bowler and made himself into a capable fielder, even though his left arm was a stump from birth and almost entirely useless. He played in a first-class friendly for Rhodesia against Transvaal at Salisbury in March 1947, and had first-innings figures of 7-2-9-1.

CORRALL, PERCY, who died in February 1994, aged 87, was the oldest surviving Leicestershire player. "Paddy" Corrall kept wicket for the county in 285 matches from 1930 to 1951. He was barely 5ft 2in tall and in 1933 suffered one of the most frightening injuries ever seen in county cricket. Cyril Washbrook chased a ball from Ewart Astill on the leg side and hit Corral] on the head with his bat, fracturing his skull. He was on the danger list for several weeks, but not only did he pull through, he returned next season better than ever and played in every Championship match. He lost his place to George Dawkes for the two seasons before the war, but Dawkes was in the RAF in 1946 and Corrall regained his place, forcing Dawkes - famously - to join Derbyshire. Past his 40th birthday, Corrall successfully kept wicket to the Australian wrist-spinner Jack Walsh. Almost a third, 187 out of 568, of his first-class dismissals were stumpings. He was on the umpires' list from 1952 to 1958 and for many years cheerfully kept a pub, even though he was a teetotaller.

CRANMER, PETER, who died on May 29, 1994, aged 79, was a golden boy of English sport in the 1930s. He was a brilliant rugger player and played in all 16 of England's internationals between 1933-34 and 1937-38. It was Cranmer, playing centre, who sent away Alex Obolensky to score one of the most famous tries in history against the 1936 All Blacks. His cricket was less spectacular but had something of the same exuberance. Born in Birmingham, son of the well-known bass soloist Arthur Cranmer, he played no first-class cricket at Oxford but made his debut for Warwickshire in 1934 and hit a six off Reg Sinfield the fifth ball he received. In 1938 he was controversially offered the Warwickshire captaincy in place of R. E. S. Wyatt. No reason was given but it was believed the committee wanted a more adventurous approach. Cranmer certainly provided it. He led the team with all of his rugby athleticism and adventure plus enormous unselfishness: at Hove he declared after hitting 98 in 80 minutes.

He continued as captain for two years after the war. Warwickshire were never very successful under his leadership but it could be argued that the seeds were sown that blossomed into the 1951 Championship team and, anyway, everyone had a great deal of fun, including the spectators - he scored one of his four first-class centuries in 90 minutes against the 1947 South Africans. He was generally less successful when he had to defend. He played occasionally for Warwickshire after 1947; his last first-class match was for MCC in 1959 and he captained Warwickshire Second Eleven when he was past 50. He scored 5,853 runs in all, averaging 21.59. For some years he worked as a journalist and broadcaster and briefly joined the Test match commentary team. Brian Johnston later wrote that Cranmer was "completely natural - almost conversational" but added that he was not so good at more tedious disciplines like timekeeping. He was exceptionally kind to tyro colleagues. In 1976 he had a stroke and the last two decades of his life were very cruel. Before he died, he had both legs amputated but even then he could cheerfully tell friends he was "legless again". He was a magnificent sportsman and a delightful man.

CRISP, ROBERT JAMES, DSO, MC. who died in Essex on March 3, 1994, aged 82, was one of the most extraordinary men ever to play Test cricket. His cricket, which is only a fraction of the story, was explosive enough: he is the only bowler to have taken four wickets in four balls twice. Born in Calcutta, he was educated in Rhodesia and, after taking nine for 64 for Western Province against Natal in 1933-34, which included his second set of four in four, was chosen for the South Africans' 1935 tour of England. He took 107 wickets on the tour at a brisk fast-medium, including five for 99 in the Old Trafford Test. Crisp played four further Tests against Australia in 1935-36 and appeared eight times for Worcestershire in 1938 without ever achieving a huge amount.

But it is astonishing that he ever found a moment for such a time-consuming game as cricket. He was essentially an adventurer - he had just climbed Kilimanjaro when he got news that he was wanted for the 1935 tour - with something of an attention span problem. Like other such characters, his defining moment came in the Second World War when he was an outstanding but turbulent tank commander, fighting his own personal war against better-armoured Germans in Greece and North Africa. He had six tanks blasted from under him in a month but carried on fighting and was awarded the DSO "for outstanding ability and great gallantry". However, he annoyed authority so much that General Montgomery intervened personally and prevented him being given a Bar a year later; his second honour was downgraded to an MC. Crisp was mentioned in despatches four times before being invalided out in Normandy. The King asked if his bowling would be affected. "No, sire," he is alleged to have replied. "I was hit in the head."

