Tom Richardson (cricketer)
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Born | Byfleet, Surrey, England | 11 August 1870|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 2 July 1912 Chambéry, France | (aged 41)|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling | Right-arm fast | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Test debut | 24 August 1893 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last Test | 2 March 1898 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricInfo, 23 December 2018 |
Tom Richardson (11 August 1870 – 2 July 1912) was an English cricketer. A fast bowler, Richardson relied to a great extent on the break-back (a fast ball moving from off to leg), a relatively long run-up and high arm which allowed him to gain sharp lift on fast pitches even from the full, straight length he always bowled. He played 358 first-class cricket matches including 14 Tests, taking a total of 2,104 wickets. In the four consecutive seasons from 1894 to 1897 he took 1,005 wickets, a figure surpassed over such a period only by the slow bowler Tich Freeman. He took 290 wickets in 1895, again a figure only exceeded by Freeman (twice).[1] In 1963 Neville Cardus selected him as one of his "Six Giants of the Wisden Century".
Early career
Richardson was born in Byfleet, England, and first played for his native county in 1892. He showed promise with some strong performances in minor matches, notably fifteen wickets against Essex.[2] However, his first-class record that season was only moderate.
With Surrey's bowling mainstay for the previous decade
The following year saw Richardson go from strength to strength both in dry weather and when the pitches became treacherous after mid-July. Despite having to bowl 8,491 balls at a great pace, he never showed any sign of losing his form and set a new record in taking 290 wickets (bettered only by
Neville Cardus recorded the scene when Australia crept home by three wickets: "His body still shook from the violent motion. He stood there like some fine animal baffled at the uselessness of great strength and effort in this world... A companion led him to the pavilion, and there he fell wearily to a seat." David Frith suggests the truth was somewhat more prosaic. Richardson was the first off the field and had sunk two pints before anyone else had their boots off.
Although he was not required on a wet wicket in the last Test (and nearly withdrew over a pay dispute), Richardson was named a Cricketer of the Year and in 1897 took 273 wickets at the same cost as in 1895. In the four consecutive seasons 1894 to 1897 he took 1,005 wickets, a figure unequalled by any fast bowler before or since.[7]
Decline
Richardson was chosen to tour Australia in 1897/1898, but this was where his successful years ended. Richardson was always a heavy drinker, but around this time the habit became unmanageable and his weight began increasing, thus reducing his speed and stamina. He produced one great performance on the disappointing 1897/1898 tour with eight wickets for 94 in the first innings of the fifth Test, but as soon as he returned to England his decline was plain for all to see. Indeed, in the first two months of the season Richardson accomplished almost no performance of note, and even when he improved from the beginning of July onwards, Surrey could no longer rely on him to bowl over after over on the extremely true Oval pitches; his body could no longer carry the workload of previous years. In a few games late in the season at the Oval, against Yorkshire (when Surrey inflicted that county's biggest defeat) and Warwickshire (when he took a career-best 15 for 83 on a pitch offering no help), he appeared as potent as the bowler of 1897. Nevertheless, his haul of wickets in the County Championship fell from 237 to 126 and their cost from about 14 runs per wicket to over 21.
Later career
Prevented from playing the first few games by injury and unable to contain his excessive drinking and increasing weight, Richardson declined still more sharply in 1899. Though after returning to the Surrey eleven he produced some impressive performances (notably against Kent at the Oval), Richardson failed to take 100 wickets for the season. As a result, he was out of the running for Test selection, and the benefit Surrey gave him for his service between 1893 and 1897 was much less lucrative than everybody had hoped despite Surrey winning the Championship.[citation needed]
However, Richardson showed some improvement in 1900, increasing his haul of wickets from 98 to 122 and taking 14 wickets for 185 runs at Leyton, whilst in 1901 on the best of wickets almost throughout the year he took 159 wickets including impressive performances against the South Africans (11 for 125) and Yorkshire (7 for 105 in one innings). The following two summers were all against fast bowlers, and Richardson naturally suffered. He remained a strenuous worker, and when helped by the pitch (as at Sheffield in 1903) Richardson could still show glimpses of the great mid-1890s bowler. Nonetheless, it was clear to all who observed him that his weight would catch up with him soon, and in 1904 Richardson bowled so ineffectively that he was dropped at the end of May and not re-engaged by Surrey at the end of the year.
At the time he lived in Bath, and played once for Somerset in 1905, but it was clear from his failure then that he could no longer play serious cricket. His weight gain, combined with a congenital heart abnormality, resulted in a fatal heart attack at the age of 41, whilst on a summer walking holiday in Chambéry, France. According to a number of sources (including Herbert Strudwick), he had been in good health and spirits before leaving England. A widespread rumour that he had committed suicide was disproved by research carried out by Ralph Barker.[8] Richardson was buried in Richmond Cemetery.[9]
Honoured by Wisden
In the 1963 edition of
References
- ^ Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 2008 edition, p322.
- ^ Pardon, Sydney H. ed. (1913) John Wisden’s Cricketer’s Almanac. Jubilee Edition; part I, p. 197
- ^ "3rd Test: England v Australia at Manchester, Aug 24–26, 1893". espncricinfo. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- ^ Pardon, Sydney H. ed. (1894) John Wisden’s Cricketers’ Almanac. 31st edition
- ^ Pardon, Sydney H. ed. (1913) John Wisden’s Cricketer’s Almanac. Jubilee Edition; part I, p. 157
- ^ Webber, Roy ed. (1951) The Playfair Book of Cricket Records. Haymarket Books. p. 173.
- ISBN 0-947766-08-1, see also List of first-class cricket records
- ^ Ralph Barker, Ten Great Bowlers, Chatto and Windus, 1967, pp123-126.
- ISBN 9780752461830.
- ^ Six Giants of the Wisden Century Neville Cardus, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1963. Retrieved on 8 November 2008.
Further reading
Keith Booth. Tom Richardson: A Bowler Pure and Simple. ACS Publications. 2012.