Joseph Horton (12 August 1915 – 6 November 1998) 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 62 matches 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 ...

in the 1930s. Born in Colwall Green,

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

, Horton made his debut against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

in July 1934, but made only 5 and 0 and was not selected again that season. The following year he played nine times, but again met with little success: in 14 innings he made only 76 runs, his highest score a mere 13. He did take 2–3 against Derbyshire (including the wicket of George Pope), but otherwise there was little for Horton to enjoy about his 1935 performances. Horton played 21 matches in 1936, the most of any summer of his career, and his batting improved somewhat: he made 432 runs at 14.89 including two half-centuries, and his 59 against

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 ...

came as part of an important ninth-wicket partnership of 80 with

Reg Perks Reginald Thomas David Perks (4 October 1911 – 22 November 1977) was an English cricketer who played in two Test matches in 1939, and was the mainstay of Worcestershire's bowling for a long period from the middle 1930s until the middle 1950s ...

after Worcestershire had fallen to 139/8. Horton also picked up two wickets that season, the last he was to take. For the next two years Horton continued to command a semi-regular place in the side, playing 13 times in 1937 and 18 in 1938, but with a couple of exceptions — such as his 70 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 ...

in the latter year — he was unable to produce good enough batting form to make a real claim to a permanent position, and he left first-class cricket without ever having scored 500 runs in a season. Horton appeared for the Worcestershire second team in

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 in 1950. He died in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

at the age of 83. His younger brother

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

, who predeceased him by just four days, played a few times for Worcestershire in the 1940s, but had a much more substantial career with

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

in the Fifties and Sixties.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Horton, Joseph 1915 births 1998 deaths English cricketers Worcestershire cricketers Cricketers from Herefordshire 20th-century English sportsmen