Crisp never did play again and found that the tedium of peacetime presented him with a problem far harder than anything offered by the Germans. He was briefly a journalist for a succession of newspapers, and went back to South Africa where he founded the now firmly-established paper for blacks, Drum. But he wanted a magazine about tribal matters rather than something appealing to urban blacks and rapidly fell out with his proprietor. He returned to England, tried mink farming and, for an unusually long time by Crisp standards, worked as a leader-writer on the East Anglian Daily Times. While there he wrote two accounts of his war exploits, Brazen Chariots (1957) and The Gods Were Neutral (1960). Then he suddenly left and lived in a Greek hut for a year. Told he had incurable cancer, he spent a year walking round Crete, selling accounts to the Sunday Express. He died with a copy of the Sporting Life on his lap, reportedly having just lost a £20 bet, a risk-taker to the last. Crisp's 276 career wickets came at an average of only 19.88, but statistics are absurd for such a man.

DAWSON, HAROLD, who died on May 13, 1994, aged 79, played ten matches for Hampshire in 1947 and 1948 without establishing himself in the side. He was a prolific batsman for Todmorden and scored a fifty on every ground in the Lancashire League.

DISSANAYAKE, GAMINI, was assassinated by a suicide bomber in Colombo on October 24, 1994, aged 52, in an explosion that killed fifty other people. He was leader of Sri Lanka's political opposition and a candidate for the presidency. Four months earlier, he had started his second term as president of Sri Lanka's cricketing Board of Control, having previously served from 1981 to 1989. He successfully campaigned for Sri Lanka's elevation to Test status in 1981, promising an improvement in the country's cricketing infrastructure: among his achievements was the transformation of the ground at his old school, Trinity College, Kandy, into the Asgiriya Stadium.

FORD, CECIL WILLIAM, DSC, who died on July 11, 1994, aged 81, topped the Hertfordshire batting averages when they won the Minor County Championship for the first time in 1936 and made one first-class appearance that year, for the Minor Counties against the Indians at Lord's. He won the DSC in Normandy.

FORTUNE, CHARLES ARTHUR FREDERICK, who died on November 22, 1994, aged 89, was South Africa's best-known cricket commentator. Fortune was born in Wiltshire and taught at Rutlish, John Major's old school, in London before emigrating to take up a science teaching post in Grahamstown in 1935. He began broadcasting just before the war and built up a reputation for gentle, discursive commentaries in the English manner which made him exceptionally popular among South African cricket followers. Sometimes they found him too discursive: once he received a telegram saying simply "What's the score?" He retired from Radio South Africa in 1972, and then for 12 years was secretary of the South African Cricket Association (later Union), a post which at that stage was more secretarial than executive. He continued broadcasting until a stroke in 1989. Fortune was a conservative, and appeared to take South Africa's exclusion from world cricket as something of a personal affront. His death came hours before the new media centre at the Wanderers ground in Johannesburg was due to be named after him.

FOSTER, PETER GEOFFREY, who died on December 7, 1994, aged 78, was a son of G. N. Foster, one of the seven brothers who played for Worcestershire. He won Blues for Oxford at golf and rackets, but not cricket, although he played five games for the University between 1936 and 1938 and 25 for Kent in the seasons immediately before and after the war. He scored 107 at Leicester in 1939 for a side captained by his brother-in-law, F. G. H. Chalk.

FREEMAN, DOUGLAS LINFORD, who died in Sydney on May 31, 1994, aged 79, was the youngest man ever to play a Test for New Zealand. When he was still a schoolboy at Nelson College, he appeared in two Tests against Douglas Jardine's England team in 1932-33, the first starting when he was 18 years 197 days. Freeman had made his first-class debut only two months earlier and taken five for 102 for Wellington against Auckland with his leg-spin. There was evidently a feeling that a promising youngster should be encouraged, rather than the 35-year-old D. R. Garrard. Freeman, 6ft 3in, had a sharp leg-break and a hard-to-pick googly but, against England, New Zealand were out of their depth; they were saved by the weather from defeat but not from two massive innings by Hammond: 227 at Christchurch and a world Test record 336 not out at Auckland. Freeman took one wicket in the two games (Sutcliffe) for 169. He played only one further match, for Wellington against Auckland the following year, making a first-class career that lasted just 16 cricketing days. In 1935 he took a job with the Colonial Sugar Refining Co.; he was employed by them for the next 40 years, the first 20 in Fiji, the next 20 in Sydney. He was active in Fijian cricket and managed the side that toured New Zealand in 1953-54; he would have been captain but for injury. In Sydney he concentrated on golf. Before he died, Freeman recalled having the temerity to say to England's acting-captain: "Excuse me, Mr Wyatt, but are you leaving your crease before I have bowled?" "He apologised," said Freeman, "but continued his illegal and disconcerting backing-up. I shudder to think of the outcry if I had taken off the bails and run him out." He also recalled seeing George Duckworth take a handful of autograph books and make a perfect replica of every MCC player's signature.

GARDINER, JOHN RICHARD, who died on April 23, 1994, aged 81, was a tireless cricketing enthusiast, as a player for MCC and innumerable other clubs, and a member of 11 counties. He was match secretary of the XL Club and represented the United States on ICC; he donated the ICC Trophy, contested by the associate members in Kenya in 1994.

