Wisden Obituaries - 2012

ABEYNAIKE, RANIL GEMUNU, who died on February 21, aged 57, was a true allrounder - player, coach, groundsman and commentator. A handy batsman and a slow leftarmer with a rather jerky action, he took six wickets for the Sri Lanka Board President's XI against a strong Pakistan touring team in January 1976, and played against Tony Greig's 1976-77 MCC side, before several seasons with Bedfordshire. In 1982-83 - the year after Sri Lanka's inaugural Tests - he scored 171 for the Sinhalese Sports Club against the Police, sharing a big opening stand with Arjuna Ranatunga. Abeynaike made another hundred a fortnight later, but never cracked the Test side. He later became groundsman and general manager at Colombo's SSC, although he was better known as a TV commentator. "He talked a lot of common sense about the game," said Ian Chappell. "And he did the best pitch reports I've heard."

AKBAR, SAEED SHAHID, died on November 28, aged 54. Shahid Akbar was a youthful prodigy who never fulfilled the promise which prompted 1970s contemporaries to imagine him opening India's batting with Sunil Gavaskar. A wristy left-hander and superb fielder, he played 31 first-class matches, mostly for Hyderabad, with a best of 97 (run out) against Tamil Nadu at Madras in 1977-78.

ALAGANAN, R. BALU, who died on October 11, aged 87, captained Madras (now Tamil Nadu) to their inaugural Ranji Trophy title in 1954-55. In the final, against Holkar at Indore, Alaganan made 56 not out from No. 9 in the second innings, adding 77 for the last wicket with M. K. Murugesh; Madras won by 46 runs. Alaganan surprised some by retiring after that triumph, which came in only his sixth first-class match and at the age of 30. He turned instead to administration - he was the state association's vice-president for 25 years from 1961, and assistant manager on some Indian tours - and commentary, becoming a popular voice on All India Radio.

ALEXANDER, LEONARD JAMES, who died on July 22, aged 90, kept wicket for Tasmania in nine matches between 1946-47 and 1951-52. In the last of them, at the MCG, he allowed no byes in Victoria's innings of 647.

ALI, ASHRAF RAJA, died of a suspected heart attack on October 21, aged 36. Raja Ali was a member of the Railways team who won two Ranji Trophies. A big-hitting left-hander who started his career with Madhya Pradesh, Ali averaged almost 40 in first-class cricket, with nine centuries, three of them (including his highest, 148 against his former MP team-mates) during Railways' first title season in 2001-02. He also made 80 in the successful 2004-05 final against Punjab. "I used to call him Sankat Mochan [crisis man]," said the former Indian leg-spinner Narendra Hirwani. "I still wonder how he kept his cool under pressure." Ali played some one-day games for Central Zone, whose players wore black armbands during the Duleep Trophy final in Chennai which coincided with news of his death.

ALIMUDDIN, who died on July 12, was an early star of Pakistan cricket, winning 25 Test caps between 1954 and 1962. Well-built and attacking by nature, he scored an unbeaten 103 against India at Karachi in 1954-55, when his partnership of 155 with his captain Abdul Hafeez Kardar came at almost a run a minute - an unheard-of rate in the usually sepulchral matches between the two countries at that time. He made 109 against England in 1961-62, also at Karachi, after a period out of favour, and scored 12 other centuries in a long career that stretched to 1967-68, after which he had a brief spell as national coach. "He was not just a stylish player but a very decent human being," said Hanif Mohammad, a frequent opening partner. "He was very good company, and entertained us through his songs." If Alimuddin's published date of birth (December 15, 1930) is correct, he was 81 when he died - but that would mean he made his first-class debut in a Ranji Trophy semi-final in India in February 1943 at the age of 12, which players from the time discount. It seems likely he was five or six years older: Nasim-ul- Ghani, a Test team-mate, suggested he was nearer 90. Alim eventually settled in London, where he worked for Pakistan International Airlines - the uncertainty about his age caused problems with his pension; it was restored after Pakistan's president intervened.

ANANDAPPA, IGNATIUS, who died on July 4, aged 73, was a club off-spinner who later turned to umpiring. He stood in three Tests - the first, against Australia in Colombo in August 1992, was also Muttiah Muralitharan's debut - and seven one-day internationals in Sri Lanka in the 1990s.

ATHAR ZAIDI, SYED HUSSAIN, who died on November 30, aged 66, was a stocky umpire from Lahore who stood in eight Tests and ten one-day internationals between 1984 and 2002. Aleem Dar, now on the ICC's elite panel, credited Athar with persuading him to take on the job: "He taught me all the basic principles needed to become a good professional umpire."

BEAUMONT, RICHARD, collapsed on the field on August 4, shortly after taking five wickets for Pedmore against Astwood Bank in the Worcestershire County League. He was airlifted to hospital, but pronounced dead shortly after arrival. He was 33. "There was no sign of what was to happen," said Astwood Bank's captain Steve Adshead, the former Gloucestershire wicketkeeper. "He had been bowling really well."

BHAGALIA, SALIM, who died in November, aged 90, was one of the best fast bowlers to emerge from South Africa's Indian community in the 1940s, although he was denied the chance of first-class cricket by his government's policies. A left-armer with a fiery temper, Bhagalia spearheaded Transvaal's successful bid for the national non-white competition in 1951. A knee injury finally forced him to retire at 59.

BHIKANE, KISHOR PRAKASH, was killed while returning from a club game on March 4, when his motorcycle - which he had been awarded as the best bowler of the Maharashtra Premier League Twenty20 tournament in 2011 - collided with a truck near Latur, on the road between Pune and Mumbai. Bhikane, 24, was a medium-pacer who had played three first-class and several limited-overs matches for Maharashtra.

BLAKE, Rev. Canon PETER DOUGLAS STUART, who died on December 11, 2011, aged 84, showed enormous promise as a stylish batsman and an imaginative, enthusiastic captain at Eton in 1945. Three years later, he became the first post-war player to be capped by Sussex. "I think they saw him as future captaincy material," said Hubert Doggart, a contemporary at Hove. But Blake's priorities were to change: he served in the army in Germany immediately after the war, and listened to evidence in the trials of Nazi war criminals from the Ravensbruck concentration camp. He decided his future lay in the church and, after reading theology at Oxford, was ordained in 1955, later becoming rector of Mufulira in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). He had a notable career in Africa, working with young people and supervising the building of two churches. At Eton, where he was also a successful boxer, Blake had carried the batting in his final year, scoring nearly 800 runs, including five centuries, although Wisden noted that the club sides among the opposition were not as strong as usual. He played for Sussex between 1946 and 1951, and Oxford University from 1950 to 1952 (captaining them in his final year), scoring 2,067 runs at 22 in 58 matches, including three hundreds and a career-best 130 against Worcestershire in the Parks in 1952.

BRIDGE, DEREK JAMES WILSON, who died on March 13, was a pillar of Dorset cricket, playing for the county for 20 years from 1949, as captain from 1954 to 1966. He later served as their secretary and president, and was also president of the Minor Counties Cricket Association from 1997 to 2002. An off-spinner, Bridge dismissed Cyril Washbrook with the first ball he bowled for Dorset, and in all took 429 wickets for them, in addition to scoring 3,705 runs: he took eight for 35 against Oxfordshire in 1962. Bridge was an Oxford Blue - but for rugby, rather than cricket: he was an England triallist an represented the Barbarians. He did play one first-class match for Oxford University, and three for Northamptonshire, in 1947. He later became a schoolmaster, and ran the cricket at Sherborne for 21 years.

BURGIN, ERIC, who died on November 16, aged 88, was a medium pacer from Sheffield who played a dozen matches for Yorkshire, nine of them in 1952, when they finished second in the Championship to Surrey - despite Burgin's six for 43 in a nine-wicket victory over the eventual champions at Headingley. Shortly before that, in the Roses match at Old Trafford, Burgin had opened the bowling with Fred Trueman - whom he had coached at Sheffield United CC - and took five for 20 with what Wisden called "accurate inswingers", as Lancashire were skittled for 65. Trueman, who cut down his pace when he saw how his partner was bowling, ended up with five for 26. But Burgin was already 28, and other, faster, bowlers moved ahead of him the following season, when he made only one Championship appearance - although he did have the satisfaction of dismissing Australia's openers, Arthur Morris and Graeme Hole, at Bradford. Burgin was also a useful footballer, a centre-half, who captained York City. He later served on Yorkshire's general committee.

BYRNE, PETER EDWARD, who died on December 9, aged 70, was a familiar face in the media centre at Lord's, as a scorer and knowledgeable statistician, and for some years provided the facts and figures for Middlesex's match programmes. He was married to Lilian, MCC's famously volatile receptionist, until her death in December 2006. A vice-president of The Cricket Society since 2009, he was also passionate about football - unusually following both Spurs and Arsenal - and an authority on ice hockey.

CARR OF HADLEY, LORD (Leonard Robert), PC, who died on February 17, aged 95, was Secretary of State for Employment, and then Home Secretary, in Edward Heath's Conservative government (1970-74). In 1976, after 26 years as an MP, Robert Carr became a life peer, and was soon appointed chairman of Prudential Assurance; he was a familiar figure at cricket presentations for the tournaments sponsored by the company, which included the World Cups of 1979 and 1983. He was also president of Surrey in 1985-86.

CARRIGAN, AUBREY HERBERT, died on May 23, aged 94. Aub Carrigan was a key member of the Queensland side for seven seasons after serving as a gunner in the Second World War. His team-mate Ken Archer remembered him as "no stylist, but with a powerful bottom hand, particularly when he was cutting, a good competitor and a good athlete". He made a habit of scoring runs against touring teams, hitting a neat 100 in quick time against Freddie Brown's 1950-51 England side, followed next season by 169 out of 253 while he was at the crease against the West Indians, when he hammered the point boundary every time leg-spinner Wilf Ferguson dropped short. Carrigan's medium-paced bowling was useful enough to be given the new ball occasionally: he took four for 95 against South Australia in 1948-49. In addition, he was a versatile and gifted fieldsman. Made captain for his final season in 1951-52, he led Queensland out of the cellar to joint-second in the Sheffield Shield, before spending a successful summer as professional with Church in the Lancashire League. Talented in a number of sports, Carrigan played on the wing in Australian Rules football, appearing in five national carnivals; he also won a state table tennis championship after entering on the day of the tournament following a casual suggestion from a friend. In later life, he represented Queensland at lawn bowls.

