Tom Richardson England (Eng)
Batting style	Right-handed batsman (RHB)
Bowling type	Right arm fast (RF)
	Tests	First-class
Matches	14	358
Runs scored	177	3,424
Batting average	11.06	9.64
100s/50s	0/0	0/2
Top score	25*	69
Balls bowled	4,498	78,992
Wickets	88	2104
Bowling average	25.22	18.43
5 wickets in innings	11	200
10 wickets in match	4	72
Best bowling	8/94	10/45
Catches/stumpings	5/0	126/0
Test debut: 24 August 1893 Last Test: 2 March 1898 Source: [1] Large sized chicken tender of England/St Georges Cross/State flag of Guernsey, 1936-1985 File links The following pages link to this file: The Ashes Arsenal F.C. Cornwall Cambridgeshire Charlton Athletic F.C. City of London London Borough of Croydon Cheshire Chelsea F.C. Devon England Essex... For more coverage of cricket, go to the Cricket portal. ... Wikipedia has no licensable picture of this cricketer. ... Cricket batsman A batsman in the sport of cricket is a player whose speciality in the game is batting. ... In the sport of cricket there are two categories of bowler: pace bowler and spin bowler. ... It has been suggested that Test status be merged into this article or section. ... First-class cricket matches are those of at least three days length in which both teams have two innings each, involving either international teams or the highest division of domestic competition. ... Batting average is a statistic in both baseball and cricket measuring the performance of baseball hitters and cricket batsmen, respectively. ... This article is about the cricket term. ... Bowling average is a statistic measuring the performance of bowlers in the sport of cricket. ... This article is about the cricket term. ... An innings, or inning, is a segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably baseball and cricket – during which a side takes its turn to bat. ... This article is about the cricket term. ... In the sport of cricket, the term stump has three different meanings: part of the wicket, a manner of dismissing a batsman, and the end of the days play (stumps). Part of the wicket The stumps are three vertical posts supporting the bails to form a wicket at each... August 24 is the 236th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (237th in leap years), with 129 days remaining. ... 1893 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... March 2 is the 61st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (62nd in leap years). ... 1898 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

Tom Richardson (born August 11, 1870, Byfleet, Surrey; died July 2, 1912, Chambéry, France) was one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and certainly the most prolific in terms of wicket-taking feats, largely owing to his amazing stamina and appetite for work, which allowed him to gain remarkable success under conditions that were far too much for almost all other bowlers of his time. August 11 is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Surrey is a county in southern England, one of the Home Counties. ... July 2 is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 182 days remaining. ... 1912 is a leap year starting on Monday. ... The city and arrondissement of Chambéry in Savoie, France, has been the historical capital of Savoy since the 13th century, when Amadeus V of Savoy made it his seat. ... Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. ...

Relying, owing to the playing conditions of his time, exclusive on the break-back (a fast ball spinning from off to leg) his model action, relatively long (apparently curved in pictures) run-up and high arm allowed him to gain sharp lift on fast pitches even from the full, straight length he always bowled. Though he played during a period when cricket was changing as rapidly as it ever has been, Richardson never "went in" for anything new as his career declined, yet the seeming ease with which his tall, powerful frame was able to do the most phenomenal bowling feats has had him often seen as the ideal model for a fast bowler even years after he died.

Coming Out and Becoming Great

Richardson first played for Surrey, his native county, in 1892, and showed promise with some superb performances in minor matches, notably fifteen wickets against Essex. Given the fiery and untrue Oval wickets, his first-class record was moderate. For the shape, see oval. ... First-class cricket matches are those of at least three days length in which both teams have two innings each, involving either international teams or the highest division of domestic competition. ...

However, with Surrey's bowling mainstay for the previous decade George Lohmann declining rapidly in health, Richardson, though aided by fiery Oval wickets, made an amazing advance in 1893 to be the second-highest wicket-taker in the country. Performances of 11 for 95 for Surrey against the touring Australians and 10 for 156 in the third Test, and especially the great speed and stamina showed in them, already marked Richardson as one of the game's top bowlers. Alhough early in the year it was thought by many that his delivery constituted a throw, Richardson worked so well on straightening his arm that no advserse comments were heard again. In 1894, Richardson cemented his reputation with consistently irresistible performance on the many treacherous pitches of a wet summer: he would have reached 200 wickets but for a thigh strain in June and his average of 10.32 has never been equalled since. Yet, it was his tireless performances in Australia during the 1894/1895 tour - maintaining great speed all day under extremely hot weather and heartless pitches - that truly stamped Richardson as the best fast bowler in the world. In the first Test at the SCG, he bowled an amazing 55 overs without losing his speed, and in the last his energetic bowling without help from the pitch directly won England the match. George Lohmann (born June 2, 1865; died December 1, 1901) is regarded as one the greatest bowlers of all time. ... It has been suggested that Test status be merged into this article or section. ... SCG can be either: The ISO 3166-1 3-letter country code and an abbreviation for Serbia and Montenegro. ...