GITTENS, STANTON O'CONNOR, who died on April 20, 1994, aged 82, played in 11 first-class matches for Barbados between 1934-35 and 1945-46. He was a solid batsman - making 105 against Trinidad in 1936-37 -- and an efficient wicket-keeper. Gittens had great influence on Barbados cricket as a teacher at two of the island's leading boys' schools - he became principal of Combermere as a leading light of the Empire club, and as a member of the Barbados Cricket Association board, to which he was first elected in 1942. He served until 1973, for six years as vice-president. He also kept goal for the island soccer team.

GRIFFITHS, GORDON CRAVEN, who died on September 10, 1994, aged 89, was an amateur wicket-keeper who played for Worcestershire five times between 1932 and 1935.

GROBLER, GERBRAND, who died on November 7, 1994, aged 32, after a car crash the previous day, was one of the most talented all-round sportsmen in South Africa. He made 58 appearances for Orange Free State and Northern Transvaal between 1981-82 and 1992-93 as a left-arm swing bowler. He took seven for 69 for Northern Transvaal against Eastern Province in 1989-90, and scored a first-class century for the province's B team in 1991-92. Grobler played full back for the South African A rugby team and was an official reserve for the 1994 tour of Britain. He scored a try for Transvaal in the 1994 Currie Cup final.

HAINES, MURRAY CHESTON, who died on October 26, 1994, aged 90, was the last survivor of the heyday of Philadelphian cricket. He was a useful medium-pace bowler who toured Canada and England in the 1920s. From 1969 until his death he was secretary of the C. C. Morris Library at Haverford College, the most important cricket library in the United States, and was himself a fount of knowledge of the game in America.

HARDY, Col. EVAN MICHAEL PEARCE, who died on January 13, 1994, aged 66, played in one first-class match: for the Combined Services against Warwickshire in 1959, a game best remembered for Jack Bannister's ten for 41. He was capped for England at rugby three times in 1950-51 and had a distinguished military career.

HEATH, DAVID MICHAEL WILLIAM, who died after a long illness, on June 13, 1994, aged 62, played 16 matches as an amateur for Warwickshire between 1949 and 1953 and scored a first-class century for the Combined Services against Worcestershire in 1952. He captained Moseley to seven Birmingham League titles, and was president of the League and then chairman of Warwickshire's cricket committee before becoming, amid much complicated internal politics, successor to A. C. Smith as club secretary in 1986, later acquiring the title chief executive. His illness forced him to step down a few months before he died. He laid much of the groundwork for Warwickshire's triumphant summer of 1994 but did not live to see it come to fruition.

HOARE, ERNEST STANLEY, died on February 24, 1994, aged 90. "Monkey" Hoare was given a trial as a Freshman at Cambridge in 1923 but made no further progress. In 1929 he made three appearances for Gloucestershire as a middle-order batsman. He won a Blue at hockey and went on to captain England.

HODGE, ROBERT STEVENSON, who died on September 15, 1994, aged 79, was a fast-medium bowler from Scotland who made a startling entrance at Lord's in 1945. Playing for Under-33 against a strong Over-33 team, he twice dismissed two batsmen in an over and finished with five for 82. He made nine other first-class appearances, all for Scotland.

HOLT, ARTHUR GEORGE, who died on July 28, 1994, aged 83, played for Hampshire between 1935 and 1948 as a batsman, but is best remembered for his years as chief coach, between 1949 and 1965. Holt was a shrewd and never over-hasty judge of a cricketer. He was a particularly fine coach of youngsters, whom he charmed with his attention to detail and his humour: "No one was ever bored in the nets," said Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie. "He had a lovely, light touch." He ran a Southampton sports shop, Holt and Haskell, and insisted on giving all his friends enormous discounts; since most people in the city were his friends this did not help the profits. He ran the county's youth team ("Holt's Colts") for years out of his own pocket. He scored two first-class centuries in his 79 matches, but his career was much curtailed by the war. Holt was also a skilful inside-left who made 202 appearances for Southampton, often alongside his friend Ted Drake.

HUNT, RAYMOND THOMAS, died on August 15, 1994, aged 72, following a heart attack during the Golden Oldies tournament in Birmingham. Ray Hunt was a modest first-class batsman in New Zealand, who played 14 matches for Otago and four for Canterbury, but an original cricket thinker. Among his innovations as Otago coach was the "Hunt shuffle", whereby no bowler could send down more than two overs in a spell to bamboozle the opposition batsmen. It was tried against Canterbury and Otago won. He built a batting machine in his basement, the bat permanently playing the forward defensive. He also forced his players to stand with their backs to him at fielding practice and not to turn round until they heard bat on ball: his first shot hit the leg-spinner, Carl Dickel, straight between the shoulder blades.