CARTER, RAYMOND GEORGE, died on November 13, aged 79. Ray Carter was a versatile bowler who could switch from pace to off-spin, a development initially forced on him when he returned to Warwickshire in 1955 after National Service to find competition for fast-bowling spots. "He was tall and slender, with long arms and legs," remembered his former team-mate Billy Ibadulla. "Depending on conditions, he could change to brisk off-break bowling - and on helpful pitches he could be more than a handful." In 1957, Carter took five for 56 against Nottinghamshire with his quicker stuff, then seven for 57 with off-cutters a fortnight later to set up victory over Gloucestershire at Bristol. He took 70 wickets that year, and 81 in 1958, with a career-best seven for 39 against Worcestershire at Edgbaston - a "devastating" piece of fast-medium bowling, according to Wisden, which included a spell of 8.4-6-7-5. Thereafter, he was increasingly troubled by a back injury, which forced his retirement in 1961.

CHERRY, HUGH, who died on October 14, aged 81, devoted much of his life to Warwickshire, as a committee member and manager of the Under-19 side for more than 40 years. Jim Troughton, who captained the county to the 2012 Championship, was one of many to emerge from the youth system set up largely by Cherry. "He played an integral part in the development of lots of young cricketers," said Troughton. "They owe Hugh a debt of gratitude. He was loved by all the guys, and he didn't mind having the mickey taken out of his distinctive Yorkshire accent."

CLARK, GEORGE, who died on September 2, aged 85, served Essex for 29 years, principally as a dressing-room attendant at Chelmsford. He was a man who believed there was no crisis that could not be eased by a cup of tea. Ronnie Irani remembered: "When I arrived for my first day at Essex and walked through the gates, he said, 'I can't believe Lancashire have let you go, and I am so happy you've joined Essex.' As a young man who had just left home for the first time and travelled over six hours on the train, his words always stayed with me." Irani was even prepared to tolerate Clark sitting next to him to smoke his roll-up cigarettes. He was, said Nasser Hussain, "Essex through and through".

COLEMAN, ROBERT GORDON, who died on August 21, aged 90, was a journalist who worked mainly for the Melbourne Herald. He wrote several books, including one that threw fresh light on the Pyjama Girl Murder (a notorious crime in 1930s Australia), and Seasons in the Sun, a huge history of the Victorian Cricket Association.

COOPER, GRAHAM CHARLES, who died on April 18, aged 75, played more than 250 matches for Sussex over 15 years from 1955. "Coop had a talent with both bat and ball, with a certain cocky bravado," remembered Ted Dexter, his captain for many years. "But I always thought he was a little short of confidence. Nevertheless, he was a survivor, and clung on to a place in a decent side for quite a few seasons." Capped in 1961, Cooper usually went in after Sussex's strokemakers, and often shored up the innings from No. 7, where he scored both his first-class hundreds: 141 against Warwickshire in 1960, and 142 against Essex at Hove in 1963 after entering at 55 for five. He was able to use the long handle if required: in the second year of the Gillette Cup, in 1964, he and Jim Parks rescued Sussex, the holders, against Durham (then a Minor County) by piling on 134 in an hour. Cooper was also a handy off-spinner: he finished with exactly 100 wickets, including five for 16 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 1961, and five for 13 against Oxford University in 1963. Among the victims was the Nawab of Pataudi, soon to be Cooper's county captain.

COURY, LEROY ARTHUR, died on October 22, aged 76. Coury's leg-breaks and googlies, allied to Edgar Gilbert's left-arm spin, played an important part as St Kitts dominated the annual Leewards Islands tournament, which predated the smaller territories' introduction into the Caribbean's domestic first-class competition (as Combined Islands) in 1966. Coury played seven first-class matches for the Leewards, the last against the touring Australians in 1965. A businessman of Lebanese descent, he was a benefactor to several young cricketers, and a long-standing member of the St Kitts Cricket Association.

COWLEY, TERENCE JOHN, died on January 30, aged 83. In another time and another place, Terry Cowley would surely have worn the Baggy Green - but he played for Tasmania when their cricket was largely ignored by the mainland. Local cricket historian Rick Smith is unequivocal in nominating him among the best bowlers ever to represent them. Cowley - who started in 1948-49, and was captain for his last five seasons, from 1956-57 - moved the ball both ways in the air and off the pitch at a pace which was as deceptively sharp as it was chokingly accurate. Australia's wicketkeeper Don Tallon, on his way to England in 1953, grumbled after facing him: "Bloody hell, you spend all your time playing against Alec Bedser, and you come down here for a couple of social games and have to face him all over again." He took five for 92 against the 1958-59 MCC tourists, and two seasons later castled Garry Sobers in successive matches. In Launceston grade cricket, where his geniality and wisdom made him a revered figure, Cowley took 908 wickets at just over ten apiece. His younger brother, Ian, played four games for Tasmania in the early 1960s.

COX, CLIFFORD, died on February 4, aged 79. Lancashire-born Cliff Cox became a pillar of cricket in Canada, opening the batting for the national team and captaining them in the annual match against the United States in 1969 and 1970. He later served on the Canadian cricket board, and was a strong advocate of the women's game. An MCC touring team played a match in his memory at the picturesque Brockton Point ground in Vancouver in July 2012.

COXON, ALAN JOHN, who died on November 7, aged 82, was a left-arm medium-pacer who played 17 times for Oxford University between 1951 and 1954. His only Blue came in his second year, when he entered at 127 for seven in the follow-on and made 43 not out - the next-highest score of his career was 16 - as Oxford salvaged an unlikely draw against an attack led by Cuan McCarthy and John Warr, two Test fast bowlers. Hubert Doggart, in the Varsity Match history he co-wrote with George Chesterton, recalled "Coxon, Oxford's No. 9, heading a short-pitched ball from McCarthy with remarkable insouciance to cover point". Coxon played only one further first-class match, for MCC against his former university at Lord's in 1958. He was employed by the brewers Guinness for many years, supervising their operations in Nigeria and, later, working in the Far East and South America.

CRAWFORD, MICHAEL GROVE, who died on December 2, aged 92, was Yorkshire's treasurer for 30 years, and the club's chairman at the time of Geoff Boycott's sacking in 1983. This was overturned by the membership, and the committee resigned; Boycott played on for three more years. "He was a real gentleman," said Robin Smith, a recent Yorkshire president, "an urbane and friendly person of unquestioned integrity." The softly spoken Crawford had been a proficient all-round sportsman, a football Blue at Cambridge and a batsman good enough to score several half-centuries for Yorkshire's Second Eleven, which he captained in 1951. He also played one Championship match in August that year, skippering against Worcestershire at Scarborough in the absence of Norman Yardley: Yorkshire went down to an eight-run defeat which harmed their title chances (they eventually finished second, behind Warwickshire). In 1952 he shared leadership duties in the Second Eleven with Ronnie Burnet, and their paths would cross again six years later when Crawford - who captained Leeds CC throughout the 1950s - was asked to take charge of the first team as Yorkshire doggedly searched for a suitable amateur captain. He declined because of the demands of his accountancy business: 39-year-old Burnet got the job instead, and led Yorkshire to the Championship in 1959.

CURRIE, MARGARET JOYCE, died on October 5, aged 80. Joyce Currie (later Inness) was a bowler from Christchurch, quite speedy for women's cricket in the 1950s, who played three Tests for New Zealand. She opened the bowling in a soggy draw at The Oval in 1954, and won two further caps when England toured in 1957-58, taking three for 36 in the First Test at Christchurch. During her England tour Currie claimed six for 22 - from 20 overs - against the West at Torquay.

DALVI, MADHAV MANGESH, who died on October 1, aged 87, made a remarkable start to his first-class career late in 1947, following innings of 81, 63 not out and 67 in a Bombay festival tournament with 150 not out on his Ranji Trophy debut, for Bombay against Sind, then hitting 143 against Maharashtra. Thus after four matches he averaged 168. He couldn't keep that up, although he did score 110 in the 1948-49 Ranji Trophy final victory over Baroda. He lost his place in a strong side in the late 1950s, but reappeared as Vidarbha's captain in 1961-62, making centuries in what turned out to be his last two first-class games before a car accident ended his playing career.

DHARMA, PANDIAN KUMAR, was found dead at his home in Chennai on June 20. He was 20, and had seemingly committed suicide. Dharma made two one-day appearances for Tamil Nadu, and the day before his death had been playing a club final at the Chidambaram Stadium, in which he was apparently disappointed to take only one wicket. "He was a promising youngster who turned into a fine all-rounder," said Sridharan Sriram, the former Indian one-day player who was Dharma's club captain.

DICK, IAN ROBINSON, died on September 5, aged 86. He captained the Western Australian Colts against the 1950-51 MCC tourists, and later that season played as a batsman against Queensland in what was to be his only state match, despite scoring nearly 9,000 runs for his club, South Perth. A gifted hockey player, Dick played for WA from 1946 to 1959, and represented Australia in all their internationals for a decade from 1948, captaining them in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, when he scored the first goal of the tournament. His brother, Alec, played once for WA in 1948-49, and he was a cousin of Alex Robinson, who also died in 2012.

FORMSTONE, GEORGE HAYNES, died on December 30, aged 81. Haynes Formstone, from Wrexham, devoted his life to cricket in Denbighshire, where he was honorary secretary for more than 50 years and rarely missed a game. A special match to celebrate his half-century was staged at Brymbo in July 2006.

FORTE, Major JOHN KNOX, MBE, who died on August 9, aged 96, kept cricket alive in Corfu, where he was the British vice-consul from 1958 to 1971. His initiatives included an appeal to readers of the Daily Telegraph, which produced 50 bats and 350 balls, and a pleasant history of cricket on the island, Play's the Thing, in 1988. This included tales of a batsman who was a heavy scorer, even though his ample stomach forced him to bat one-handed, and an unsuccessful attempt to introduce women's cricket, which was soon banned by the military governor after a lady batsman was smacked on the nose by a bouncer. By 2012 there were 14 cricket clubs in Greece, 11 of them on Corfu. Forte (pronounced "Fort") also produced several travel books and guides, which helped popularise the island as a holiday destination. As a 15-year-old Bradfield schoolboy, he had taken two for four at Lord's.

