James Edward McConnon (21 June 1922 – 26 January 2003) 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 st ...

er, who played in two

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), ...

in 1954 as an

off-spin Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which sp ...

bowler. He played for Glamorgan from 1950 to 1961, albeit missing the 1956 season when he decided to play for Burnley in the Lancashire League. His 819 first-class wickets cost less than 20 runs each.

Life and career

Jim McConnon was born in

Burnopfield Burnopfield is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated north of Stanley and Annfield Plain, close to the River Derwent and is 564 feet above sea level. There are around 4,553 inhabitants in Burnopfield. It is located 7 miles fro ...

, County Durham. His was a late conversion to cricket, having played football for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa P ...

and Newport County. A knee injury resulted in McConnon switching sports and, for a short time, his lovely bowling action utilising long spinner's fingers threatened

Jim Laker James Charles Laker (9 February 1922 – 23 April 1986) was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club from 1946 to 1959 and represented England in 46 Test matches. He was born in Shipley, West Riding of York ...

's role in the England team. He made his first-class debut for Glamorgan against Surrey at the start of the 1950 season, in the same match as

Don Shepherd Donald John Shepherd (12 August 1927 – 18 August 2017) was a Welsh cricketer, who played for Glamorgan. One of the great county bowlers, he took more first-class wickets – 2,218 – than any other player who never played Test cricket. Car ...

. He claimed 100 wickets in a season three times, with 136 at 16.07 in 1951 being his best. Against the South African tourists in that year he took 6 for 27 including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

, helping Glamorgan to an unlikely victory. McConnon's selection for the Ashes tour of 1954-55 was controversial in that it meant that Laker was not taken. As it was McConnon broke a finger during the tour, and he returned home early. His season as a professional in the Lancashire League was successful: he topped the League bowling averages with 52 wickets at 6.8, and Burnley won the championship. After he left first-class cricket he played a few seasons of

Minor Counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

cricket for Cheshire. McConnon and his wife Pauline had three children, Michael, Catherine and Christopher. McConnon died in

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tamesid ...

, at the age of 80.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McConnon, Jim 1922 births 2003 deaths England Test cricketers English cricketers Glamorgan cricketers Commonwealth XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Cheshire cricketers People from Burnopfield Cricketers from County Durham