Neville Knox

Neville Knox

Personal information
Full name	Neville Alexander Knox
Born	(1884-10-10)10 October 1884 Clapham, London, England
Died	3 March 1935(1935-03-03) (aged 50) Surbiton, Surrey, England
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast
International information
National side	England
Career statistics
Competition Tests First-class Matches 2 88 Runs scored 24 905 Batting average 8.00 10.16 100s/50s –/– –/– Top score 8* 45* Balls bowled 126 14570 Wickets 3 411 Bowling average 35.00 21.55 5 wickets in innings – 38 10 wickets in match – 9 Best bowling 2/39 8/48 Catches/stumpings –/– 32/–
Source: Cricinfo

Neville Alexander Knox (10 October 1884 - 3 March 1935) was an English

of his time and one of the fastest bowlers ever to play for England — probably capable of speeds over 150 km/h (93 mph).

Life and career

Knox attended Dulwich College.^[1] He played two matches for Surrey in 1904 without achieving a great deal, but the following year, aided by some fiery pitches at The Oval, advanced so much that he was an excellent backup to Walter Lees in a major Surrey revival. Although he was expensive on true pitches Knox took 129 wickets for less than 22 runs each, and his promise was clearly noted, though even then the length (over 20 metres or 22 yards — very long for the time) of his run-up was seen as taking a great deal of energy out of him and it was thought Knox would have trouble coping with arduous seasons.

The following season — one with hardly a day of rain in the

by Wisden.

In 1907, though a wet summer severely restricted his opportunities, a superb effort against a powerful South African team earned Knox a place in the second Test at Headingley. This turned out to be a grievous error because he was a mere passenger on a very soft pitch,^[4] and even at The Oval in the third Test Knox did not achieve much. Indeed, not playing as regularly as before, Knox took only 44 County Championship wickets and 70 in all games — as against 117 and 144 in 1906.

At the end of 1907, Knox announced he would be playing no more first-class cricket,^[3] but soon before the 1908 season began it was expected he would play regularly in July and August.^[5] A superb performance for the Gentlemen at the Oval gave Surrey great hope he would be as good as in 1906, but he only played in three matches, and in 1909 could spare no time for cricket at all. 1910 saw Knox back in the Surrey eleven for five matches, in which he bowled as well as before, but after July he could never again spare any time for county cricket — thus ending a brief but brilliant career.

In the

as a Lieutenant, being promoted to Captain in 1919 and ending his army career as a Major.

Continuing his career as a singer, Neville Knox was in poor health for many years before his death in 1935.

References

External links

• First-class bowling statistics