Nigel David Howard (18 May 1925 – 31 May 1979) 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 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 ...

and

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 ...

. Born in Gee Cross, Hyde, Cheshire, he captained England on the tour to India in 1951–52. In the only four Test matches he played in, England won one and drew three, although the series was tied after the Fifth Test was lost (Howard was ill and Donald Carr captained England in his absence). Howard was chosen to lead the side to the sub-continent largely because he was the best available

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

(

Len Hutton Sir Leonard Hutton (23 June 1916 – 6 September 1990) was an English cricketer. He played as an Batting order (cricket)#Opening batsmen, opening batsman for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1934 to 1955 and for England national cricket team ...

became the first professional England captain of the 20th century a few months later) and a successful leader of Lancashire (1949–53).

Youth and early career

Howard's younger brother Barry, also played for Lancashire, and their father Rupert was secretary of

Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire Cricket Club represents the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire in Cricket in England, English cricket. The club has held first-class cricket, first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's ho ...

for several years. Howard went to

Rossall School Rossall School is a private Day school, day and boarding school, boarding school in the United Kingdom for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St. Vincent Beechey, St Vincent Beechey as a ...

and played for Rossall Cricket Club. He showed early promise, leading his club's averages for the 1941 and 1942 seasons while still in his teens. As well as performing well at cricket, Howard was also a capable golfer and hockey player, representing Cheshire in both sports. Retrieved on 21 December 2008. He made his debut for Lancashire on 25 May 1946. Playing against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, Howard batted at number four and made scores of 4 and 3 as Lancashire won by seven wickets. It was the only first-class match he played in the year. In the 1946 and 1947 seasons, he scored 131 runs in 7 matches at an average of 14.56. Retrieved on 21 December 2008. He established himself as a regular player in the 1948 season, in which he scored 944 runs in 23 matches at an average of 36.30. This included his only

century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. ...

of the year; he made 145 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 ...

, the highest score of his career, and was awarded his county

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

in 1948. Retrieved on 21 December 2008.

Captaincy

Howard was officially given the Lancashire captaincy in 1949 at the age of 23, becoming the youngest player to captain Lancashire. He guided the team to a share of 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 ...

title in 1950; Lancashire did not win again until 2011. He remained Lancashire's captain until he retired from

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 ...

at the end of 1953. He led the

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) most capably on, and equally importantly in view of the considerable diplomatic demands of those times, off the field, during the tour to India in 1951-52. He soldiered on despite developing

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (Pulmonary pleurae, pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant d ...

during the second half of the tour. At county level he was a stylish batsman and excellent fielder.

Post-cricket

After his cricketing career ended, Howard entered the family textile business. In late 1954 he married Ann Phillips, an English amateur golfer. He retired in 1976 and moved to the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

where he died on 31 May 1979, aged 54.

References

External links

CricketArchive stats

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Nigel 1925 births 1979 deaths England Test cricketers England Test cricket captains English cricketers Lancashire cricketers Lancashire cricket captains People educated at Rossall School Sportspeople from Hyde, Greater Manchester Cricketers from Greater Manchester Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers North v South cricketers Free Foresters cricketers Gentlemen cricketers 20th-century English sportsmen