Name:

Graveney, Thomas W

Nickname:

Tom

Date of Birth:

16-06-1927

Place of Birth:

Riding Mill

Career:

Test: 1951 - 1969

Teams:

England (Country)
Gloucestershire (Regional)

Graveney comeback delivers big win : Eng vs Pak (1962)

Tom Graveney: Graceful middle order batsman touched by controversy

Born : 16 June 1927 at Riding Mill, Northumberland, England

Tom Graveney was a graceful middle-order, and occasional opening, batsman who was a pleasure to watch. His execution of front-foot shots was particularly attractive. He was also a reliable slip fielder and occasional leg-spin bowler.

On his first overseas tour in India in 1951/52, Graveney started his career in glorious style by making 175 in the Bombay Test.

His career then faltered, mainly due to a perception that he did not score enough runs under pressure. He was dropped for several Tests during the successful 1954/55 Ashes campaign after losing the confidence of Len Hutton. He had a surprise recall for the 6th Test in Sydney where he made a superb century.

Against West Indies at Nottingham in 1957 he scored 258, which was his highest Test score. He captained England in one Test against Australia in 1968 when Colin Cowdrey was unavailable.

Graveney’s Test career ended in controversy at the age of 42 in 1969. On the Sunday rest day of the Test match against the West Indies at Old Trafford (he had scored 75), Graveney played in an exhibition match at Luton despite being warned by Alec Bedser, the chief selector, not to do so. He was banned for 3 Tests, thus ending his Test career.

Graveney played in 79 Tests and scored 4,882 runs (including 11 centuries) in 123 innings, at an average of 44.38.

He played over 700 first-class matches mostly for Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, scoring over 47 000 runs with 122 centuries. His brother Ken and nephew David both played many years of first-class cricket.

In retirement, Graveney ran a pub in Cheltenham and did television commentary work. Later, he became an ICC international match referee but was terminated after stating that Pakistan have been “cheating us for 37 years”.

His was president of Worcestershire (1994-98) and was the first professional cricket to head the MCC (2005). He was awarded an OBE in 1968.

Graveney died aged 88 on 3 November 2015.

Source: CricketCrowd Staff Reporter