Alexander Coxon (18 January 1916 – 22 January 2006) was an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who played for Yorkshire. He also played one Test match for England in 1948.

Life and career

Coxon was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire. World War II delayed Coxon's first-class debut for Yorkshire to 1945, when he was 29. Coxon was an aggressive fast-medium bowler who played for England once – against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

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

. There were rumours of an argument with

Denis Compton Denis Charles Scott Compton (23 May 1918 – 23 April 1997) was an English multi-sportsman. As a cricketer he played in 78 Test matches and spent his whole cricket career with Middlesex. As a footballer, he played as a winger and spent most o ...

, and his prickly nature was later attested to by

Brian Close Dennis Brian Close, (24 February 1931 – 13 September 2015) was an English first-class cricketer. He was picked to play against New Zealand in July 1949, when he was 18 years old. Close went on to play 22 Test matches for England, ...

. Coxon retired after the

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

season, allegedly in umbrage at his non-selection for the forthcoming

Ashes Ashes may refer to: *Ash, the solid remnants of fires. Media and entertainment Art * ''Ashes'' (Munch), an 1894 painting by Edvard Munch Film * ''The Ashes'' (film), a 1965 Polish film by director Andrzej Wajda * ''Ashes'' (1922 film), a ...

tour, and moved to play Minor counties cricket with Durham. He played 29 times for that county between 1951 and 1954, taking 127 wickets and scoring 1,047 runs with two centuries. His highest score was 102 not out against Yorkshire Second XI at Scarborough in 1952. Also in 1952, he achieved his best bowling figures for Durham; nine for 28 and six for 58 against

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. He also played professionally with Sunderland, where he took 753 wickets at 8.73 runs apiece, and scored 3,764 runs at an average of 34.21. In 1959, he moved to

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

where he took 443 wickets for 10.28 and scored 2,663 runs at 23.63. He had shorter spells with both Wearmouth and Bolden, before finally retiring from the sport some distance past his 50th birthday, although still coaching at Whitburn Cricket Club in 1979. He also played soccer for Bradford Park Avenue A.F.C. in wartime matches. He kept up a keen interest in club cricket until the end.

References

External links

A profile of Alec Coxon by Dave Liverman
Cricket Society Autumn 2008

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coxon, Alec 1916 births 2006 deaths England Test cricketers English cricketers Yorkshire cricketers Durham cricketers Cricketers from Huddersfield English cricketers of 1946 to 1968 H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers