Denis Tomlinson
Umtali, Rhodesia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 11 July 1993 (aged 82) Durban, South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling | Leg-break and googly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Only Test | 15 June 1935 v England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 14 November 2022 |
Denis Stanley Tomlinson (4 September 1910 – 11 July 1993) was a Rhodesian cricketer who played in one Test match for South Africa in 1935.[1] He was the first Rhodesian-born cricketer to represent South Africa.[2]
Early cricket career
Tomlinson was a right-handed batsman who played mostly in the middle- to lower-order but occasionally was used as an opener, and a right-arm leg-break and googly bowler. He was educated at
In his limited appearances, though, Tomlinson was successful. In his only match of the 1930–31 season, he took five wickets for 106 runs in the match against the
Test player in England
Tomlinson played 19 first-class matches during the 1935 tour of England but was not rated as a success in the tour write-up in the 1936 Wisden: "Tomlinson revealed early promise but accomplished nothing when given a chance in the first of the Tests," it wrote.[8] "He seemed unable to pitch the steady length so essential for a spin bowler."
Tomlinson played more first-class matches than expected because Xen Balaskas was injured for much of the season, but his inability to seize his chances meant that he appeared in only the first Test, and thereafter, South Africa's spin needs were covered by Cyril Vincent, with support from Bruce Mitchell. In his solitary Test, the only one of his career, Tomlinson scored nine in South Africa's first innings and did not bat in the second; in 10 overs of bowling, he failed to take a wicket and conceded 38 runs.[9] After this Test match, Tomlinson fell so far out of favour that he was picked for only one match in the following six weeks.[4] On the tour as a whole, he took 52 wickets at an average of 26.53, the most expensive of the regular bowlers, and his 282 runs came at an average of 20.14.[10] On the way home from the tour, Tomlinson, like his captain, Jock Cameron, caught enteric fever; Tomlinson survived, though he was ill for a long time, but Cameron did not.[11]
Later cricket
Illness aside, Rhodesia's limited first-class programme included only two further matches for Tomlinson before the Second World War, both of them against the
References
- ^ "Denis Tomlinson". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
- ^ Pichanick, Alwyn (December 1993). "Denis Tomlinson". Zimbabwe Cricketer. 24: 31.
- ^ I.P. Maclaren, ed. (1981), Some Renowned Rhodesian Senior Schools 1892 – 1979, Bulawayo: Books of Zimbabwe, p. 233
- ^ a b "First-class matches played by Denis Tomlinson". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- ^ "Scorecard: Rhodesia v MCC". www.cricketarchive.com. 6 December 1930. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- ^ "Scorecard: Eastern Province v Rhodesia". www.cricketarchive.com. 1 January 1932. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- ^ "Scorecard: Western Province v The Rest". www.cricketarchive.com. 29 December 1932. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
- ^ "South Africans in England". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Vol. Part II (1936 ed.). Wisden. pp. 6–7.
- ^ "Scorecard: England v South Africa". www.cricketarchive.com. 15 June 1935. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
- ^ "South Africans in England". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack. Vol. Part II (1936 ed.). Wisden. p. 62.
- ^ "South Africans in England". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1994 ed.). Wisden. pp. 1393–94.
- ^ "Scorecard: Western Province v Rhodesia". www.cricketarchive.com. 6 December 1946. Retrieved 30 January 2012.