VC the slogger
PlanetCricket Forever
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2010
Finito..
One of the most stylish and charismatic cricketers of his or any era, Denis Compton brought an un-English flair to pretty much everything he did - be it his batting, where he was described by Len Hutton as having the skill to play all the shots in the book and several not even in them, or his occasional left-arm chinaman bowling, arguably the most un-English of all un-English arts in cricket. His brilliant unorthodox strokeplay coupled with a fearless attitude towards fast bowling, and an exuberant personality did much to lighten the gloomy atmosphere in the years following the Second World War, when England both as a nation and a cricket team were struggling for a new identity, making him a national icon in the process. His impact, along with that of his friend and rival Keith Miller from Australia was such that the Player of the Series medal handed out to the best performing player at the end of an Ashes series was renamed the Compton-Miller medal. If his achievements on the cricket field weren't enough, he also played football professionally for Arsenal as a winger, winning the First Division of the Football League with them in 1937/38, 1947/48 and the FA Cup in 1950 - totalling 15 goals from a total of 54 appearances between 1936 and 1950 before persistent knee troubles cut short his football career, and would also somewhat affect his cricketing career in the process.
Compton first caught the eye of the cricketing establishment at the age of 15, when he scored a century in a school match played at Lord's which impressed English Test selector Plum Warner. He was given a first-class debut for Middlesex at the age of 18 in 1936, and aged 19 years and 83 days in 1937 became at the time England's second youngest Test debutant ever after Jack Crawford - scoring an eye-catching 65 and claiming 2 for 34 on debut against New Zealand. He scored a total of 1980 runs at 47.14 for the season, thereby cementing his place for the 1938 Ashes against Australia on home soil. He recorded a century in his first ever Ashes Test, scoring 102 off 173 balls from No 6 in a high-scoring match at Trent Bridge, and added a valiant unbeaten 76 off 137 balls in the next Test at Lord's facing up to the bowling of Bill O'Reilly on a rain-affected wicket, which enabled England to draw the match. His first Ashes series saw him score a respectable 214 runs at 42.80 with his batting impressing Don Bradman, the Australian captain and the greatest batsman in the world. His efforts saw him named one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year in 1939, where he scored 2468 runs for the season including 189 runs at 63.00 with a highest of 120 in a 3-Test series against the West Indies which England won by a 1-0 margin, which was to be the last Test series played for another six years as a result of the Second World War.
Compton served with the army during the War, being posted in Central India where he was granted permission to play for Holkar in the Ranji Trophy; he famously appeared in the insanely high-scoring 1944/45 final between Holkar and Mumbai which aggregated a total of 2078 runs across four innings where the former put up totals of 360 and 492, where Compton himself scored an unbeaten 249, but still lost by a gargantuan 374-run margin due to Mumbai posting a second innings total of 764 on the back of Vijay Merchant's 278. It was also in India that he would come across Keith Miller, the Australian all-rounder with whom he would have many a duel in the Ashes and form one of cricket's great friendship-rivalries over the years. The two played against each other in a match between East Zone whom Compton represented, and the Australian Services team containing Australian players who served in the War including Miller. The match was played at Calcultta (now Kolkata) in the backdrop of pro-independence riots following Winston Churchill's decision to not grant India independence, and was invaded by rioters whilst Compton was batting- one of whom walked up to him saying "Mr Compton, you very good player, but you must stop", a remark Miller would jokingly use against him every time they met on the cricket field thereafter.
