Thomas Henry Clark (5 October 1924 – 14 June 1981) 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. He played for

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

as an

opening batsman In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batters play through their team's innings, there always being two batters taking part at any one time. All eleven players in a team are required to bat if the innings is completed (i.e., if ...

. His career with them took in the period from 1952 to 1958 when they won an unequalled seven successive

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 ...

titles. He began with the

Minor County Minor may refer to: Common meanings * Minor (law), a person not under the age of certain legal activities. * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Mathematics * Minor (graph theory), a relation of one graph to an ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, that being the county of his birth, and played three matches for them in August 1946. He then joined Surrey. He played in only six first-class matches in total between 1947 and 1949, but made a big advance in 1950 when he played in 19 matches, scored his maiden century and averaged 31.37. He had a poor season the following year and appeared in only 11 matches, but in 1952 he reached 1,000 runs in a season for the first time, averaged 36.15 and was awarded his county cap. From then on he was a regular member of the side until worsening

arthritis Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of ...

meant that after 1959 he was no longer fit enough for first-class cricket. He had two poor seasons in 1955 and 1958, but otherwise reached 1,000 runs every year, making six times in all. When he made his highest score of 191 against

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

at Blackheath in 1956, he put on 174 in two hours with Peter May for the third wicket. He was a useful off-spinner, but his opportunities with the ball were limited by the presence in the Surrey side of

Jim Laker James Charles Laker (9 February 1922 – 23 April 1986) was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club from 1946 to 1959 and represented England in 46 Test matches. He was born in Shipley, West Riding of Yorks ...

and

Eric Bedser Eric Arthur Bedser (4 July 1918 – 24 May 2006) was a cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club. He was the elder identical twin brother of Alec Bedser (1918–2010), widely regarded as one of England's top bowlers of the 20th century ...

. Before concentrating on cricket, he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, appearing in their reserve team. In May 1948 he moved to

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

, for whom he scored three goals in nine first team games in the

Third Division (South) The Third Division South of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

. He played as an

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Tom 1924 births 1981 deaths English cricketers Surrey cricketers Cricketers from Luton Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Minor Counties cricketers Bedfordshire cricketers Players cricketers English men's footballers Footballers from Luton Men's association football inside forwards English Football League players Aston Villa F.C. players Walsall F.C. players 20th-century English sportsmen