JONES, WATKIN EDWARD, died on August 23, 1994, aged 77. "Wat" Jones, which is what he was called even in Wisden scorecards to distinguish him from Glamorgan's other W. E. Jones, was a pace bowler who slowed down to bowl off-cutters and made five first-class appearances for Glamorgan in 1946 and 1947 as an amateur. Glamorgan wanted him to sign as a professional after the war, but he chose to join the police instead, agreeing to help out when he could. Glamorgan would have appreciated him more often: he took seven for 92 against Kent at Newport in 1947.

JOSHI, A. R., died on March 2, 1994, aged 81. "Bapu" Joshi umpired in 12 Tests in India between 1948-49 and 1964-65. He was joint honorary secretary of the Maharashtra Cricket Association for more than 20 years.

KARMARKAR, NARAYAN DAMODAR, who died on August 30, 1992, aged 83, managed the Indian team which toured Ceylon in 1965-66 and was assistant secretary to the Indian Board of Control for 31 years from 1949. In 1974, he was made an Honorary Life Member of MCC.

KEMP, JOHN GREGORY, who died on December 28, 1993, aged 53, was a left-handed batsman who made 1,076 runs for Auckland in the I960s. The first of his three first-class centuries, 106 against Northern Districts, was made in only 162 minutes after he had come in at 45 for four. Kemp also won 23 soccer caps for New Zealand between 1960 and 1964. He died in a Sydney hospital a week after a second liver transplant.

KIPPAX, HORACE GRANVILLE, who died on February 23, 1993, aged 83, shared his debut for Yorkshire Colts with Leonard Hutton at Halifax in 1933. Hutton got a duck, while Kippax made 57. Thereafter, their careers diverged, but Kippax played a great deal of league cricket, and his son Peter did appear for Yorkshire.

KORE, JANARDAN JAGANATH, who died on February 1, 1994, aged 71, was a leg-spinning all-rounder who played in seven Ranji Trophy matches for Bombay in the 1940s. He helped develop India's best leg-spinner of the next decade, Subhash Gupte.

LAMASON, INA MABEL, MBE, who died on April 30, 1994, two days before her 83rd birthday, was a former captain of the New Zealand women's team. She was chosen for her batting against England at Christchurch in 1935 but was injured and had to wait 13 years for her Test debut. By the time she did play, she was captain, against Australia in 1947-48 and England a year later. She toured England under Rona McKenzie in 1954 and topped the batting averages in Tests at 44. She managed the New Zealand team at the 1973 World Cup, and also played international hockey. Born Ina Pickering, she was married to Jack Lamason, the Wellington captain, who toured England in 1937.

LANGLEY, BRIAN, who died on January 31, 1994, aged 65, worked at Lord's for more than 40 years, first for MCC and then for the TCCB. As the Board's assistant secretary (administration) until his retirement in 1988, he was responsible for much of the detailed organisation of the county game.

LEE, MARSHALL GILMOUR, who died suddenly on October 7, 1994, aged 57, was a journalist and gifted club cricketer in South Africa, and an unusually far-sighted one. In the early 1970s, along with two other white friends, he began playing for a coloured team at Vrededorp in Natal. This move was considered revolutionary at the time - "They left themselves open to charges of being communists and God knows what," Ali Bacher said later. In 1977, Lee moved to England and briefly presented a sports segment on BBC Newsnight. His last campaign, to have run-outs credited to the fielders on scorecards, was also conducted against the odds, but with the same vigour and passion that marked his stand against apartheid.

LUYT, Sir RICHARD EDMONDS, GCMG, KCVO, DCM, who died in Cape Town, his birthplace, on February 12, 1994, aged 78, was a Rhodes Scholar and played three matches for Oxford University in 1938 as a wicket-keeper without getting a Blue. He was involved in the end of colonial rule as Governor of British Guiana - where he found himself in the middle of something close to civil war - and Chief Secretary of Northern Rhodesia. He later became vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Cape Town, and was often in conflict with the apartheid regime.

McKAY, DOUGLAS GORDON, who died on April 9, 1994, aged 89, was the oldest surviving South Australian Shield player. He played ten times between 1925-26 and 1928-29, averaging 34.64 down the order with a highest score of 87 against Queensland in 1928-29. He only took ten first-class wickets, but he was regarded as a partnership-breaker, and those victims included Bradman, whom he caught and bowled for two, Hobbs, Macartney, Jackson and Kippax twice. He later became a distinguished paediatric surgeon.

McRAE, DONALD ALEXANDER NOEL, died on August 10, 1986, aged 73, but his death did not become known to cricket writers until 1994. McRae was a left-arm medium-pace bowler for Canterbury who was successful in wartime cricket in New Zealand, and was chosen to share the new ball in the Test against Australia at Wellington in 1945-46. He took nought for 44 and played no more first-class cricket.