When first-class cricket resumed in England after the War, Compton was arguably at the peak of his powers as a batsman. Between 1946 and 1949, he aggregated an astonishing 2664 runs at an average of 61.95 with 11 centuries in Test cricket; this extended to three record-breaking seasons in English first-class cricket where he totalled 2403 runs at 61.61 with 10 centuries in 1946, 3816 runs at 90.85 with a record-breaking 18 centuries in 1947, 2451 runs at 61.27 with 9 centuries in 1948, and 2530 runs at 48.65 with 9 centuries in 1949 - totalling an awe-inspiring 46 first-class centuries over a three-year period. His runs and centuries tally for the 1947 season remains a first-class record that is unlikely to ever be surpassed. It was also during this period that he put in some of his most memorable performances in the Ashes, totalling 459 runs at 51.00 with 2 centuries and a highest of 147 in the 1946/47 Ashes in Australia, where he finished second on the English averages to Len Hutton (52.12) and scored a century in each innings of the Adelaide Test against Don Bradman's Australians. This was followed by an ever better performance in the 1948 Ashes series against the 'Invincibles', where he scored 562 runs at 62.44 with 2 courageous centuries - a gritty 184 at Trent Bridge that was England's sole resistance in an 8-wicket defeat, and an even more impressive 145* at Old Trafford despite being forced off the field with a cut eyebrow courtesy of a Ray Lindwall bouncer only to return an play an innings that could well have brought up a rare English victory but for the weather. Unfortunately for him, England lost both the Ashes series in 1946/47 and 1948 by a 3-0 and 4-0 margin respectively. His sporting career reached an all-time high in 1950 when he was part of the FA Cup winning Arsenal team, but aggravated his already dodgy knees during the Cup final.
Compton was not fully fit in time for the 1950/51 Ashes series, which he played through severe discomfort, totalling a surprisingly poor 53 runs at 7.57 with a highest of just 23 in a series which England lost 4-1. A series of operations allowed him to return to the Test arena, but he was never again the same dominant batsman the world had witnessed in the years between 1946 and 1950. Nevertheless, he still managed to score 2620 runs at 42.25 with 4 centuries in the final phase of his Test career between 1950/51 and 1956/57, including a career high score of 278 in just 287 minutes against Pakistan in 1954. He was far less prolific in the three Ashes series he played during this period in 1953 (234 runs at 33.42), 1954/55 (191 runs at 38.20) and 1956 (129 runs at 129.00), but finally managed to emerge on the winning side in the Ashes by winning all three. At the age of 38, he played his final Ashes Test in 1956 very nearly recording a century but eventually falling for 94 to Ron Archer. He played one more Test series in South Africa in 1956/57, totalling a rather disappointing 242 runs at 24.20 - including a duck in his last Test match before retiring.
Overall, Compton scored 5807 runs at an average of 50.06 with 17 centuries, and claimed 25 wickets with a best of 5 for 70 with his occasional left-arm chinaman spin which he described as a "party trick" from 78 Tests between 1937 and 1957. In the Ashes, his overall figures read 2620 runs at 42.25 with 4 centuries and only 5 wickets at 71.60 from 41 matches, figures that were no doubt hampered by his performances in the four Ashes series following his FA Cup injury in 1950 where he totalled just 607 runs at 30.35 compared to 1235 runs at 53.70 between 1937 and 1948. He nevertheless averaged a very impressive 76.00 batting at No 5, the highest by any player with a minimum of 500 runs from the position in the Ashes. In all first-class cricket, he scored 38942 runs at 51.85 with 123 centuries and claimed 622 wickets at 32.27 with 19 five-wicket hauls from 515 matches between 1936 and 1964. His footballing career also involved twelve wartime games for England which were not given official status, which meant he fell only marginally short of becoming a dual international at both football and cricket; it was the other way around with his brother Leslie who played first-class cricket and represented the England national side in football in 1950.
Playing Role
Compton slots in at No 5, where he averaged 76 in the Ashes to finally complete my team. I am really quite pleased with my side.
VC's XI
(Click player names to view profiles)
1.
