Nathaniel Frampton Davis Thomson (29 May 1839 – 2 September 1896) was an Australian

cricketer 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 ...

who played in the first 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) ...

ever played, in 1877. When Australia won the toss on 15 March 1877 and elected to bat, Nat Thomson came out with Australia's No. 1 batsman

Charles Bannerman Charles Bannerman (3 July 1851 – 20 August 1930) was an English-born Australian cricketer. A right-handed batsman, he represented Australia in three Test matches between 1877 and 1879. At the domestic level, he played for the New South Wal ...

to form the first-ever Test batting partnership. Thomson was 37 years 290 days old, which made him the second-oldest player on the ground behind England's

James Southerton James Southerton (16 November 1827 – 16 June 1880) was an English professional cricketer whose first-class career spanned 26 seasons from 1854 to 1879. Right-handed as both batsman and bowler, he began his career as a specialist batsman. He ...

, who remains to this day the oldest Test debutant ever. Thomson has the distinction of being the first batsman dismissed in a Test match, when he was clean bowled by England's Allen Hill for 1 when the score was 2. In the Second Test a fortnight later he made 41 in the second innings, adding 88 for the first wicket with Dave Gregory. Thomson began his career with

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in the 1850s principally as a fieldsman, but his batting improved, and he scored New South Wales' first inter-colonial fifty in 1867–68. He was offered a position on the Australian touring team to

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 1878 but declined due to business reasons and thus finished his brief international career. Until 1993 ''

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 ...

'' listed him as Nathaniel Thompson (without middle names), born 21 April 1838 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, and the brief biographical details in

Bill Frindall William Howard Frindall, (3 March 1939 – 30 January 2009) was an English cricket scorer and statistician, who was familiar to cricket followers as a member of the Test Match Special commentary team on BBC radio. He was nicknamed the Bearded W ...

's ''Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1876-77 to 1977-78'' list him as such. This would have made him the earliest-born Australian Test cricketer. However, a note in the Births and Deaths section of the 1993 ''Wisden'' announced that research had "led to a change in the details for N.F.D. Thomson (formerly listed as Thompson)",''

'' 1993, p. 1220. and since that time Thomson's name and birth information have been listed as in this article. Thomson and Ned Gregory are now assumed to have been born on the same day, and jointly hold the distinction of being the earliest-born Australian Test cricketer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Nat 1839 births 1896 deaths Australia Test cricketers New South Wales cricketers Australian cricketers Wicket-keepers Cricketers from Sydney