Geoffrey Graham Arnold (born 3 September 1944) is an English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played 34

Test matches Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Indoor cricket, Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (associa ...

and 14

One Day International One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

s for the

England cricket team The England men's cricket team represents cricket in England, England and cricket in Wales, Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Maryleb ...

. His nickname of "Horse" was based on his initials of GG. He was a seam and swing bowler, who finished his

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

career, which lasted from 1963 to 1982, with 1130 wickets at an average of 21.91. He played for

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

and

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, winning the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

with the former county in 1971. He was a ''Wisden'' Cricketer of the Year in 1972.

Life and career

After touring Pakistan with the MCC Under-25 side in 1966–67, Arnold made his England debut in 1967 against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, a season during which he claimed 109 wickets. A succession of niggling injuries meant that he had to wait until the early 1970s before he became a fixture in the team. In 1974, he assisted Chris Old in bowling out India for 42 at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

. Surprisingly for an out-and-out seam bowler, he was fairly successful everywhere except in the West Indies. In 1972–73 series in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and Pakistan, he claimed 17 wickets (at 17.43), starting with match figures of 9 for 91 – his best – in the England win in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. Against both New Zealand and the West Indies the following summer, Arnold delivered 310 overs and took 31 wickets. He and

John Snow John Snow (15 March 1813 – 16 June 1858) was an English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology and early germ theory, in part because of hi ...

destroyed the New Zealand batting, but their potentially devastating bowling partnership fizzled out at that point. Initially joining Surrey as an allrounder, he made a half century in his second innings for England. Dropped after the 1975 Ashes series, he remained effective in

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Two county championship competitions have existed since the late 19th century at ...

. In 1978, Arnold moved to

, as a replacement for the then retired Snow, where he remained for five seasons. In later years he occasionally proved a determined lower order batsman. After his playing career ended, he returned to Surrey as a bowling coach, and assisted at national level with upcoming pace bowlers. Arnold subsequently had a stint as bowling coach for

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, and is currently performing that role at

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

References

External links

*
Wisden Cricketer of the Year article
1944 births Living people English cricket coaches English cricketers England One Day International cricketers England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1969 to 2000 20th-century English sportsmen Free State cricketers Surrey cricketers Sussex cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Cricketers at the 1975 Cricket World Cup International Cavaliers cricketers People from Earlsfield Cricketers from the London Borough of Wandsworth Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Under-25s cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club President's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Touring Team cricketers {{England-cricket-bio-stub