MATHIAS, WALLIS, who died on September 1, 1994, after a brain haemorrhage, aged 59, was the first non-Muslim to play for Pakistan. He made his debut in November 1955 as a 20-year-old and played in 21 Tests over the next seven years. His greatest merit was his fielding: he was the safe pair of hands in the slips that Pakistan's strong medium-pace attack of that era desperately wanted. He had exceptional reflexes and, though he took some spectacular catches, his great skill was to make hard chances look simple. He was also a middle-order batsman whose figures did not do justice to the usefulness of his runs: he scored 783 runs in Tests at 23.72, but regularly played critical little innings. The 64 and 45 he scored in Pakistan's win over the West Indies at Dacca in 1958-1959 made him easily the most successful batsman in a low scoring game; a year earlier he had scored 73 and 77 in successive tests in the Caribbean. He played three tests in England in 1962, but the following year he suffered a finger injury in the nets which left him with a slight deformity that restricted his brilliant catching. He continued in domestic cricket and scored 278 not out for Karachi Blues against Railway Greens in 1965-66. In 1969-70 he became National Bank's first captain and played on until 1975-76 before becoming coach, selector, and manager. In 146 first-class matches he made 7,520 runs, average 44.49, including 16 centuries. He held 130 catches, 22 in tests. He was a popular captain and a much respected man.

MERRALL, JOHN EDWIN, who died on October 5, 1993, aged 84, was a Yorkshire-born fast-medium bowler, who played twice for Surrey, in 1932 and 1933, and took six wickets. In 1934 he represented Minor Counties against Oxford University.

MULCOCK, EDWARD, died on July 15, 1994, aged 85. Ted (or E.T.) Mulcock was a medium-pace in-swing bowler who had one miraculous hour at first-class level, when he took eight wickets for 32 in 63 balls for Canterbury against Otago in 1937-38, including a hat-trick; he had already toiled through 19 eight-ball overs and taken nought for 39. A few days earlier, he had had figures of six for 53 against Wellington. He took 55 wickets in a dozen first-class matches, but many more in New Zealand club cricket, which he played past his 65th birthday.

NICHOLLS, RONALD BERNARD, who died after a short illness on July 21, 1994, aged 60, was a Gloucestershire man and a county stalwart for a quarter of a century. Without ever attracting much notice, he scored 23,607 runs, more than anyone for Gloucestershire except Hammond, Milton and Dipper. He was an orthodox, straight and willowy player with an excellent on-drive and one flamboyant touch: a flourishing and uncharacteristically risky square-drive which he curbed as time went by. He finally established himself in the first team in 1957 after Jack Crapp's retirement and thereafter hit 1,000 runs every year until 1971, passing 2,000 in 1962. Nicholls was, above all, an unselfish cricketer; he preferred to open but readily dropped down in the mid-1960s to bolster a shaky middle order. His career average of 26.17 does him little justice. He was a superb athlete all his life, fielding well in the outfield and making 161 League appearances as a goalkeeper for Bristol Rovers, Cardiff City, Fulham and Bristol City. Nicholls was still playing cricket, for Cheltenham, a couple of days before he was taken ill; he died in the hospital by the College ground. He was a quiet, pleasant man, given to occasional wry comments after much thought.

OSBORN, GEORGE HENRY, MBE, who died in Sao Paulo on July 1, 1994, aged 78, was the president of the Brazilian Cricket Association and its driving force for many years.

OUTSCHOORN, LADISLAUS, died in London on January 9, 1994, aged 75. "Laddie" Outschoorn was one of the first Ceylonese players to succeed in English cricket. He went to Malaya to work and was captured by the Japanese, suffering greatly. He came to England after the war for rehabilitation and was spotted by Worcestershire playing for Kidderminster. He was already 27 and established himself at once as a stylish batsman, quick on his feet, and a superb close fielder, especially in his early days: in 1949, when Worcestershire came third, he took 55 catches at slip and gully, making him the leading fielder in the country. His best batting season was 1951, when he made 1,761 runs. In all, he played 346 matches and made 15,496 runs at 28.59, including 25 centuries. In 1966 he became Ceylon's national coach.

PARKIN, REGINALD HENRY, who died on April 16, 1994, aged 84, was the son of the England bowler Cecil Parkin, and played for Lancashire 20 times himself between 1931 and 1939 as a batsman and off-spinner.

