Ian Thomson (cricketer)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Norman Ian Thomson (23 January 1929 – 1 August 2021) was 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 in five
Tests 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) ...
for
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in 1964 and 1965. Thomson was weeks away from his 36th birthday when he was first selected for Test duties, a recognition of his performances 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 ...
.


Life and career

Born 23 January 1929 in
Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...
, Staffordshire, Thomson grew up in
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
. After he finished his
National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...
, his family moved to
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, ...
, where he joined the county team, playing his first match in 1952. A medium-fast right-arm swing and seam bowler of accuracy and consistency, and a lower-order batsman, he soon became a regular member of the team. He took more than 100 wickets in every season from 1953 to 1964. The later part of Thomson's career coincided with the first one-day competition. He picked up the
man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...
award in the 1964 Gillette Cup final, when Sussex beat Warwickshire. He was picked for the 1964–65
Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...
(MCC) tour to South Africa, which was led by the Warwickshire
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 ...
, M. J. K. Smith. He played in all five Tests on the tour, and was used largely as a stock bowler, with the spinners
Fred Titmus Frederick John Titmus (24 November 1932 – 23 March 2011) was an English cricketer, whose first-class career, mostly for Middlesex with a short stint for Surrey, spanned five decades. He was the fourth man after W.G. Grace, Wilfred Rhode ...
and David Allen taking most wickets. A spate of injuries on the tour led to a call-up for Ken Palmer, who was coaching locally, and
Geoffrey Boycott Sir Geoffrey Boycott (born 21 October 1940) is a former Test cricketer, who played cricket for Yorkshire and England. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's m ...
was also used as a bowler. Thomson took nine wickets in the five Tests, only four more than Boycott. This was not Thomson's only overseas experience with MCC. In 1955–56 he had toured Pakistan with the side led by Donald Carr, which played only "unofficial" Tests: in fact, he appeared in none of these matches, and played only four matches on the tour. Thomson retired after the 1965 English season, though he reappeared in two matches in 1972, when Sussex had an injury crisis. In 1961, he scored 780 runs in the season at an average of more than 20, and in several other years he contributed more than 500 runs. In January 2021, following the death of Donald Smith, Thomson became England's oldest living Test cricketer. Thomson died at his home in
Henfield Henfield is a large village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Horsham (district), Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies south of London, northwest of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester at ...
,
West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...
, on 1 August 2021, aged 92.


References

* ''
Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "Bible of cricket" (or variations thereof) has been applied to ''Wi ...
'', 1953 to 1966 editions


External links

*
Ian Thomson
at Sussex Cricket Museum

at CricketArchive 1929 births 2021 deaths England Test cricketers English cricketers Sussex cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers North v South cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Cricketers from Walsall Cricketers who have taken ten wickets in an innings A. E. R. Gilligan's XI cricketers Cricketers from Staffordshire 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-cricket-bio-stub