FUARD, MOHAMED ABDAL HASSAIN, died on July 28, aged 75. Abu Fuard was a prime mover behind Sri Lanka's push for Test status: he enlisted the help of prominent politicians, including the cabinet minister Gamini Dissanayake, who joined the national cricket board and added gravitas to the Sri Lankan delegation at the ICC. Sri Lanka finally became a Test-playing country in 1981-82 - "the greatest day in the life of Abu Fuard", according to his friend, the journalist Elmo Rodrigopulle. As a player, Fuard had been a tall, canny off-spinner, armed with what would probably now be called a doosra. In April 1961 he impressed the Australian team en route for England, dismissing Bill Lawry and Bob Simpson; their captain, Richie Benaud, said he wished he could take Fuard with him for the Ashes. In all, he represented Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) for 15 years, taking six for 31 for the Board President's XI against an International XI, composed mainly of English county players, in March 1968. He was Sri Lanka's manager/coach at the inaugural World Cup in 1975, and assistant manager for the next one, in 1979, when they beat India; he was also in charge when Sri Lanka won their first Test, against India in Colombo in September 1985. Fuard had a ten-year spell as a national selector, for a while chairing the panel, and was also instrumental in redeveloping grounds - particularly the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy - to make them suitable for international cricket.

GAUNT, RONALD ARTHUR, died on March 30, aged 78. Red-haired and robust, Ron "Pappy" Gaunt - whose nickname came from the American bantamweight boxer "Pappy" Gault - was arguably the cream of the crop of fast bowlers who made life miserable for visiting batsmen on the peppery Perth pitch in the second half of the 1950s. Broad-shouldered and unrelenting, he had a smooth action which hid a wicked bumper among his customary outswingers. John Rutherford, Western Australia's first home-grown Test cricketer, remembered him as "fit as a bull and the quickest bowler in the state team of his time". He recalled the 20-year-old Gaunt's first match, against Queensland in 1955-56, when he bowled Neil Harvey's older brother, Mick, with a lightning full toss which sent stumps and bails hurtling towards the keeper. The following season he cut a swathe through New South Wales at Sydney: a career-best seven for 104 was made up exclusively of Test players. As a left-handed batsman, he generally aimed to hit the ball as hard as he could in the arc between long-on and midwicket; occasionally it worked, and he took 20 off an over of Ian Crowden's off-breaks at Hobart in 1961-62.

But it was Gaunt's misfortune to be competing for a Test spot with Alan Davidson, Ray Lindwall, Ian Meckiff and Graham McKenzie: his three caps were spread over six years.

Called to South Africa as an injury replacement in 1957-58, he bowled Dick Westcott in his first over at Durban, but had to wait nine hours for his next success, eventually removing the somnolent Jackie McGlew. A side strain robbed him of a month's cricket early in the 1961 tour of England, but good form later on, including six for 50 against Somerset, earned him a chance in the final Test at The Oval, where he removed Raman Subba Row, Ted Dexter and Ken Barrington. John Arlott enthused that Gaunt "made the ball dart and dive about like a swallow chasing flies". And finally, at Adelaide in 1963-64, after being flayed by Eddie Barlow and Graeme Pollock, Gaunt rebounded by dismissing Colin Bland and Peter Carlstein in successive overs. These three appearances, plus two second-string tours of New Zealand were scant reward for his talents.

In 1960 Gaunt, who worked as a sales representative for Walpamur Paints, took his colour cards across the Nullarbor Plain to Melbourne, in search of further employment and cricket opportunities. There he cut his run-up significantly - and his pace slightly - without reducing his effectiveness, and became an important element of the Victorian attack for four seasons. He remained a significant influence at the Footscray club, where his wise advice helped shape four future Australian bowlers in Alan Hurst, Merv Hughes, Colin Miller and Tony Dodemaide, who praised Gaunt's "patient and knowledgeable" skills as a coach.

GHOSH, HAROLD, who died on January 17, aged 75, had a long career in Indian domestic cricket, which stretched from December 1951, when he was 15, until 1974-75. Initially a left-arm spinner, Ghosh became a solid left-hand batsman who made four Ranji Trophy centuries, the highest an undefeated 166 for Railways against a Delhi side including the young Bishan Bedi, on Christmas Day 1965. The nearest he came to representative honours were two matches for North Zone against touring teams in the 1960s.

GIBSON, DAVID, died on June 7, aged 76. Tall, well-built and able to generate pace and bounce from a rhythmic run-up and a side-on action that made the purists purr, David Gibson had what it took to become a fast bowler at the highest level. He was useful with the bat, too, and his athletic movement around the field hinted at a man who had represented England schools' rugby XVs at full-back. But Gibson's career was stalled at a key moment by a knee injury, and he was never quite the same bowler. Instead, he became a respected coach, all the while leaving former Surrey team-mates to wonder what might have been. The full promise of Gibson, who hailed from Mitcham, was underlined on his Championship debut, at the age of 21, against Gloucestershire at Bristol in July 1957. He took ten for 132 but, such was Surrey's strength in the year of a sixth successive title, that he played just once more that summer; they were match figures he would never better. He made a more substantial contribution in 1958, deputising when illness sidelined Alec Bedser. He claimed 37 wickets, and came to the fore as Surrey began to rebuild when their years of domination ended. In 1960, Gibson took 90 wickets at 17, including seven for 26 against Derbyshire at The Oval. It remained his career-best, and earned him his county cap. There were 95 wickets in 1961, when he was in with a chance of international recognition. "The selectors were certainly looking closely at him after those two outstanding seasons," said Micky Stewart. But he suffered his first serious knee injury in 1962, and attention switched elsewhere. He recovered sufficiently to have another magnificent season in 1965, taking 86 wickets at 20 and scoring 996 runs at 34. Against Leicestershire at The Oval he was bowled by Peter Marner two short of what would have been his only first-class century. "He had the ability to bat at six or seven if he had really wanted to," said Stewart. Further knee trouble in 1966, however, more or less put paid to his career. There were just a handful of appearances thereafter, including a remarkable performance for the Second Eleven at Guildford in 1969, when he finished with figures of 16.4-10-13-10 as Sussex were skittled for 35. Bob Willis and Robin Jackman remained wicketless. Gibson, nicknamed "Hoot" in tribute to an American cowboy actor called Hoot Gibson, retired at the end of that summer, after taking 552 wickets at 22 in 185 matches, and scoring 3,143 runs at almost 19. He had already taken MCC coaching qualifications and, at the behest of Stewart, the county's new cricket manager, he returned to The Oval in 1979 as county coach. Stewart said: "He was very good technically with bowlers - excellent at getting the information across in a way that could be understood." Later, Gibson emigrated to Australia and moved to Bowral. One day in 2007, he arrived at the Bradman Museum and offered his services, mentioning that he "knew a bit about the game". He became a popular guide, and a kindly coach to children visiting the nets. "We were honoured to have such a distinguished Pommy in our midst," said the curator David Wells. "Ill health forced his withdrawal from volunteering, but he did manage to attend the opening of the International Cricket Hall of Fame in November 2010, and I vividly remember him proudly wearing his Surrey blazer."

GIFFORD, JOSHUA THOMAS, MBE, who died on February 9, aged 70, was a giant in British horse racing. In the first half of his career, Josh Gifford was champion National Hunt jockey on four occasions; in the second, he became one of racing's most successful trainers, for ever associated with the storybook triumph of Aldaniti in the 1981 Grand National. Yet visitors to Gifford's yard in Findon, on the Sussex Downs, were often left wondering if he hadn't chosen the wrong sport. There were cricket pictures on the walls of his home, cricket books on the shelves, and a faithful dog called Sobers. He regretted, he said, not making more of the talent he showed as a boy and, although a batsman, remained proud of dismissing Brian Lara in a charity match. He had his own wandering XI and, every September, Alan Lee - the former cricket correspondent of The Times who now covers racing - took a team to the lovely sloping ground at Findon, where Gifford was by turns cussed opening batsman and generous host. "Despite being so late in the season," said Lee, "the sun shone every time for 21 years."

GLASGOW, CARL VIDAL, who died on March 23, aged 69, was secretary and legal adviser to the Windward Islands Cricket Board for many years, and managed the Windward Islands team. Julian Hunte, the West Indies board president, called him "one of the stalwarts of cricket development in these islands".

GODSON, ALFRED THOMAS, died on May 4, aged 94. Fred Godson umpired 29 first-class matches, all at the Adelaide Oval, between 1961-62 and 1973-74. In November 1969, it was the genial Godson and his fellow umpire Col Egar who recalled John Inverarity (now Australia's chief selector) after he was bowled by an abruptly deviating ball from Greg Chappell in a Sheffield Shield match between South Australia and Western Australia. A swallow was found near the pitch; the umpires called dead ball for the dead bird; Inverarity resumed his innings, and took his score from nought to 89.

GOURLEY, IAN, who died on December 7, 2012, aged 70, was a stalwart of the Woodvale club in Belfast. For some years he was treasurer of the Irish cricket board, and also served as chairman and president of the Northern Cricket Union in Ulster.

GOVENDER, JUGOO, who died on September 6, aged 74, was an off-spinning allrounder and fine slip fielder who played 42 matches now considered first-class, mainly for Natal's non-white side in the 1970s. He scored 74 against Eastern Province in February 1978, after taking five for 27 against Transvaal in the previous match. Govender, who became a headmaster, was also a talented footballer.

GREGG, DONALD MALCOLM, died on September 26, nine days after his 88th birthday. He made his debut for South Australia, aged 30, on Christmas Day 1954, having lost his youth to war: he was 25 before he played top-grade club cricket in Adelaide. Although he lacked real speed, he was accurate, and his ability to swing the ball late both ways helped him to three five-fors, the best of them five for nine in South Australia's inaugural match against Tasmania, in 1956-57. He had an admirer in Bill O'Reilly, who praised him for bowling "tenaciously" and "carrying the fight right up to the batsman". He was a member of the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service for nearly 50 years.

HARDMAN, THOMAS RICHARD, was found dead in his bed in student accommodation in Leeds on November 28. He was 21. Initial reports suggested no suspicious circumstances. Tom Hardman was a promising fast bowler from Manchester, who made his debut for the Central Lancashire League club Heywood when he was 12, and a useful batsman who scored a century for Lancashire's Under-17s. He was part of the Leeds/Bradford MCCU side who almost won their initial first-class match, against Surrey at The Oval in April 2012; his first wicket was Tom Maynard. "He was a real hard worker, and a lovely bloke to have around the dressing-room," said Clive Radley, the former England batsman who coaches the combined MCC Universities team. "His leadership qualities were such that I had already earmarked him for the captaincy in 2013."