Jack Hobbs
2. Sid Barnes
3. Ricky Ponting
4. Stan McCabe
5. Denis Compton
6. Keith Miller
7. Adam Gilchrist
8. Ray Lindwall
9. Wilfred Rhodes
10. Bill O'Reilly
11. Sydney Barnes
One of the most stylish and charismatic cricketers of his or any era, Denis Compton brought an un-English flair to pretty much everything he did - be it his batting, where he was described by Len Hutton as having the skill to play all the shots in the book and several not even in them, or his occasional left-arm chinaman bowling, arguably the most un-English of all un-English arts in cricket. His brilliant unorthodox strokeplay coupled with a fearless attitude towards fast bowling, and an exuberant personality did much to lighten the gloomy atmosphere in the years following the Second World War, when England both as a nation and a cricket team were struggling for a new identity, making him a national icon in the process. His impact, along with that of his friend and rival Keith Miller from Australia was such that the Player of the Series medal handed out to the best performing player at the end of an Ashes series was renamed the Compton-Miller medal. If his achievements on the cricket field weren't enough, he also played football professionally for Arsenal as a winger, winning the First Division of the Football League with them in 1937/38, 1947/48 and the FA Cup in 1950 - totalling 15 goals from a total of 54 appearances between 1936 and 1950 before persistent knee troubles cut short his football career, and would also somewhat affect his cricketing career in the process.
Compton first caught the eye of the cricketing establishment at the age of 15, when he scored a century in a school match played at Lord's which impressed English Test selector Plum Warner. He was given a first-class debut for Middlesex at the age of 18 in 1936, and aged 19 years and 83 days in 1937 became at the time England's second youngest Test debutant ever after Jack Crawford - scoring an eye-catching 65 and claiming 2 for 34 on debut against New Zealand. He scored a total of 1980 runs at 47.14 for the season, thereby cementing his place for the 1938 Ashes against Australia on home soil. He recorded a century in his first ever Ashes Test, scoring 102 off 173 balls from No 6 in a high-scoring match at Trent Bridge, and added a valiant unbeaten 76 off 137 balls in the next Test at Lord's facing up to the bowling of Bill O'Reilly on a rain-affected wicket, which enabled England to draw the match. His first Ashes series saw him score a respectable 214 runs at 42.80 with his batting impressing Don Bradman, the Australian captain and the greatest batsman in the world. His efforts saw him named one of Wisden's Five Cricketers of the Year in 1939, where he scored 2468 runs for the season including 189 runs at 63.00 with a highest of 120 in a 3-Test series against the West Indies which England won by a 1-0 margin, which was to be the last Test series played for another six years as a result of the Second World War.
Compton served with the army during the War, being posted in Central India where he was granted permission to play for Holkar in the Ranji Trophy; he famously appeared in the insanely high-scoring 1944/45 final between Holkar and Mumbai which aggregated a total of 2078 runs across four innings where the former put up totals of 360 and 492, where Compton himself scored an unbeaten 249, but still lost by a gargantuan 374-run margin due to Mumbai posting a second innings total of 764 on the back of Vijay Merchant's 278. It was also in India that he would come across Keith Miller, the Australian all-rounder with whom he would have many a duel in the Ashes and form one of cricket's great friendship-rivalries over the years. The two played against each other in a match between East Zone whom Compton represented, and the Australian Services team containing Australian players who served in the War including Miller. The match was played at Calcultta (now Kolkata) in the backdrop of pro-independence riots following Winston Churchill's decision to not grant India independence, and was invaded by rioters whilst Compton was batting- one of whom walked up to him saying "Mr Compton, you very good player, but you must stop", a remark Miller would jokingly use against him every time they met on the cricket field thereafter.
