David Anthony Graveney (born 2 January 1953) is a leading figure in English cricket and the Graveney dynasty, former chairman of the England

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

selectors, a post he held from 1997 until 2008. Graveney attended

Millfield School Millfield is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding s ...

in Somerset. He led a successful first-class cricket career between 1972 and 1994. He was a useful right hand

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

and an orthodox left-arm spinner who represented

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

(1972–1990) (

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

1982–1988),

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

(1991) and Durham (1992–1994) (captain 1992–1993). He took 981 wickets in 457 first-class matches (with a personal best of 8/85) and 287 wickets in 382 List A limited-over matches (with a personal best of 5/11). He helped Gloucestershire to win the

Benson and Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Engla ...

in 1977. He is a qualified chartered accountant and is a former chief executive of the

Professional Cricketers' Association The Professional Cricketers' Association is the representative body of past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales, founded in 1967 by former England fast bowler Fred Rumsey (when it was known as the Cricketers' Association). In ...

. He managed the rebel tour to South Africa in 1989–90. Late in his career he joined Durham as the county joined 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 ...

. In June 1994, he played in the match but was able only to bowl seven overs due to injury, when

Brian Lara Brian Charles Lara, (born 2 May 1969) is a Trinidadian former international cricketer, widely renowned as one of the greatest Batting (cricket), batsmen of all time. He holds several cricketing records, including the record for the highest in ...

made the highest individual score in

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 ...

history. Graveney became chairman of the selectors in 1997, taking over from

Ray Illingworth Raymond Illingworth Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (8 June 1932 – 25 December 2021) was an English cricketer, cricket commentator and administrator. , he was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20, ...

. On 31 December 2005, he was awarded the OBE for services to cricket. On 18 January 2008, Graveney was removed from the position and awarded the position of national performance manager, monitoring young players in domestic cricket. Geoff Miller took the position over, heading up a four-man panel which included Peter Moores, James Whitaker and

Ashley Giles Ashley Fraser Giles (born 19 March 1973) is a former English first-class cricketer, who played 54 Test matches and 62 One Day Internationals for England before being forced to retire due to a recurring hip injury. Giles played the entirety of ...

.''Graveney axed as England selector''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

retrieved 18 January 2008

Family links

His father Ken Graveney was a prolific right-arm fast bowler with Gloucestershire between 1947 and 1964, who once took 10/66 in an innings. He captained his county between 1963 and 1964. His uncle

Tom Graveney Thomas William Graveney (16 June 1927 – 3 November 2015) was an English first-class cricketer, representing his country in 79 Test matches and scoring over 4,800 runs. In a career lasting from 1948 to 1972, he became the 15th player to scor ...

was an elegant batsman with Gloucestershire and

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

(captaining both counties), and played in 79 tests for England (one as captain).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graveney, David 1953 births Living people Durham cricket captains Gloucestershire cricket captains English cricketers Gloucestershire cricketers Somerset cricketers Cricketers from Bristol England cricket team selectors People educated at Millfield People educated at Millfield Preparatory School Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers People from Westbury-on-Trym English cricket coaches Officers of the Order of the British Empire D. H. Robins' XI cricketers 20th-century English sportsmen