HILL, GEOFFREY HARRY, died on March 13, aged 77. Geoff Hill was a slow left-armer who took eight for 70 against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham in 1958, his first season for Warwickshire, which he ended with 59 wickets at 20. But his form fell away, and he left the county midway through 1960, remaining a prolific wicket-taker in the Birmingham League.

HOAD, EDWARD LISLE GOLDSWORTHY, died on June 13, aged 86. Ted Hoad was a leg-spinner and tailender although, like his father of the same name, who had a long career for Barbados and played four Tests for West Indies, he occasionally opened the batting. He played nine matches for Barbados between 1944 and 1954, recording his highest score of 74 from the top of the order against Jamaica at Kingston in March 1947.

HOW, EDWARD JOSEPH, died on March 29, aged 37, after a fall while skiing in Val d'Ise`re, in France. Ed How played 14 first-class matches for Cambridge University in the mid-1990s, appearing twice in the Varsity Match, and also won a football Blue. He went into the City, becoming a vice-president of Deutsche Bank, then abruptly switched careers by moving to Charterhouse School, where he taught chemistry and coached cricket and football with enormous enthusiasm. A left-arm seamer, his overall record was a modest 13 wickets at 88, but he did have one golden day, at Canterbury in June 1997 when he took five for 59. His team-mate Ed Smith remembered: "I never like the phrase 'good club man', but Ed was all the best things about that expression. He was sociable, warm, generous-spirited and fun-loving."

HUEY, SAMUEL SCOTT JOHNSTON, died on March 8, aged 88. Scott Huey was something of a legend in Irish cricket, a teasing slow left-armer who took six for 49 and eight for 48 against MCC in 1954 - and finished top of the first-class averages. In 1965 he claimed five for 68 against the New Zealand tourists. In all, he took 112 wickets for Ireland.

HYAMS, JOHN, died on May 2, aged 92. Jack Hyams claimed to have scored more than 125,000 runs and 170 centuries in a club career that stretched for around 80 years - his last matches were played in Spain in 2010, when he was past 90. His deeds were carefully catalogued at home, and included appearances for MCC and Cross Arrows when over 70, as well as several prominent north London clubs. He was also an inveterate tourist and, on his travels, "a tireless dancer every night into his nineties", according to his friend Michael Blumberg. Hyams had invested in a new bat for the 2012 season, but never got to use it in anger.

HYATT, ROLAND SHANE, died on July 5, aged 50. Roly Hyatt had a fine record in junior and grade cricket, but was unable to translate that into first-class success, despite an extended trial over three seasons for Tasmania from 1983-84. His off-breaks did not spin enough - his career average was over 70 - and an attempt to turn him into a specialist batsman was also unsuccessful, although he did make three fifties against South Australia. After retirement he was beset by financial problems which had legal consequences, compounded by the effect of alcohol on his health.

IFFLA, IRVIN BANCROFT, who died on March 16, aged 88, became a widely admired figure in Scottish cricket after leaving his native Jamaica in 1951 to take up a professional contract with Stirling County. He lived in Scotland for the rest of his life. An off-spinner and useful lower-order batsman, Iffla played four matches for Jamaica before his departure, claiming five for 90 against the 1947-48 MCC tourists. He made an immediate impact in his new country. "He transformed the whole club and the whole of Scottish cricket," said Raymond Bond, Stirling's wicketkeeper at the time. "He was a magician with the ball and brilliant with the bat - and people came flocking to Williamfield, Stirling's home ground, to see him every Saturday." Iffla also had stints at Ayrshire and Stenhousemuir, both of which, like Stirling, won the league title while he was their professional. Mike Denness, the Scot who went on to captain England, was one of many who benefited from Iffla's coaching at Ayrshire: "I learned so much just from watching the man, let alone listening to what he was saying." Iffla continued as an amateur into his sixties, ending his club career with more than 13,000 runs and 1,600 wickets. In 2009, he was granted the Freedom of Stirling; the flag at the city council chambers flew at half-mast for his funeral.

JEGUST, GERTRUDE MARIE, died on February 21, a month short of her 101st birthday. Born in Beckenham in 1911, Marie Jegust was taken to Australia when young: her family helped establish the township of Cowaramup in the south-western corner of Western Australia. In 1930, she became the foundation secretary of the WA Women's Cricket Association, and seven years later returned to the land of her birth with the Australian women's team, although she had a modest tour, and did not play in any of the Tests. Her memoirs, 99 Not Out, came out shortly before her death.

JORDON, RAYMOND CLARENCE, died on August 13, aged 75. Always known as "Slug", because he had collected a blank bullet in his side during National Service, Ray Jordon was Victoria's wicketkeeper for most of the 1960s. To the seamers, he was safe and unostentatious but, standing up, his speed and sureness were exceptional: 48 of his 238 dismissals were stumpings, five of them from the fast-medium bowling of Alan Connolly, including Ian and Greg Chappell in the same innings. If batsmen were not intimidated by his withering welcome - in a voice "like a chainsaw", according to Max Walker - they could grow agitated if Jordon decided to lurk in their pocket to a quick bowler. His best match haul was in 1970-71, his final season, when he collected nine catches and a stumping against South Australia. As a batsman, he was a habitual thorn down the list, where he allied a dogged defence to an ability to deal with the loose ones. Jordon's only century came against South Australia in 1963-64.

He was a noted scrapper, but his willingness to push his luck probably cost him a Test cap. He toured India and South Africa in 1969-70, competing for a place with Brian Taber after the retirement of Barry Jarman. Taber was tried first and, when Jordon was given a game against India's South Zone, Ian Chappell was convinced he knowingly let Erapalli Prasanna be given out bowled when the ball had rebounded from his pads. Chappell was adamant he would not play himself if Jordon was selected to replace Taber in a Test.

Jordon was a genuine character, and the stories about him are legion; many are true but few are printable. His vocabulary was not for the faint-hearted: one of his friends announced in the tributes column of a Melbourne paper that "Heaven will make a fortune from the swear-box." Jordon was a dynamic presence in Australian Rules football as an insightful coach of younger players, and was described by Keith Stackpole, a close friend, as "a unique judge of character", despite his abrasiveness. He had a period as a radio commentator on cricket, and his times on air with Richie Benaud gave a new dimension to Puccini's "strange harmony of contrasts". A stroke early in this century saw him draw on his reserves of stoicism, but eventually cancer was too much, even for Slug.

KUNTAL CHANDRA, often known by his nickname "Pappon", was found dead on the side of a road in Daur, not far from Dhaka, on December 3. Police said the 28-year-old was discovered with injury marks on his throat, and his shirt had been used to tie his hands behind his back. No motive was immediately apparent. Chandra, a wicketkeeper-batsman, represented Bangladesh at the Under-19 World Cup early in 2000. Five years later he scored 33 and 71 on first-class debut, for Chittagong against Rajshahi at Bogra, but played only two further matches, both for Sylhet, in 2007.

KYLE, JACK, who died on June 21, aged 82, was president of the Canadian Cricket Association for 15 years until 1993. He played for British Columbia in the 1950s, and in 1955 scored 93 against Manitoba at Brockton Point in Vancouver, the ground rated by Don Bradman as the prettiest he ever saw.

LACHMAN, RUDY, who died on August 19, aged 50, was a left-hand batsman and slow left-armer from Guyana who played for the United States in the ICC Trophy tournaments of 1994, when he made 75 not out against Argentina in Nairobi, and 1997.

LAMASON, JOY GRACE (ne´e Stenberg), who died on February 16, aged 96, was an allrounder who played four Tests for New Zealand, taking four for 51 against England at Headingley in June 1954. Her brother-in-law Jack, a Wellington stalwart who toured England in 1937 without making the Test side, married Ina Pickering, who also played four Tests for New Zealand.

LEWIS, KEITH, who died on September 12, aged 89, opened the batting for South Australia in 1948-49, making some useful scores, the highest being 73 against Western Australia at Adelaide. Because he turned up to club practice just after the Second World War wearing his army uniform, he was dubbed "The Colonel". His father's sudden death in 1953 forced his retirement from club cricket, and he concentrated on running the family hardware business.

LOMBARD, ELISE, who died on August 9, aged 62, was the only female chief executive in South Africa's provinces, having been in charge of the Northerns Cricket Union, latterly the Titans franchise, for 32 years. "She was an amazing woman who did so much for the Titans," said the South African Test player Faf du Plessis, "and always with a smile on her face."

LOVELL, Sir ALFRED CHARLES BERNARD, OBE, died on August 6, aged 98. Bernard Lovell was one of Britain's greatest scientists, revered worldwide as a pioneer of radio astronomy. His lasting monument is the telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire that now bears his name. It was built in the 1950s thanks chiefly to his drive and determination, although visitors to the site who arrived at lunchtime might have had to wait while he finished his game of cricket with staff and students. Lovell's love of the sport began during his boyhood in Bristol, and continued when he accepted a post in the physics department of Manchester University in 1936. Like Sir Neville Cardus, he relished the fact that the city held the combined attractions of Old Trafford and the Halle´ Orchestra. Lovell became a devoted follower of Lancashire - he was club president in 1996 - and could not resist exploring how technology might benefit the game, devising a contraption rather like a clock face that kept spectators informed of the state of the light. Lovell was remarkably far-sighted, writing to John Woodcock - then Wisden editor - in 1983 to suggest technology could be used to determine lbws. The TCCB (later the ECB) set up a working party, but the computers involved were too costly and slow. "His wisdom and prescience have been witnessed by the advent of Hawk-Eye," said Woodcock. Lovell also foresaw the possibilities of the snickometer. Jim Cumbes, the former Lancashire chief executive, recalled: "He invented a device that fixed to the top of the bat and would detect a nick, but when we did a test it picked up the frequency of the local taxi company."

LYNCH, RONALD VICTOR, died on June 27, aged 89. Slow left-armer Ron Lynch played three matches for Essex in June 1954 and took his four wickets in one innings - for 54 runs against Northamptonshire at Rushden. His county career might have been brief, but he played club cricket for years, for Ilford and later Chingford; he also represented the Club Cricket Conference and served on their committees.

McGIBBON, LEWIS, who died on September 22, aged 80, was a fast-medium bowler from Newcastle who took 33 wickets in 13 appearances for Northamptonshire in the late 1950s after some success in Minor Counties cricket with Northumberland. His best figures were four for 42 against Somerset in 1958, although he did take seven for 14 for the Second Eleven the following year as Worcestershire were bowled out for 45. An accountant, McGibbon served on Northamptonshire's committee from 1962 to 1980, including a spell as treasurer.

MANGERA, MOOSA, who died on November 15, aged 67, was a useful batsman and fine fielder, often keeping wicket, who played 29 matches now considered first-class for Transvaal's non-white teams in the 1970s and '80s. He scored 98 against Eastern Province at Lenasia in 1973-74. Nicknamed "Monkey" because of his speed and agility, Mangera was also a talented footballer and track athlete.

MANZUR AHMED, who died of a heart attack on January 10, aged 54, was the chief executive of the Bangladesh Cricket Board. A former wicketkeeper, he had a long club career, and was the Brunei association's chief executive before taking up the BCB post in 2010. "The news shocked everyone at the ICC," said their outgoing chief executive Haroon Lorgat. "I worked closely with him during the organising of the 2011 World Cup."

MARSHALL, JOHN CAMPBELL, who died on April 26, aged 83, was a batsman who played 16 matches for Oxford University between 1951 and 1953, winning a Blue in his final year, not long after scoring his only century - 111 against Free Foresters in the Parks. Marshall was better known as a rugby player, winning five caps for Scotland at full-back in 1954. He became a teacher, and soon returned to his old school, Rugby, where he took charge of the cricket.

MARSHALL, WALTER MAXWELL MILNE, died on November 24, 2006, aged 86. Max Marshall was a slow left-armer who played a few matches in Trinidad's Beaumont Cup (not first-class at the time). Later, he was assistant manager on West Indies' tour of Australia in 1960-61 - which started with the Tied Test at Brisbane. When injuries hit the squad mid-trip, he was pressed into service for his only first-class appearance, against Tasmania at Launceston: aged 40, he scored one not out and did not bowl.

MISHRA, SIDDHARTHA, who died of cancer on October 30, aged 41, was a writer with a particular fondness for cricket, and the sports editor of the New Indian Express. His last article was about Sachin Tendulkar's century of centuries. He observed: "This number is perhaps the worst measure imaginable for Tendulkar, blessed - and simultaneously cursed - as he is to turn everything he touches into a record-breaking statistic."

MKRAKRA, MASIXOLE, drowned in Bathurst, South Africa, on December 17."Hassan" Mkrakra was 20, and one of a group of youngsters trying to wash themselves in a disused quarry after a week in the bush that included his circumcision ceremony. They were using empty plastic bottles as buoyancy aids, but Mkrakra gave his to a struggling friend before disappearing under the water. He was a promising cricketer who in March 2012 received a standing ovation at a Sporting Heroes dinner at Lord's, after telling a distinguished audience - including Prince Edward, Derek Underwood and Boris Becker - about the dreams of impoverished youngsters who played for the Tiger Titans cricket team.

MONAGHAN, RUBY, died on June 10, aged 96. Ruby Monaghan (later Lee) grew up playing vigoro, a then-popular blend of cricket and softball for girls, but switched to conventional cricket as a teenager and was selected for New South Wales against the 1934-35 England tourists. In a display of mature concentration and sound defence, she made 25 and 45, adding 84 for the second wicket with Hazel Pritchard. Monaghan, the youngest player in the side, was chosen for the first two internationals of that tour - the inaugural women's Tests - but was dropped after a highest score of 12 in four innings. She had become the second woman, after Pritchard, to face a ball in a Test match.

MOORE, Sir PATRICK ALFRED CALDWELL, CBE, died on December 9, aged 89. Death held no fears for Sir Patrick Moore, who believed that the end of an earthbound life was merely the start of a new existence. "We go on to the next stage," he said. "I shall be interested to see what it is. Who knows? It might be somewhere I can learn to bat decently." Britain's most famous astronomer, who hosted The Sky at Night on BBC television for more than 50 years, was a devoted cricket lover who kept his size 12 boots on the hearth in his study, next to his 2001 BAFTA award for services to television, and near the 1908 typewriter on which he wrote more than 100 books. He was cheerfully honest about his hopelessness with the bat in Sussex club cricket, but he was more successful as a leg-spinner; his 14-pace run-up was typically eccentric. In one of his final books, Can You Play Cricket on Mars? (2008), he concluded that the contest would be heavily weighted in favour of batsmen, able to hit the ball enormous distances in the thin Martian atmosphere; bowlers would be unable to find any swing, always assuming they could cope with a bulky space suit.

MUNIR MALIK, who died on November 30, aged 78, was a fast-medium bowler who played three Tests for Pakistan, two of them in 1962 in England, where he took five for 128 in 49 overs at Headingley. One spell from the Kirkstall Lane End lasted from 3pm on the Thursday to 1.30pm on the Friday. Munir had come to prominence with five for 12 and seven for 27 as Rawalpindi beat Peshawar in a Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match in December 1958, despite being bowled out for 53 in the first innings. He made his Test debut against Australia the following season, in a match watched by the American president Dwight Eisenhower. Munir's speciality, according to the Pakistani journalist Qamar Ahmed, was his "vicious leg-cutter, plus a ball which dipped in". His best innings return - eight for 154 - came in what turned out to be the last match of his ten-year career, for Karachi Whites against Punjab University at Lahore in April 1966.

MURRAY, LANCE HAMILTON, who died on October 21, aged 91, was a significant administrator in Trinidad and West Indies cricket. His flighted off-spin earned him three first-class matches, only one for the full Trinidad side - in 1956, the year the Trinidad & Tobago Cricket Board of Control replaced his own Queen's Park club as the sole authority for the sport in the country, a move he strongly supported. He was the new board's first vice-president, and their long-term representative on the West Indian board. He became more widely known as a radio analyst on regional and international matches in Port-of-Spain - and through the success of his son Deryck Murray, the wicketkeeper who won 62 Test caps between 1963 and 1980. In 1992, Lance was awarded Trinidad and Tobago's second-highest honour, the Chaconia Medal, for his work in sports administration.

NAIDU, TORAM SHESHRAO, who died on April 1, aged 93, was believed to have been the oldest Indian first-class cricketer at the time of his death. Naidu had made his debut for Central Provinces and Berar against Douglas Jardine's 1933-34 MCC tourists, falling to the Kent leg-spinner "Father" Marriott for a duck. He did better in the second innings, making 32 in a useful stand with his captain, C. K. Nayudu. Naidu played six further first-class matches in a career that stretched to 1951-52, scoring 56 against Hyderabad in December 1945. He was a long-time friend of the former Indian board president N. K. P. Salve, who died on the same day.

NEBLETT, CLEMENT EVERTON, died on holiday in St Vincent in March, aged 61. Clem Neblett was a powerful left-hand batsman and right-arm medium-pacer whose heavy scoring for the Police club in his native Guyana merited more than six first-class matches before he emigrated to Toronto in 1978. He soon became one of the leading all-rounders in local club cricket, and captained Canada in the ICC Trophy tournaments in England in 1982 and 1986. At the time of his death, Neblett had been resident in the United States for nearly 20 years.

NIMBALKAR, BHAUSAHEB BABUSAHEB, who died on December 11, the day before his 93rd birthday, will always be remembered for an innings of 443 not out in 1948-49. Nimbalkar was closing in on what was then the world record - Don Bradman's 452 not out for New South Wales against Queensland in 1929-30 - when the opposition refused to play on. Kathiawar had been bowled out for 238 on the opening day at Poona, and when Maharashtra reached 826 for four by tea on the third, the Thakore Saheb of Rajkot - Kathiawar's princely leader - ordered the Maharashtra captain, Raja Gokhale, to declare.

If not, his team were going home. Gokhale offered to stop after two more overs, to allow Nimbalkar a chance of the record - but Kathiawar simply packed their bags and left. "Their skipper felt the name of his team would figure in the record books for the wrong reasons," said Nimbalkar. "I was left stranded in the middle of the ground." Only at tea had Nimbalkar been told how close he was: "Had I known, I would have gone for the runs." He had hit 46 fours and a six during more than eight hours at the crease, but there was, though, some consolation. "I got a personal message from Sir Don Bradman," he said. "Even though he had the world record, and I had only the record in India, he still rated my innings as better."

Strangely, Nimbalkar never won a Test cap, although h averaged more than 56 in a long Ranji Trophy career that stretched into the 1960s; his only taste of representative cricket was an unofficial Test against a Commonwealth XI in 1949-50, when he batted at No. 9 in both innings. "I don't know why the selectors sidelined me all the time," he said. "What really hurt me was that some less talented players got a chance to represent the country."

NORTON, GERALD IVOR DESMOND, died on July 18, aged 93. Ivor Norton was a talented slow left-armer who captained Malvern College in 1938. He had a long club career, and also played two first-class matches for MCC. In the first, in Dublin in 1958, he took four for 44, then five for 26, as Ireland - needing 97 to win a rain-affected match - hung on for a draw at 82 for nine. Two years later, back in Dublin and now 41 years old, he took six for 57 and two for six, to finish his brief first-class career with 17 wickets at 7.82. Norton's captain in both matches was George Chesterton, another distinguished Malvernian who died in 2012.

PAGARA, THE PIR (Syed Shah Mardan Shah II), who died on January 10, aged 83, was the spiritual leader of the Hurs, a Sufi Muslim community in Pakistan's Sind province. The Pir was also an early patron of Pakistan cricket, embracing the sport despite the fact that the colonial government had hanged his father during an insurrection in 1943. He refounded the Sind Cricket Association, and entered their team in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy: in his only first-class appearance he captained Sind against Bahawalpur in November 1953, scoring one and 15. Two seasons later, his own XI took on the touring MCC A-team at Hyderabad. He sponsored several promising cricketers; one of them, the Test fast bowler Mohammad Munaf, once hit him in the groin in the nets, and was dismayed to see a crowd of angry Hurs approaching with raised sticks. The Pir staggered to his feet and restored calm by assuring his followers he was all right. In later years he founded his own political party, the Pakistan Muslim League F (for "functional").

PAGE, GLENYS LYNNE, who died on November 7, aged 72, was a left-arm spinner who played twice for New Zealand in the inaugural women's World Cup, in England in 1973. In her first match, at St Albans, she took six for 20 as West Indies were skittled for 61. In December 1971, Page had taken eight for 54 for Auckland against Canterbury, and a few days later added seven for 55 against Otago.

PATEL, SANTILAL KARA, who died on November 11, aged 90, was a South African administrator, notably as treasurer of the (non-white) Natal Cricket Board for 14 years from 1977-78, after which they united with the "white" association as the integration process cranked into gear. He was involved with Durban's Bharat club for more than 50 years.

PEART, ERROL, was shot dead in Miami on December 2. He was 59, and had been trying to prevent a robbery at the car wash he owned. Peart, a Jamaican-born opener, was the leading run-scorer for the United States in the 1990 ICC Trophy in the Netherlands with 209, including a century against East and Central Africa.

PERERA, JAYALATHGE BERNARD NIHAL, died on November 9, aged 56. Bernard Perera was one of the Sri Lankan players who took part in an unauthorised tour of apartheid South Africa in 1982, which in effect ended his chances of an international career (the players were originally banned for 25 years, although this was lifted after eight). He went on to coach the national women's team. A hard-hitting batsman and fine fielder, Perera was Sri Lanka's twelfth man in their first official Test, against England in Colombo early in 1982, and toured Pakistan shortly afterwards. But he could not break into the side - despite making 56 not out for the Board President's XI in England's warmup game - and signed up for the rebel tour later the same year. His only century came on that trip, in his final first-class match: 102 against a strong South African XI, who won by an innings at Cape Town thanks in part to Graeme Pollock, who fell to Perera's off-spin for 197.

PERERA, SOMACHANDRA SARANAPALA, died on October 3, aged around 86. Chandra Perera was a Sri Lankan cricket historian and statistician, dubbed the "Walking Wisden" by friends. He used to collect scraps of information and keep them in cardboard boxes, which came in useful in 1999 for a 600-page collection of trivia and statistics called the Janashakthi Book of Cricket, which covered 165 years of the game in Sri Lanka. Perera also produced several books on Sri Lankan schools' cricket, and numerous souvenir programmes for touring teams.

RAIT KERR, DIANA MARY, who died on December 18, aged 94, was the first curator of the MCC Collection, principally responsible for the vast array of cricket memorabilia accrued at Lord's over the years. Appointed in 1945, she oversaw the establishment of the MCC museum in 1953; previously, the most interesting items were dotted around the Pavilion. Her father, Colonel R. S. Rait Kerr, was the club's secretary from 1936 to 1952, and "Miss RK" was one of the first women to attend an MCC dinner (in 1964, when the president Dick Twining began the evening with a well-received "Lady and gentlemen").

She was also - 31 years after her retirement - one of the first group of lady members elected in 1999. Rait Kerr co-wrote (with Ian Peebles) Lord's 1946-70, a substantial sequel to Sir Pelham Warner's earlier history of MCC and Lord's. Although she had no formal library training, she became an expert on cricket's literary and artistic history, and especially the evolution of players' dress. She was a stickler for convention, and her sucessor Stephen Green for years remained worried that she might make an impromptu visit - or "inspection" - of the museum. "She did present an air of formidability," agreed Trefor Jones, another Lord's colleague. "But actually she was a typical English colonel's daughter of that era, with more good-natured warmth about her than was apparent on first acquaintance."

RANA, NARENDRASINH PRATAPSINH, who died of liver failure on May 17, aged 41, was a tall fast bowler who took the new ball for Saurashtra for several seasons in the Ranji Trophy, occasionally with his younger brother Mahendrasinh. Opening the bowling for a weakish team on batsman-friendly pitches at Rajkot meant his overall figures were uninspiring - 46 wickets at 55, with a best of four for 66 against Maharashtra in November 1998 - but team-mates recalled a naturally talented cricketer, from a prominent local family, who was also a handy batsman.

RANDALL, DAVID AARON, who died of bowel cancer on July 6, aged 27, was a fine schoolboy batsman who had been in the running for a place in the England Under-15 team, alongside his friend and club-mate Alastair Cook - they played together for Essex's youth teams, and also for Maldon. Cook attended Randall's funeral, and a few days later scored his 20th Test century against South Africa at The Oval. "It's been an emotional time," he said. "We're lucky enough to play cricket, aren't we? Unfortunately he can't any more."

RAZAULLAH KHAN, who died on November 5, aged 75, played 24 matches for various first-class teams in a long career in Pakistan that stretched from 1957-58 to 1972-73, usually keeping wicket. He made 76, his highest score, opening for Khairpur against Karachi Blues - containing the future Test all-rounder Asif Iqbal, whom he stumped - in Lahore in 1961-62. Later he became president of the Hyderabad Cricket Association and a Pakistan board council member, and managed the national Under-19 side.

REES-MOGG, LORD (William), who died on December 29, aged 84, was editor of The Times between 1967 and 1981, and a prominent Establishment figure for many years after that, yet he was best remembered for an editorial written in July 1967 that flew defiantly in the face of Britain's ruling classes. Headlined "Who breaks a butterfly on a wheel?" it criticised the prison sentences handed out to Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for minor drug offences, sparking an outcry that led to their release.

Rees-Mogg was descended from a line of Somerset squires, and his roots remained planted in the county's soil, even when he held high-profile metropolitan positions. He was an enthusiastic supporter of Somerset cricket, wrote frequently about the game, and had seen hundreds by Hammond and Bradman. When he picked his Somerset dream team for The Times in 2007, it drew on decades of first-hand experience. He was also waiting by the phone on the afternoon of September 16, 2010, when Somerset were on the brink of winning the County Championship for the first time. Rees-Mogg was only too willing to write an exultant piece for next day's paper, but Nottinghamshire snatched the title.

At Charterhouse he was a contemporary of Peter May and was taught by Robert Arrowsmith, the obituaries editor of Wisden. Rees-Mogg was also the first-team scorer - John Woodcock called him "the keeper of the scorebook and, later, of The Times" - and he sometimes introduced cricket into opinion pieces about the great political issues of the day. Writing in The Sunday Times in 1964, he called for Alec Douglas-Home's resignation in a piece headlined "A Captain's Innings". In 1994, he wrote a remarkably deft critique of another prime minister's leadership: it did not mention John Major by name, but discussed at length the worthy, unspectacular attributes of the Somerset all-rounder Bertie Buse.

ROBINSON, ALEXANDER WILLIAM, died on June 18, aged 87. His first-class career for Western Australia was confined to two matches in 1952-53, but Alex Robinson had a lasting influence in Perth as a club and school coach, and was one of the first to recognise the potential of the teenage Dennis Lillee. He later gained a master's degree in recreation management from Loughborough University, and moved from teaching to sports administration, eventually being appointed deputy director of WA's Department of Sport and Recreation. Robinson abhorred the sponsorship of sport by tobacco and alcohol companies, both on health and moral grounds, and ultimately resigned from his State coaching positions. His father (also Alex) represented WA against the 1907-08 MCC tourists and was an outstanding Australian Rules footballer, while his older brother, George, played an important role as a batsman when the state won the Sheffield Shield at their first attempt, in 1947-48.

ROBINSON, HENRY BASIL OSWIN, died on December 21, aged 93. A Rhodes Scholar from Canada, Basil Robinson was a sharp-turning off-spinner who won Blues at Oxford in 1947 and 1948. He took six for 55, which remained his best figures, against Worcestershire at New Road in his first season, and added six more in the 1947 Varsity Match, dismissing Trevor Bailey in the first innings and Doug Insole in the second. The following year Robinson took five for 60 against Sussex, but was needed for only three wicketless overs at Lord's as Oxford's seamers wrapped up an innings victory. Robinson went back to Vancouver after that, but returned to England in 1954 as captain of a strong Canadian touring team. He became a diplomat, and later wrote a biography of Canada's prime minister John Diefenbaker, as well as a family history entitled This Family Robinson.

ROWLANDS, MEYRICK, collapsed and died shortly after being dismissed in a cricket match in Hook, Pembrokeshire, on July 24. He was 60, and had retired as headmaster of the nearby Pennar Community School only four days earlier. "Cricket was his great passion," said his colleague Martin Cavaney, one of the school's governors.

SAFIULLAH KHAN, who died on March 20, aged 71, was a left-arm seamer who played 42 first-class matches in Pakistan, mainly for Peshawar, between 1957 and 1975. He took nine for 62 against Railways B at Peshawar in March 1972, and later took up umpiring, standing in several first-class matches.

SALVE, NARENDRA KUMAR PRASADRAO, who died on April 1, aged 91, is the man usually credited with moving the World Cup to the subcontinent. He was the Indian board president at the time of India's upset victory over West Indies in the 1983 final and, having had trouble obtaining tickets for the big match at Lord's, hatched the plan over lunch the following day with his Pakistan counterpart, Nur Khan. There was a general assumption that the 1987 tournament, like its three predecessors, would be held in England - but Salve, a long-serving Congress Party MP and minister in Rajiv Gandhi's government, challenged that cosy arrangement, mobilising the support of sympathetic Full and Associate Members of the ICC in a way not seen before, if increasingly familiar since. The 1987 World Cup was indeed staged in India and Pakistan, with the final at Kolkata: "He was responsible for it becoming the global event it is today," said N. Srinivasan, the current BCCI president. Salve was a useful club player in his youth in Nagpur, and also umpired three first-class games in the early 1950s. The annual Challenger Trophy (trial matches for India's one-day side) is named after him.

SARAIYA, SURESH, who died on July 18, aged 76, had been a popular broadcaster on Test cricket since 1969, usually for All India Radio. "Few commentators had his desire and preparation," remembered his colleague Harsha Bhogle. "He was like a child when we broadcast from South Africa in 1992 - he had tears that morning in Durban, when India played South Africa's first home Test since 1970."

SARGENT, MURRAY ALFRED JAMES, died on February 28, aged 83. A late bloomer, Sargent had batted without distinction for the Glenelg club in Adelaide for over a decade from 1947-48. During that time he had two seasons with Leicestershire, where modest success in the Second Eleven was not repeated in the senior side: in 1952, he averaged under 12 from 18 innings. But at the end of the 1950s he suddenly flowered as an opener, and at 32 found himself partnering Les Favell for South Australia for one successful season. Sargent's obdurate methods brought him 164 in nearly nine hours against Queensland. It was then back to grade cricket, where his run-making continued for another decade. He later turned to administration, serving as a South Australian selector for seven seasons from 1984-85, and Glenelg's president for 17.