When first-class cricket resumed in England after the War, Compton was arguably at the peak of his powers as a batsman. Between 1946 and 1949, he aggregated an astonishing 2664 runs at an average of 61.95 with 11 centuries in Test cricket; this extended to three record-breaking seasons in English first-class cricket where he totalled 2403 runs at 61.61 with 10 centuries in 1946, 3816 runs at 90.85 with a record-breaking 18 centuries in 1947, 2451 runs at 61.27 with 9 centuries in 1948, and 2530 runs at 48.65 with 9 centuries in 1949 - totalling an awe-inspiring 46 first-class centuries over a three-year period. His runs and centuries tally for the 1947 season remains a first-class record that is unlikely to ever be surpassed. It was also during this period that he put in some of his most memorable performances in the Ashes, totalling 459 runs at 51.00 with 2 centuries and a highest of 147 in the 1946/47 Ashes in Australia, where he finished second on the English averages to Len Hutton (52.12) and scored a century in each innings of the Adelaide Test against Don Bradman's Australians. This was followed by an ever better performance in the 1948 Ashes series against the 'Invincibles', where he scored 562 runs at 62.44 with 2 courageous centuries - a gritty 184 at Trent Bridge that was England's sole resistance in an 8-wicket defeat, and an even more impressive 145* at Old Trafford despite being forced off the field with a cut eyebrow courtesy of a Ray Lindwall bouncer only to return an play an innings that could well have brought up a rare English victory but for the weather. Unfortunately for him, England lost both the Ashes series in 1946/47 and 1948 by a 3-0 and 4-0 margin respectively. His sporting career reached an all-time high in 1950 when he was part of the FA Cup winning Arsenal team, but aggravated his already dodgy knees during the Cup final.
Compton was not fully fit in time for the 1950/51 Ashes series, which he played through severe discomfort, totalling a surprisingly poor 53 runs at 7.57 with a highest of just 23 in a series which England lost 4-1. A series of operations allowed him to return to the Test arena, but he was never again the same dominant batsman the world had witnessed in the years between 1946 and 1950. Nevertheless, he still managed to score 2620 runs at 42.25 with 4 centuries in the final phase of his Test career between 1950/51 and 1956/57, including a career high score of 278 in just 287 minutes against Pakistan in 1954. He was far less prolific in the three Ashes series he played during this period in 1953 (234 runs at 33.42), 1954/55 (191 runs at 38.20) and 1956 (129 runs at 129.00), but finally managed to emerge on the winning side in the Ashes by winning all three. At the age of 38, he played his final Ashes Test in 1956 very nearly recording a century but eventually falling for 94 to Ron Archer. He played one more Test series in South Africa in 1956/57, totalling a rather disappointing 242 runs at 24.20 - including a duck in his last Test match before retiring.
Overall, Compton scored 5807 runs at an average of 50.06 with 17 centuries, and claimed 25 wickets with a best of 5 for 70 with his occasional left-arm chinaman spin which he described as a "party trick" from 78 Tests between 1937 and 1957. In the Ashes, his overall figures read 2620 runs at 42.25 with 4 centuries and only 5 wickets at 71.60 from 41 matches, figures that were no doubt hampered by his performances in the four Ashes series following his FA Cup injury in 1950 where he totalled just 607 runs at 30.35 compared to 1235 runs at 53.70 between 1937 and 1948. He nevertheless averaged a very impressive 76.00 batting at No 5, the highest by any player with a minimum of 500 runs from the position in the Ashes. In all first-class cricket, he scored 38942 runs at 51.85 with 123 centuries and claimed 622 wickets at 32.27 with 19 five-wicket hauls from 515 matches between 1936 and 1964. His footballing career also involved twelve wartime games for England which were not given official status, which meant he fell only marginally short of becoming a dual international at both football and cricket; it was the other way around with his brother Leslie who played first-class cricket and represented the England national side in football in 1950.
Playing Role
Compton slots in at No 5, where he averaged 76 in the Ashes to finally complete my team. I am really quite pleased with my side.
VC's XI
(Click player names to view profiles)
1.
Jack Hobbs2.
Sid Barnes3.
Ricky Ponting4.
Stan McCabe5.
Denis Compton6.
Keith Miller7.
Adam Gilchrist8.
Ray Lindwall9.
Wilfred Rhodes10.
Bill O'Reilly11.
Sydney Barnes