PEARCE, THOMAS NEILL, OBE, TD, who died at Worthing on April 10, 1994, aged 88, was at the heart of Essex cricket all his adult life. Tom Pearce made his debut in 1929; he was captain, either alone or jointly, from 1933 to 1950 (except in 1939), chairman from 1952 to 1972 and president from 1970 until the month before he died. When he first became captain, the club was about to leave its headquarters at Leyton and its survival was uncertain; when he died Essex had spent 15 years as the most successful team in the country. Before the war, he shared the captaincy with Denys Wilcox: Pearce was in the wine trade and could not spare the whole season and Wilcox was a schoolmaster who could do only the second half. The arrangement worked far better in practice than in theory and Essex rose steadily up the table. Pearce was an imperturbable character both in his batting, which was strong in defence and on the leg side and at its best in a crisis, and in his captaincy, which relied on unflappability and charm rather than tactical niceties. Trevor Bailey recalled him issuing the dressing-room instruction, "Play your shots, but don't get out." He also remembered him scoring 211 not out against Leicestershire in 1948, without ever picking Jack Walsh, and smiling every time he played and missed.

Pearce hit 21 other hundreds in his 250 first-class matches, scoring 12,061 runs at 34.26. He was chosen for the Gentlemen twice, served as a Test selector in 1949 and 1950, and managed MCC's tour of the subcontinent in 1961-62. From 1951 to 1976 he was the match-manager at the Scarborough Festival, prominently assisted by his wife Stella, and T. N. Pearce's XI featured on the fixture list for more than a quarter of a century. From 1956 to 1987, he was also honorary secretary of the British Sportsmen's Club, which traditionally welcomed visiting cricket and rugby teams to England, usually with a meal at the Savoy. He was a good rugby player - as a wing forward for Middlesex and London Counties - but an even better referee. He took charge of ten internationals and it was said that the calmness that served him so well at Essex was even more useful in a packed Stade Colombes. He was appointed OBE for services to sport in 1979. E. W. Swanton called him "the quintessential amateur sportsman of his times, a tough, generous, cheerful competitor, who never made an enemy".

PERERA, FREDERICK, who died on November 26, 1993, aged 76, was one of Ceylon's greatest all-round sportsmen. The war prevented him representing the country at cricket, as he did at soccer and hockey. His 352 not out for Port Commission v Excise in 1957 (not first-class) is regarded as the highest score in any match on the island.

PETTIGREW, ALAN CHARLES, who died on December 16, 1993, aged 58, became the youngest delegate to the Australian Cricket Board when he was 39. He served the Queensland Cricket Association in various capacities and was chairman from 1988 to 1993.

PHAYRE, Brig. ROBERT ARTHUR, DSO, who died on December 31, 1993, aged 92, played in two first-class matches in 1928-29 when on service in India, for the Europeans and the Punjab Governor's XI against the Muslims. In 1921 he captained RMA Woolwich. He won the DSO during the Normandy landings.

PORTER, ARTHUR, who died on February 20, 1994, aged 79, made 38 first-class appearances for Glamorgan between 1936 and 1949, as a middle-order batsman and occasional off-spinner. He played as an amateur, taking time off from his job as a police sergeant in Newport. He scored two centuries, both in 1946, including 105 off a strong Surrey attack at The Oval.

POTTER, WILFRED, who died on March 4, 1994, aged 83, was a Yorkshire-born leg-spinner and cousin of Maurice Leyland, who made one first-class appearance, for Warwickshire against Derbyshire in 1932. He was also an assistant groundsman at Edgbaston.

QURESHI, GHULAM DASTAGIR, who died on January 11, 1994, aged 75, played in 14 matches for Hyderabad, making his debut in 1936-37. His highest Ranji Trophy score was 66 against Madhya Pradesh at Nagpur in 1950-51. He was captain in three of his games and later president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association.

RAMSAMOOJ, DONALD, died on May 24, 1994, after a heart attack in Toronto, aged 61. He played for his native Trinidad and then for Northamptonshire, who signed him in 1957 in the hope that he was going to develop into a great attacking batsman. Unfortunately, by the time he had qualified, he was 28 and the edge had gone off his game. He made a thrilling Championship debut in 1960, with an innings of 123 in only 147 minutes against Derbyshire that seemed like a breath of fresh air. But thereafter he blew more cold than hot, failed to pass 50 in 15 further innings that season, and averaged only 16 in 1961. The club remained patient until 1964, when he left with a first-class average of only 20.55, but a lot of friends. Frank Tyson described him as "brilliantly disappointing".

RICHARDSON, COLIN GEORGE, died on December 22, 1993, aged 73. Col Richardson was a left-arm swing bowler who played eight matches for Tasmania after the Second World War. He was one of five brothers to play first-class cricket for Tasmania; a sixth was a first-class umpire and his father and uncle also represented the island.

ROBINSON, MAURICE, who died on August 8, 1994, aged 73, was an amateur batsman and occasional fast-medium bowler from Ulster who played first-class cricket for several teams: the Europeans, Hyderabad and Madras in India during the war and then Glamorgan and Warwickshire. In 83 first-class matches, he scored 2,719 runs at 22.10. On his day, he was an entertaining batsman: one of his two centuries was a magnificent 190 for Glamorgan at Bournemouth in 1949 and the 264 he put on there with Stan Montgomery for the fifth wicket is still a county record. He was more generally entertaining for those closer at hand, since his cricket was punctuated by Irish drollery and irreverence.

