Norman Samuel Crookes (born 15 November 1935) is a former cricketer who played

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 ...

in South Africa from 1962 to 1970.

Career

Norman Crookes was an off-spinner and useful lower-order batsman for

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

. On his first-class debut, in the

Currie Cup The Currie Cup () is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premier domestic competition, four South African franc ...

in 1962–63, he took 5 for 62 and 2 for 48 in Natal's victory over

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: *Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provinc ...

. He was a steady performer over the next three seasons. His most significant performance was for a South African Colts XI against the touring MCC early in the 1964–65 season, when in difficult circumstances caused by illness to several of the team he scored 60 and 25 and took 2 for 66 and 5 for 102 and almost brought off a surprise victory.''

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 ...

'' 1966, pp. 799–800. He was selected as one of the three spin bowlers for the tour of England in 1965. Despite taking more wickets in the matches outside the

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) ...

than any other bowler, he did not play in the three Tests.

Norman Preston Norman Preston, Member of the Order of the British Empire, MBE (18 March 1903 – 6 March 1980) was an English cricket journalist. He began his career with the old Pardon's Cricket Reporting Agency in 1933 and served on three overseas tours ...

, "South Africans in England, 1965", ''Wisden'' 1966, pp. 298–323. He took 2 for 94 and 8 for 47 in the victory over

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 ...

and 5 for 54 and 3 for 47 in the victory over

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 finished the tour with 47 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 19.44. Crookes continued to play for Natal until the end of the 1969–70 season. His son

Derek Crookes Derek Norman Crookes (born 5 March 1969) is a former South African cricketer who played 32 One Day Internationals for South Africa between 1994 and 2000. In domestic cricket he played for Natal, Gauteng, Easterns and the Highveld Lions. Crooke ...

played 32 one-day matches for South Africa between 1994 and 2000.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crookes, Norman 1935 births Living people South African cricketers KwaZulu-Natal cricketers Alumni of Hilton College (South Africa)