John Stanning (24 June 1919 – 29 May 2007) was an English

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 ...

er who played 16 matches in 1939 and 1946, nine for

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 ...

and seven for

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. Stanning made his debut for Oxford against the

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 ...

in early June 1939, scoring 39 and 9. In five further matches for the university that season, he usually got a start but could not go on to make any really significant scores, his best game being the

Varsity Match A varsity match in Britain and Ireland is a fixture, especially of a sporting event or team, between university teams, usually the highest-level team, or varsity team, in that sport. The University Match in cricket between Oxford University an ...

against

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when he made 38 in the first innings and 39

not out In cricket, a batsman is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batsman is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at ...

in the second to help set up a 45-run victory. His next match, and indeed all the remaining games of his brief first-class career, was for Worcestershire, playing in 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 ...

against

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 ...

. He made only 4 and 0 as Worcestershire suffered two collapses, from 112/2 to 130 all out in the first innings, and from 116/4 to 142 all out in the second, but

Howorth Howorth is a surname of English Anglo-Saxon origin, most commonly found among families originating in the English counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire, especially around the village of Great Howarth near Rochdale, Lancashire, and Haworth in Yorks ...

's 4-27 off 9.4 eight-ball overs (this was the only season in which the eight-ball over was used in England) saved the day, and when he bowled Horace Hazell the match finished in a thrilling tie. Worcestershire's next game, against

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 ...

, was also a nail-biter as they squeezed to a one-wicket win, but this time Stanning's personal contribution was far greater: in the first innings he hit what was to be a career best 56 not out to rescue his team from 133/7. Perks and

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

then ran through the Northants batting order to bowl them out for 66, but Worcestershire made heavy weather of chasing 100, falling to a precarious 71/9 before

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

's 31 saw them home. Stanning had little to do with this, though, as he had been bowled for nought. Stanning played three more times in 1939, but did very little of note on any of these occasions. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

then intervened, and although he did return to play two games in 1946 (only the second of which, against

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

, did he bat in), time had moved on and he was to make no more first-class appearances. His father, John Stanning senior, played 26 first-class matches around the turn of the twentieth century, while his uncle Henry Stanning played 33 times for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

between 1906 and 1908. John Stanning died on 29 May 2007.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanning, John 1919 births 2007 deaths English cricketers Worcestershire cricketers Oxford University cricketers Cricketers from Nairobi Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British expatriates in Kenya 20th-century English sportsmen