The following year, with the Oval wickets becoming very easy for batsmen, saw Richardson go from strength to strength both in dry weather and when the pitches became treacherous after mid-July. Despite having to bowl 8491 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 Tich Freeman in 1928 and 1933). In 1896, Richardson's wonderful bowling - fast, straight, and never anything other than perfect length - on a very true Lord's pitch dismissed Australia for 53 and won England the match. The following Test at Old Trafford, which England lost by three wickets, was Richardson's most famous feat. After bowling a remarkable 390 balls in the first innings in perfect batting conditions (taking seven for 168), Richardson, amazingly, was, when Australia were set 125 to win on a pitch showing no sign of wear, able to bowl 178 balls without a rest, take six for 76 and almost win England a seemingly lost game. It is said that he did not bowl one bad ball during this spell of three hours, and it is unfortunate for him that J.T. Hearne had almost his only off-day of the summer in that match, and that a dropped catch occurred when Australia were in trouble at 7 for 99. Though 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, showed himself still in a class of his own on good pitches, taking 273 wickets at the same cost as in 1895. Tich Freeman (Alfred Percy Freeman; born May 17, 1888; died January 28, 1965) was a Kent leg spin bowler and the only man to take 300 wickets in an English season. ... The Media Centre at Lords Cricket Ground Lords Cricket Ground is a cricket ground in St Johns Wood in London. ... Old Trafford cricket ground has been the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club since 1856. ... John Thomas Hearne (born May 3, 1867; died April 17, 1944) (known either as Jack Hearne or J.T. Hearne to avoid confusion with J.W. Hearne to whom he was only distantly related) was a Middlesex and England medium-fast bowler. ... Wisden Cricketers Almanack 2005 The Wisden Cricketers of the Year award is made annually in the pages of the Wisden Cricketers Almanack yearbook. ...

Decline

Naturally, Richardson was chosen to tour Australia in 1897/1898, but this is where his great years ended. Though he always seemed fit and lithe, the reality is that Richardson was always a heavy drinker and around this time, apparently, the habit got out of hand and his weight began increasing, thus reducing his amazing speed and stamina. He produced one magnificent performance on the disappointing 1897/1898 tour, 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 after over on the extremely true Oval pitches: his body could no longer carry the amazing workload of previous years. Only in a few games late in the season at the Oval, against Yorkshire (when Surrey inflicted that county's biggest defeat on record on a near-perfect pitch) and Warwickshire (when he took a career-best 15 for 83 on a pitch offering no help), did he appear anything like as potent as the bowler of 1897. His haul of wickets in the County Championship fell from 237 to 126 and their cost from about 14 to over 21. The County Championship is the domestic first class cricket competition in the United Kingdom, mainly in England. ...

Later career

Affected in May by injury and unable to contain his excessive drinking and increasing weight, Richardson declined still more sharply in 1899. Though after he returned to the Surrey eleven he produced some impressive performances (notably against Kent at the Oval), Richardson astonishingly failed to take even 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 remarkable service between 1893 and 1897 was much less lucrative than everybody had hoped despite Surrey winning th Championship.

However, Richardson showed some improvement in 1900, increasing his haul of wickets from 98 to 122 and bowling as well as ever at Leyton, whilst in 1901 on the best of wickets almost throughout the year he was the same tireless, honest worker of his prime years, taking 159 wickets including excellent 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 still 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. Indeed, for the rest of his life the strain of weight gain took such a toll of Richardson that he died from a heart attack at the young age of 41, whilst on a summer holiday in France. Palladian Pulteney Bridge and the weir at Bath Bath is a city in south-west England, most famous for its baths fed by three hot springs. ... A myocardial infarction occurs when an atherosclerotic plaque slowly builds up in the inner lining of a coronary artery and then suddenly ruptures, totally occluding the artery and preventing blood flow downstream. ...

External links

• Test bowling
• First-class bowling
• Tombstone
• Cricinfo page on Tom Richardson