SATHE, ISHAN SUBODH, was found dead on April 18. He was 20. A promising legspinner who had played for Vidarbha's age-group teams and in trials for India's Under-19 side, Sathe was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his room, not long after an argument with his girlfriend. Narendra Hirwani said: "He had that rare ability to turn the ball sharply." Sathe had also caught the eye of Sachin Tendulkar, who arranged for him to train with the Mumbai Indians, his IPL team.

SHARP, PETER ANDREW, who died on February 18, aged 72, played eight first-class matches for Canterbury as an off-spinner in the 1960s, taking 21 wickets, but was better known as a radio commentator. "One of the most famous voices in New Zealand cricket has fallen silent," said his colleague Bruce Russell.

SLACK, JOHN KENNETH EDWARD, DL, who died on May 6, aged 81, scored 135 on his first-class debut, for Cambridge University against Middlesex at Fenner's in 1954, and did enough in the other matches of his final year to win a Blue, although he was out for 12 and nought in the drawn Varsity Match at Lord's. That was the end of his first-class cricket: he turned down an offer to play for Middlesex, preferring to concentrate on his legal career, in which he rose to become a circuit judge known for his expertise in fraud trials. Slack had not finished with cricket, though: a club regular for Beaconsfield, he played for Buckinghamshire, and captained them from 1967 to 1969.

SMITH, ARCHIBALD WILLIAM, died on November 1, aged 89. Archie Smith was a pillar of Cornwall's Minor Counties side for many years, taking 135 wickets, including nine for 49 against Oxfordshire at Penzance in 1953. A headmaster, he founded the Cornwall Schools' Cricket Association in 1956, and was their first secretary (and treasurer until 1977). "He was a real gentleman cricketer," said his friend Michael Williams, a local author. "He never appealed for an lbw unless he was absolutely certain it was necessary."

SNOW, PHILIP ALBERT, OBE, who died on June 5, aged 96, was a first-class cricketer by virtue of five matches, captaining Fiji on a tour of New Zealand in 1947-48. These were given first-class status many years later, almost entirely due to Snow's own lobbying at Lord's. The tour caused considerable interest since the Fijian players (not Snow) wore traditional skirts and no shoes, and entertained the crowds with South Sea songs. The team were competitive too, and beat both Wellington and Auckland. As a cricketer, he failed to get even a trial at Cambridge, but in 1937 and 1938 he captained Leicestershire's Second Eleven, before being appointed an administrator and magistrate in Fiji. He was instantly elected chairman of the Suva Cricket Club, and fell in love with the place. After the war, he founded the Fiji Cricket Association, and set about organising the New Zealand tour.

On return to England, he became bursar of Rugby School and, in 1965, Fiji's representative on the International Cricket Conference (later Council), a post he retained for a record 30 years, devotedly championing Fiji's cause. He wrote several books, mainly about the South Seas and his family. He also wrote at least twice in old age to the editor of Wisden enclosing his biography for the benefit of his obituarist, in the hope that he would match his older brothers (the novelist C. P. Snow and the Leicestershire cricket historian E. E. Snow) by being included. That he has achieved, but perhaps his greatest wish - the advancement of Fijian cricket - remains unfulfilled.

SPURRIER, MICHAEL CUMBY, who died on July 9, aged 79, was acknowledged as the leading expert on military links with cricket, a subject he covered in some detail in Wisden Cricket Monthly in a series on cricketers decorated for gallantry. He had been in the army himself - a major in the Durham Light Infantry - and was apparently once in charge of transport on an exercise in which he started with 400 vehicles, and returned with 401.

SRINIVASAN, KRISHNASWAMI, died on April 27, aged 82. "Balaji" Srinivasan was an attacking batsman and a polished wicketkeeper who played for Mysore (now Karnataka). He scored 106 against Madras in 1952-53, and the following year played twice for India against a strong Commonwealth XI, in what he was later disappointed to discover were unofficial Tests. Opening in the first one at Nagpur after Frank Worrell had stroked 165, Srinivasan made 67. He was a keen student of the game. "I was interested in the poetry and prose of cricket," he said. "It made my modest career colourful and enjoyable."

STOVOLD, MARTIN WILLIS, died on May 11, aged 56. The younger brother of Andy, who had a long career with Gloucestershire, Martin Stovold played for the county too, although his best score in 25 matches was an unbeaten 75 against Oxford University in the Parks in 1980. He managed a solitary half-century in the Championship, 52 against Warwickshire at Nuneaton in 1982, in his penultimate match. After a spell in South Africa, where he coached the young Jacques Kallis in Cape Town, he returned home and took charge of the cricket at Cheltenham College.

SURENDRANATH, RAMAN, who died on May 5, aged 75, was an army officer and hard-working medium-pacer who played 11 Tests for India. He was effective in England in 1959, taking 16 wickets at 26 in a series India lost 5-0, with five-fors at Old Trafford and The Oval. The pick, though, was probably the inswinger that knocked back Peter May's off stump at Lord's. In all, Surendranath took 79 wickets on that tour (only the legspinner Subhash Gupte had more, with 95), although Wisden was rather sniffy about his tactic of bowling down the leg side to keep the runs down. His Test career was over within 18 months, but he played on for Services until 1968-69. He had taken seven for 14 and six for 62 for them against Railways in Delhi in January 1959, not long after winning his first Test cap, against West Indies, and made 119 against Southern Punjab at Patiala in December 1961.

SWABY, EATON OHIO, who died on February 9, aged 85, was a Jamaican-born fast bowler who made a name for himself in club cricket in south London. He took more than 1,000 first-team wickets for Mitcham - where part of the outfield of their ancient ground became known as "Swabes's Corner" - before joining Sutton CC in his fifties and turning to coaching.

SWANEPOEL, HEINDRICH, who died of a suspected heart attack while on holiday in Morocco in October, aged 43, was a pillar of England's blind cricket team, almost everpresent since the side were formed in 1996. He played for the Metro club in London, and was part of the team that won the Blind Ashes in 2004 and 2008. He won a bronze medal in the javelin at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics. "Heindrich was a giant," said the ECB's disability cricket manager Ian Martin, "both in physical stature and in terms of his contribution to the blind game as a player and an administrator."

TAYLOR, PHILIP HENRY, who died on December 1, aged 95, had been the oldest surviving England football international: he won three caps in 1947. He was a key member of the Liverpool team that won the first post-war League Championship in 1946-47, and captained them in the 1950 FA Cup final against Arsenal. Taylor, who was born in Bristol, also excelled at cricket, and opened the batting for Gloucestershire Second Eleven in the late 1930s. For his one first-class outing, however, he batted at No. 8, making two and 12 in a ten-wicket defeat by Kent at Gloucester in June 1938. He later managed Liverpool, and his resignation in 1959 paved the way for the arrival of Bill Shankly.

THAKURI, GANESH BAHADUR SHAHI, died on December 13, aged 40. A wicketkeeper-batsman who played in the 2001 ICC Trophy in Canada, he was "the best Nepali wicketkeeper I have seen," according to the former national captain Pawan Agrawal. "More importantly, he was a better human being."

THOMAS, MALCOLM CAMPBELL, who died on April 9, aged 82, played four times for Cornwall in the 1951 Minor Counties Championship, scoring 56 at The Oval against Surrey's Second Eleven. But he found greater fame in rugby, as a goal-kicking centre who won 27 caps for Wales (two as captain) and played four times for the British Lions. He scored the decisive try against Ireland as Wales clinched the Triple Crown in 1950, and later that year was the leading points-scorer for the Lions in Australasia.

TINDALL, RONALD ALBERT ERNEST, OAM, who died on September 9, aged 76, was one of that elite band of sportsmen who packed away their bat as the county season came to a close and immediately donned boots to spend the next eight months playing professional football. Ron Tindall was no makeweight at either sport, appearing in 173 first-class games for Surrey and playing 368 Football League games for Chelsea, West Ham, Reading and Portsmouth. "I was busy all year round," he said.

Tindall was a south Londoner, born in Streatham, and came to the attention of Surrey while playing in Camberley. An aggressive batsman, off-spin bowler and agile fielder, he signed on at The Oval in 1952, aged 16, but did not make his first-class debut until four years later, and only became a regular in 1960. Progress in his winter employment was swifter. He joined Chelsea in 1953, and made his first-team debut in November 1955, in a side in decline after winning the League Championship the previous season. At the start of the 1957-58 campaign, he began a productive partnership with 17-year-old Jimmy Greaves ("a genius", said Tindall) that brought them a joint tally of 38 goals that season, and 59 - still a club record - in 1960-61.

He may have been a bigger name in football, but Tindall took his cricket seriously enough to negotiate a contract that allowed him to miss the end of one football season and the start of the next. These were difficult years at Surrey, no longer the dominant force in the domestic game, and they were grateful for Tindall's steady contributions. In 1962, he scored 777 runs and took 66 wickets, which included his best bowling, five for 41 against Cambridge University at The Oval. Next summer he passed 1,000 runs for the only time, making a career-best 109 not out, also at his home ground, against Nottinghamshire.

In truth, though, he was valued in the dressing-room as much for his elaborate jokes, which meandered to a punchline. And, when captain Micky Stewart introduced football as a means of warming up in the mornings, he was especially popular - at least if he was on your side. Tindall foresaw a future in football coaching or management, and retired from cricket in 1966. By this time, he was playing for Portsmouth - a defender now, rather than a forward - before becoming player/coach, then manager in 1970. Later in the decade, he joined his former Oval team-mates Tony Lock and Peter Loader in Western Australia, where he became director of coaching with the state football federation. Over nearly 30 years he established a considerable reputation, and in 2008 he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for services to sport.

