Phil Mead
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Slow left-arm orthodox | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | Batsman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Test debut (cap 174) | 15 December 1911 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last Test | 30 November 1928 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1905–1936 | Hampshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1910–1929 | Marylebone Cricket Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1938–1939 | Suffolk | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 3 January 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Charles Phillip Mead (9 March 1887 – 26 March 1958) was an English first-class cricketer. He played as a left-handed batsman for Hampshire and England between 1905 and 1936. He was born at 10 Ashton Buildings (since pulled down), second eldest of seven children.[1] As a child he played for South London Schools, attending Shillingstone Street School.
Mead holds many batting records, notably that of scoring the most runs in the County Championship and the fourth-highest total in all first-class matches.[2] His number of runs for Hampshire, 48,892, is the greatest number any batsman has scored for a single team.[2] He also exceeded one thousand runs in every season of first-class cricket except his first – when he only played one match. He was also a fine fieldsman, holding 675 catches.
Cricket career
C. B. Fry spotted Mead playing as a schoolboy at the Oval and encouraged him to become a professional; he joined the Surrey ground staff in 1902.[1]
Mead first trialled for Surrey, but qualified for
After one match against the touring Australians when not qualified in 1905, Mead immediately became a regular with Hampshire, but faltered after a promising beginning including 109 against Yorkshire.
However, from 1907 onwards Mead, at this stage an opening batsman, advanced very rapidly, with his average reaching 39 in the very wet summer of 1909. In 1911, he moved down the order to his familiar position of number four, and so successful was this move that he was the leading run-scorer in 1911 and 1913, and toured Australia in 1911–12 and South Africa in 1913–14. He was not nearly so successful as might have been expected in Australia, but in South Africa he hit a Test century and played particularly well throughout. In 1912 he had been unbeaten (160* and 33*) in Hampshire's historic win over the Australians at Southampton.
After World War I halted county cricket (Mead was rejected from active service because of varicose veins),[1] Mead's list of achievements grew, as his always-remarkable watchfulness and superb footwork made him the complete master of bowlers such as Tich Freeman who were deadly against batsmen of poorer technique. In 1921, after missing the first three Tests against Australia, Mead hit 182 not out at The Oval in the last Test – showing that England seriously erred in not choosing him for the earlier games when Jack Gregory and Ted McDonald had a complete mastery over their batsmen. He also hit his highest score of 280 not out that year against Nottinghamshire. Hampshire, remarkably, lost the match as they had been bowled out cheaply on a good wicket in their first innings.
Between 1922 and 1928, Mead was consistently one of the top batsmen in county cricket, but England's remarkable batting strength – with men like Herbert Sutcliffe, Wally Hammond, Jack Hobbs and Frank Woolley – meant Mead had few opportunities at Test level. After scoring over 3000 runs in 1928, Mead toured Australia for the second time, but was dropped after one Test so as to make room for another bowler.
In 1929, affected by injury, Mead declined substantially, failing to reach 2000 runs for the first time since the war. However, despite no longer being in the front rank of English batsmen, Mead was still feared for his great technical skill and reached a thousand runs every year until, at the age of forty-nine in 1936, he was not re-engaged by Hampshire. In his last innings, Mead played a superbly skilful 52 against
He had predictable mannerisms – having got to the crease with his "rolling, self-reliant" walk, he took guard, twirled his bat, tapped his bat in the crease and took several shuffling steps up to it. Before every ball he would tug his cap.[3] His batting was not slow, but completely unhurried; a spectator once described him as having 'stone-walled' from a quarter to one to half past six for 200.[3]
Soon after
Football career
In 1907, Mead signed for
Family
Married to Beatrice Englefield in 1908, he had two sons, Ronald and Frank. Beatrice's brother, Frank Englefield, was also a professional footballer, playing for both Southampton and Fulham.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d Jenkinson N. C. P. Mead. Southampton, Paul Cave Publications, 1993.
- ^ a b "Sachin 1 Shane 0". ESPN Cricinfo. 8 March 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ a b Arlott J. Tribute to Philip Mead. In: The Essential Arlott on Cricket, ed Rayvern Allen D. Fontana, London, 1991. (taken from a BBC West of England Home Service radio broadcast).
- ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
- ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.