RUSSELL, SIDNEY EDWARD JAMES, died in Quebec on June 18, 1994, aged 56, after suffering a heart attack while on holiday. Sid Russell had a curious career, split between two counties: Middlesex, from 1960 to 1964, and Gloucestershire, the team on the receiving end of his two centuries for Middlesex, from 1965 to 1968. He was a solid batsman, despite a rather ungainly style, and made 1,000 runs in his debut season for both counties, but not otherwise. He was a good footballer and made 61 League appearances for Brentford.

SMITH, CYRIL, who died on January 12, 1994, aged 92, scored for Northamptonshire's first and second teams from 1962 and was the club statistician.

STEPTOE, DOUGLAS GEORGE, BEM, died on June 11, 1994, aged 71, in Copenhagen, where he was born. He was secretary of the Danish Cricket Association for many years and translated the Laws into Danish several times. For about 30 years he worked on a detailed history of the game in Denmark, and completed it days before he died. He was awarded the BEM while in the Royal Navy in 1943, for his part in the Sicily landings.

STEVENS, JAMES NORMAN, who died on December 23, 1993, aged 83, was an amateur fast-medium bowler and tail-end batsman, who was brought into the struggling Northamptonshire side in August 1937. Given the new ball in five Championship games, he took nine wickets at 48.88.

STEVENSON, MICHAEL HAMILTON, died on September 19, 1994, aged 67. Mike Stevenson was up at Cambridge from 1949 to 1952 and won his Blue in all four years, in a line-up that included, at various times, six batsmen who were to play for England: Dewes, Doggart, Insole, May, Sheppard and Subba Row. In his freshman year, Stevenson made 70 and 37 and played an important part in an unexpected Cambridge victory. Thereafter, his batting, though often pugnacious, was unreliable and he lost his bowling action. His subsequent cricketing career was not as glamorous as that of most of his team-mates: he played three matches for Derbyshire and a few for Ireland and MCC. But he remained associated with the game all his life: he was a successful cricket master at both Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Blackburn and Pocklington School. Later, he wrote about cricket as a freelance, mainly for the Daily Telegraph, and published books about Yorkshire cricket and Ray Illingworth. He was steeped in cricket, and his tireless zest for the game shone through both his coaching and his reporting.

STIMPSON, ALLAN PETER, who drowned in Manakua Harbour, Auckland, in 1994, aged 43, was a fast bowler who played in 24 first-class matches for Northern Districts during the 1970s. He took 61 wickets, including six for 46 against Wellington in 1975-76. He represented a New Zealand Invitation XI against the Australians in a one-day match at Eden Park the following season.

SUNDARESAN, P. N., died on March 3, 1994. A lawyer by profession, he was a respected cricket writer who edited Indian Cricket from 1966 to 1974 and was Wisden's Indian correspondent from 1967 to 1990.

THOMAS, WESLEY LEON, died from cancer of the liver in Grenada on February 1, 1994, aged 29. Wes Thomas played in 21 first-class matches for the Winward Islands, in which he made 418 runs and took 46 wickets. For seven seasons he was a successful and popular all-rounder for Blaydon in the Tyneside Senior League.

THOY, REGINALD ERNEST, who died in 1994, aged 72, played in two first-class matches, both at Eastbourne, for D. R. Jardine's XI against Oxford University in 1955 and 1957. In 1955 he opened the batting with R. E. S. Wyatt, then 54.

TINDALL, MARK, MBE, who died on July 10, 1994, aged 80, was elegant both as a cricketer and as a man. He was regarded as a tremendous teenage prospect and scored 1,000 runs over his last two years at Harrow, including an unbeaten 202 against MCC. Making his debut for Middlesex as a 19-year-old only weeks after leaving school, he hit 85 against a Nottinghamshire attack led by Bill Voce. He made a century in his Freshmen's Match at Cambridge, won a Blue in hist first year, passed 1,000 runs in all first-class cricket in 1936 and was captain in 1937. However, little went right for Cambridge that year and his own form declined. He played no first-class cricket after 1938 but became master-in-charge of cricket at Harrow from 1946 to 1959. He was a good enough player to lead the Harrow Wanderers in the Cricketer Cup when he was 55. But he affected a languid indifference in all circumstances. During a game for the St Edward's Martyrs at Oxford - he had taught at the school before the war - he was seen to produce a newly pressed silk handkerchief to sit on at the fall of a wicket. He was fielding at cover and his immaculate creams, just right for a Victorian picnic, had to be protected at all costs. He was once heard to ask with his usual world-weary air: "Do I have to do all the bloody batting, all the bloody bowling and all the bloody pouching in this team?" The weariness disguised the fact that he actually cared. He was awarded the MBE for war services in Italy.