TOOVEY, ERNEST ALBERT, OAM, MBE, died on July 18, aged 90. The record books would suggest Ernie Toovey had an unspectacular career as a left-hand batsman for Queensland during the first half of the 1950s; his peak was in 1951-52, when he made five half-centuries. He often had to rein in his attacking instincts to shore up his side's fragile batting, and his total of 150 runs in the match against Victoria at the MCG in December 1951 took almost seven hours. During his second-innings 87, he became, according to him, the only batsman to hit mystery spinner Jack Iverson for six in a first-class match, a feat he would recount with relish. Next season, Toovey slipped the leash against the South Africans at Brisbane, hitting 71 in a partnership of 102 in 89 minutes with Ron Archer. In the outfield, he was both brilliant and sure, and his speed across the ground and the bulletlike accuracy of his returns saved countless runs. He was a state selector for 25 years from 1961-62, helping to lay the foundation for Queensland's long-awaited Sheffield Shield title in 1995-96. Toovey was also proud of having captained his club side, Norths, with Ray Lindwall as his bowling spearhead.

As a 19-year-old, Ordinary Seaman Toovey, unlike 353 of his shipmates, survived the sinking of the HMAS Perth in the Battle of the Sunda Strait early in 1942. The price of survival, however, was three and a half years as a prisoner of the Japanese, much of it on the Burma railway, where a severely ulcerated leg threatened to turn gangrenous. Toovey dismissed any talk of amputation and underwent excruciating treatment: "Not on your life, I'm going to need that leg to play Sheffield Shield cricket for Queensland." Early in his captivity, he took part in several baseball matches as a member of an Australian team organised by his camp's commandant. When a match was organised against the Japanese guards, Toovey cautioned his side that defeat was the better part of valour. After the war, he gave many years to the Returned Services League and the Australian Prisoners of War Association. Much later, he wrote a privately published book on his experiences as a PoW. David Frith, a long-standing friend, paid tribute to an "archetypal Queenslander of the old school: very friendly and generous. Although his memories of his wartime traumas dogged him until the end, he was an infallibly cheerful bloke".

Toovey subsequently represented Queensland in the Claxton Shield, the national baseball carnival. He was appointed MBE in 1985, and 15 years later received the Medal of the Order of Australia "for service to the welfare of veterans and their families through the RSL, and to cricket and baseball in Australia".

TRAPNELL, BARRY MAURICE WALLER, CBE, DL, who died on August 1, aged 88, was a medium-pacer whose nine first-class matches - all in 1946 - included one for the Gentlemen against the Players at Lord's, in which he opened the bowling and dismissed Cyril Washbrook (although not before he had made 105). Trapnell had also played in the Varsity Match at Lord's a fortnight earlier, when his 41 and four wickets could not prevent an Oxford victory. And just before that, he had taken five for 73 for Cambridge against MCC, also at Lord's. Towards the end of the season he played his only Championship game, Middlesex's top-of-the-table clash with eventual champions Yorkshire at Sheffield in mid-August. After this busy summer Trapnell concentrated on his work, becoming a chemistry don at Cambridge, and later headmaster of Denstone College and Oundle School. He was the national Rugby fives champion in 1949.

TURNER, JOHN BERNARD, who died on September 13, aged 63, was a tall opening batsman who scored a record 7,524 runs for Buckinghamshire in the Minor Counties Championship. He played only one first-class match, for the Minor Counties XI against the Pakistan tourists at Jesmond in 1974 - but made it count, hitting 106 in the second innings against a new-ball attack of Asif Masood and Imran Khan.

VAN HEERDEN, CARL, who died on June 19, aged 78, was president of the Free State Cricket Union from 1994 to 1998. Two of his sons played first-class cricket in South Africa.

VINICOMBE, JOHN BROOKS, who died on October 6, 2011, aged 82, was the main sports writer of the Brighton Evening Argus from 1962 to 1994. In a town where the football and cricket teams always produced lively copy in good times and bad, Vinicombe was a well-informed and robust chronicler of their affairs. He greeted visiting journalists at Sussex matches with a warmth tinged by a sardonic humour about the incompetence of the universe, which he would have brought to bear on Wisden for being a year late reporting his death.

VORSTER, LOUIS PHILLIPPUS, was shot dead on April 17, aged 45, the victim of an armed robbery at a petrol station in Gauteng. "Another senseless murder," observed his former team-mate Jacques Rudolph, while Albie Morkel, another South African Test player, said he had "lost a great friend". Vorster was a much-travelled left-hander, who made his maiden century for Transvaal against Western Province at Cape Town in January 1988. He entered at 27 for three, against a new-ball attack of Garth le Roux and Steve Jefferies, but went on to score 174, and spent the following summer at Worcester, where he made one first-class appearance, against the touring West Indians, when Graeme Hick scored 172 to complete 1,000 runs before the end of May. Vorster compiled a further five first-class centuries, but never quite made the weight of runs necessary to push for an international place. He became involved in coaching in Namibia, for whom he played in the South African domestic first-class competition as recently as 2009-10.

WADDELL, SIDNEY, who died on August 11, aged 72, was the Arlott of the oche, a man who conferred poetry, literary allusion and a great sweep of history on to the prosaic business of darts commentary. He first brought darts to the small screen in 1972, when he joined Yorkshire Television and created Indoor League as a vehicle for Fred Trueman, who was required to affect a caricature of a Yorkshireman while introducing skittles, armwrestling, table football and, of course, darts. Trueman was Sid Waddell's sporting hero: he contributed a wonderful paean to him in The Wisden Cricketer's My Favourite Cricketer series, and remained a fan of the game. He wrote two series of Sloggers, a TV programme about a fictional children's cricket team in Slogthwaite, Lancashire, for which he won a best scriptwriter prize in the Writers' Guild of Great Britain awards in 1994.

WATSON, JOHN MARTIN, died on March 10, aged 90. Jack Watson was an all-rounder who enjoyed a long career in Minor Counties cricket for Durham (for whom he took 394 wickets at 16) and Northumberland. A policeman, he was also prominent in local football, having spells as a scout for Middlesbrough and caretaker manager of Darlington on no fewer than five occasions.

WHITE, COLIN DEREK, who died on February 27, aged 74, was a stylish left-hander who looked likely to win a Blue for Ted Dexter's Cambridge University side in 1958. White had made a bright start to the season, but never quite recovered after being hit in the mouth by New Zealand's Bob Blair. Although he later scored 55 against MCC at Lord's, White was left out of the Varsity Match after averaging only 15. He appeared sporadically over the next two years, scoring 64 against Nottinghamshire at Fenner's in 1960, but never did win that Blue. He later became a banker, and a regular club cricketer in Surrey.

WIGGINS, ANDREA, who died of cancer on September 6, aged 41, was part of the ECB's communications team for nine years, and was a popular figure with colleagues and journalists alike. She was instrumental in devising a lifestyle photography campaign for the England men's team which attracted widespread media interest, and played a pivotal role in establishing the domestic Twenty20 competition. She left Lord's in 2009 to become the International Rugby Board's communications manager.

WILCOCKSON, DAVID, died on June 1, aged 71, having been in a coma for 13 days after being hit by the ball while bowling in a club match in Surrey. "The batsman ran down the pitch and middled it towards him," said a team-mate. "It went straight into his head and he went down." He was airlifted to hospital after the incident, in Old Dorkinians' match against Grafham, but never regained consciousness. Wilcockson had played for the club since 1959, and set himself a target of 3,000 wickets. He finished with 2,899.

WILLIAMS, WENDY, who died on March 3, aged 69, was a Welsh-born bowler with a low slinging action which sometimes endangered the umpire. After narrowly missing selection for England in the first women's World Cup in 1973, she was chosen for the International XI which also played in the tournament, and appeared in all their six matches. Her six wickets included 12-6-20-3 against New Zealand at Chesterfield, to which she later added 18 from No. 8 as her side completed a last-over victory. "She was very popular," recalled the former England captain Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, a West Midlands team-mate, "not only because of her cheerful personality but because she was also a qualified physiotherapist, which meant we could get free treatment!" Williams worked with Bernard Thomas, the long-serving England physio, at his Edgbaston sports clinic.

WILSON, JOHN STUART, died on July 2, aged 80. Stuart Wilson, a fast-medium bowler from the Brechin and Forfarshire club, played 16 first-class matches for Scotland. A Manchester-born plumber, he made his debut against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 1957, and started well by dismissing the county's openers, Alan Wharton and Jack Dyson. Wilson's best figures of five for 51 came against MCC at The Grange in 1959, while three years later he took four wickets in each innings at Greenock as Scotland won their annual encounter with Ireland.

WIMALADARMA, WELIWITAGODA RAKITHA DILSHAN, died on September 29, aged 27, after watching Sri Lanka's World Twenty20 match against West Indies on television with some friends earlier in the evening. Some reports suggested drugs may have been involved; one of the other party guests also died. Rakitha Wimaladarma was an off-spinner who claimed 53 wickets, mainly for Saracens, in Sri Lanka's domestic firstclass competitions in 2009-10, including a career-best eight for 68 against the Army; a few weeks later he took 23 wickets in successive matches against Moors and Tamil Union.

WOODHEAD, DEREK JOHN, died on July 29, 2011, aged 76. After scoring an unbeaten century in only his second Sheffield Shield match for Western Australia in 1958-59, Woodhead looked to have a promising career ahead of him as an opener - but after three failures at the beginning of the next season, he was dropped permanently. His thesis Fundamentals and Techniques of Batting in Australia earned him the award of his Teachers' Higher Certificate in 1969, and is held at the J. S. Battye Library of West Australian History in Perth. He coached the Australian fast bowler Mick Malone and, later, Greg Shipperd, who opened the batting for both Western Australia and Tasmania.

WOOLNOUGH, BRIAN CHRISTOPHER, died on September 18, aged 63. When Brian Woolnough was lured away from his job as chief football writer of The Sun to become chief sportswriter of the Daily Star in 2000, a significant part of the attraction was the chance to write about a wider variety of sports, especially cricket; he also became a familiar face on Sky TV. He was an enthusiastic fast bowler for the Claygate club in Surrey, putting his imposing frame to good use, and retained a love of the game through his years as one of the most high-profile sportswriters in Fleet Street. He was particularly proud of having batted with Rohan Kanhai in a charity match at Lord's. After joining the Star, Woolnough became a regular in Test-match press boxes in the summer, especially relishing England's 2005 Ashes triumph. The Oval Test was an annual highlight - on a day with no writing duties, he would join friends and family for a companionable time in the stands.

ZAHIR ALAM, who died of liver failure on May 30, aged 42, was a leading light with the bat for Assam in the Ranji Trophy for several seasons. Against Tripura at Guwahati in 1991-92 he scored 257, and put on 475 with Lalchand Rajput (239) for the second wicket - then a world record, although it has been surpassed three times since.