ahmedleo414
The Butcher
My final pick will be Dudley Nourse
A bit of his bio from cricinfo:
"Arthur Dudley Nourse, who died at his home in Durban on August 14, was destined to outstrip even the deeds of his father, A. W. 'Dave' Nourse, although the war cost him many Test appearances. The first of his 34 Test matches was at Trent Bridge in 1935, and the last at The Oval in 1951. In that time he scored 2960 runs, with nine centuries (seven against England), at the rare average of 53.81, and established a reputation as a fighting batsman, defensive when need be but ever ready to punch the ball with all the strength of his beefy forearms.
His most renowned innings was 208 in the Nottingham Test of 1951. Coming into the match (at the age of 40) with his broken right thumb pinned, he batted for nine hours, gritting his teeth against the pain, and not only registering South Africa's first double-century against England, but captaining South Africa to their first Test victory for 16 years....
...During war service in the Middle East, he smote nine sixes off nine balls (including all six in an over) in a match in Alexandria; but, having lost his peak years to the war, he had also lost some of his health and his slimness. Gradually he found his form again, and England in 1947 saw a redoubtable Nourse. His stand of 319 with Melville in the opening Test, at Trent Bridge, remains the second-highest in South Africa's Test history, and a further century flashed from his bat -- in a losing cause -- in the third Test, at Old Trafford. He renewed acquaintances with Edgbaston with an unbeaten 205 against Warwickshire, and in The Oval Test he was given out bowled for 97 only after an umpires' consultation. His 621 runs (av. 69) topped the Springbok averages, and only the phenomenal figures of Edrich and Compton exceeded his on the English side.
A year later his form still held as he captained against England in a losing series, making centuries in the Cape Town and Johannesburg Tests and leading the averages of both sides with 76.57. A year later he scored consistently in the four defeats by Australia, reaching three figures at Cape Town. And at last, in the 1951 series in England, he led his country to a victory, his 208 at Nottingham receiving the necessary support from the bowlers. The rest of the tour was anticlimax, England winning three of the other four Tests. Nourse's ninth century, however, placed him on a pinnacle, still unmatched today, eleven years into South Africa's isolation."
"Arthur Dudley Nourse, who died at his home in Durban on August 14, was destined to outstrip even the deeds of his father, A. W. 'Dave' Nourse, although the war cost him many Test appearances. The first of his 34 Test matches was at Trent Bridge in 1935, and the last at The Oval in 1951. In that time he scored 2960 runs, with nine centuries (seven against England), at the rare average of 53.81, and established a reputation as a fighting batsman, defensive when need be but ever ready to punch the ball with all the strength of his beefy forearms.
His most renowned innings was 208 in the Nottingham Test of 1951. Coming into the match (at the age of 40) with his broken right thumb pinned, he batted for nine hours, gritting his teeth against the pain, and not only registering South Africa's first double-century against England, but captaining South Africa to their first Test victory for 16 years....
...During war service in the Middle East, he smote nine sixes off nine balls (including all six in an over) in a match in Alexandria; but, having lost his peak years to the war, he had also lost some of his health and his slimness. Gradually he found his form again, and England in 1947 saw a redoubtable Nourse. His stand of 319 with Melville in the opening Test, at Trent Bridge, remains the second-highest in South Africa's Test history, and a further century flashed from his bat -- in a losing cause -- in the third Test, at Old Trafford. He renewed acquaintances with Edgbaston with an unbeaten 205 against Warwickshire, and in The Oval Test he was given out bowled for 97 only after an umpires' consultation. His 621 runs (av. 69) topped the Springbok averages, and only the phenomenal figures of Edrich and Compton exceeded his on the English side.
A year later his form still held as he captained against England in a losing series, making centuries in the Cape Town and Johannesburg Tests and leading the averages of both sides with 76.57. A year later he scored consistently in the four defeats by Australia, reaching three figures at Cape Town. And at last, in the 1951 series in England, he led his country to a victory, his 208 at Nottingham receiving the necessary support from the bowlers. The rest of the tour was anticlimax, England winning three of the other four Tests. Nourse's ninth century, however, placed him on a pinnacle, still unmatched today, eleven years into South Africa's isolation."
Sid Barnes- W.G. Grace
- Hanif Mohammad
- Dudley Nourse
- Polly Umrigar
- Denis Lindsay
- Richie Benaud
- John Goddard
- Bill O'Reilly
- Fred Trueman
- Wes Hall