TOVEY, GORDON CHARLES, who died on April 16, 1994, aged 81, made one first-class appearance, for Cambridge University against Northamptonshire, in 1933 but played for Dorset from 1929 until 1953. In 1947 he founded Tockington Manor, a prep school near Bristol.

TOWNSEND, ARNOLD FREDERICK, who died on February 25, 1994, aged 81, was the younger brother of the England all-rounder Leslie, who died in 1993. He played as a professional for Derbyshire from 1934 until 1950, when his career was ended by the after-effects of an eye injury sustained while fielding at short leg the previous year: his ability to focus properly was seriously impaired. He had hit form properly only after the war: he passed 1,000 runs in both 1946 and 1947. Overall, his record - 4,327 runs at 23.13 with five centuries - was not impressive, but he was batting at a time when Derbyshire habitually played on greentops and he was the epitome of their patient, watchful batting.

TREANOR, JOHN CASSIMAR, who died on November 7, 1993, aged 71, took a hat-trick on his first-class debut, for New South Wales against Queensland at Brisbane in 1954-55. Jack Treanor bowled leg-breaks and was enormously successful in grade cricket: he played 16 matches for the state over three seasons.

TUKE-HASTINGS, MICHAEL, who died on January 26, 1993, aged 73, was the producer in charge of cricket on BBC radio from the mid-1950s until 1972 and was responsible for the start of Test Match Special in 1957. He initially joined the BBC as a sound effects man; his work included The Goon Show. He retired to Alderney in 1979 and became a member of the legislature, The States. Although John Arlott was a neighbour, they were not close friends.

VANCE, ROBERT ALAN, CBE, who died on November 7, 1994, aged 69, was one of New Zealand cricket's most important administrators. He was a gruff, plain-spoken man with a forceful personality who helped ensure that New Zealand moved into a front seat in world cricket. He was chairman of the New Zealand Cricket Council from 1978 to 1987. He managed the tour to England in 1986, and used his influence to ensure that his country was joint-host with Australia for the 1992 World Cup. As a player, he was a dashing but inconsistent batsman who played 40 matches for Wellington over 15 seasons, starting in 1949. His son, also Robert, played four Tests for New Zealand in the late 1980s.

WALLACE, BOON, who died on June 25, 1994, aged 84, was president of the South African Cricket Association (later Union) four times between 1963 and 1980. Wallace - christened Bryan - was one of the game's most important administrators there in the hopeless period as South Africa was frozen out of world cricket, before a new, more activist generation of leaders began the rebel tours. His personal relations with Lord's remained warm; as the world was refusing recognition of his country, MCC made him, in 1974, an honorary life member. He played 14 Currie Cup matches for Western Province in the 1930s. In the 1960s, as their president, he combined with Eddie Barlow as captain to pull the team round. He was said to be the only man Barlow was scared of.

WARN, EDWIN JAMES, died on June 13, 1994, aged 82. Ted Warn was Surrey's head groundsman from 1965 to 1975, having served his apprenticeship under "Rosser" Martin and Bert Lock. His moment of glory came at the 1968 Test against Australia when The Oval was flooded at lunchtime on the final day and Australian journalists filed the news that the series was won. When the sun came out at 2.15, Warn asked for volunteers from the crowd and Ted's Army, armed with brooms and blankets, cleared the pitch in time for Derek Underwood to bowl England to an astonishing victory and square the series.

WARNE, FRANK BELMONT, who died in South Africa on May 29, 1994. aged 87, was a cricketing nomad who played first-class domestic cricket on four continents. His father, T. S. Warne, played 40 games for Victoria at the turn of the century. Frank played only two, in 1926-27 and 1928-29, before qualifying for Worcestershire. He played 78 times for the county between 1934 and 1938 as a useful but unspectacular left-hand bat (he hit exactly 1,000 runs in 1935) and sometimes very effective leg-spinner. He spent three winters during this time playing for the Europeans in India, and helped the semi-official Australian team on its Indian tour in 1935-36. He went to South Africa during the war, playing once for Transvaal; his final first-class match was in Johannesburg for the Rest of South Africa against an Air Force Xl in 1942-43 - he scored 108. the last of his three centuries.

WATSON, THOMAS MEAD, who died on August 7, 1994, aged 81, was a left-hand bat who played in three matches for Oxford University in 1933-34. He subsequently taught French at his old school, Monkton Combe, and was commissioned by MCC to write a guide to cricket in French, Le Jeu de Cricket.

YOUNG, JAMES OSWALD, who died on March 7, 1994, aged 80, was an all-rounder, who bowled both pace and spin in his career, and made one of the fastest centuries in South African cricket. Playing for Eastern Province against Orange Free State in 1947-48, he reached 100 in 62 minutes.

YOUNGMAN, DAVID THOMAS EVELYN, who died on December 28, 1993, aged 62, was honorary treasurer of Sussex CCC from 1989 to 1993, and for two years a member of the TCCB's finance committee.