1962 was the 63rd season of

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

in England. It was also the last season to feature the venerable

Gentlemen v Players Gentlemen v Players was a long-running series of English first-class cricket matches. Two matches were played in 1806, but the fixture was not played again until 1819. It became an annual event, usually played at least twice each season, exc ...

fixture: as a result of the distinction between amateurs ("Gentlemen") and professionals ("Players") being abolished following the end of the season, all first-class cricketers became nominally professional (or "Players").

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

won the County Championship, and England easily defeated an inexperienced Pakistan team.

Honours

*Test Series –

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

4–0

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

; one match drawn *

–

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

– Warwickshire II *Second XI Championship – Worcestershire II *Wisden Cricketers of the Year – Don Kenyon,

Mushtaq Mohammad Mushtaq Mohammad PP (Urdu: مشتاق محمد‎; born 22 November 1943) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who played in 57 Tests and 10 ODIs from 1959 to 1979. A right-handed batsman and a leg-spinner, he is one of the mo ...

Peter Parfitt Peter Howard Parfitt (born 8 December 1936) is an English former cricketer. He attended Fakenham Grammar School, and King Edward VII Grammar School, in Kings Lynn, Norfolk. The cricket correspondent Colin Bateman noted, "he was a stocky, po ...

, Phil Sharpe,

Fred Titmus Frederick John Titmus (24 November 1932 – 23 March 2011) was an English cricketer, whose first-class career, mostly for Middlesex with a shortish stint for Surrey, spanned five decades. He was the fourth man after W.G. Grace, Wilfred Rhod ...

Pakistani tour

easily beat an inexperienced Pakistan side 4–0 with one match drawn: * 1st Test at

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...

– England won by an innings and 24 runs''Wisden 1963'', pp. 314–315. * 2nd Test at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

– England won by 9 wickets''Wisden 1963'', pp. 319–321. * 3rd Test at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

– England won by an innings and 117 runs''Wisden 1963'', pp. 323–324. * 4th Test at

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also t ...

– match drawn''Wisden 1963'', pp. 328–330. * 5th Test at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

– England won by 10 wickets''Wisden 1963'', pp. 332–334.

County Championship

Other major fixtures

*MCC v Yorkshire *MCC v Surrey *University Match ;Gentlemen v Players There were two matches in 1962. The first was at

from Wednesday, 18 July to Friday, 20 July and was drawn. The teams were captained by

Ted Dexter Edward Ralph Dexter, (15 May 1935 – 25 August 2021) was an England international cricketer. An aggressive middle-order batsman of ferocious power and a right-arm medium bowler, he captained Sussex and England in the early 1960s. He captaine ...

(Gentlemen) and

Fred Trueman Frederick Sewards Trueman, (6 February 1931 – 1 July 2006) was an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. He had professional status and later became an author and broadcaster. Acknowled ...

(Players).''Wisden 1963'', pp. 357–358. The second match was played at the

North Marine Road Ground, Scarborough North Marine Road Ground, formerly known as Queen's, is a cricket ground in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Scarborough Cricket Club which hosts the Scarborough Festival and the Yorkshire County Cricket Club plays a se ...

from Saturday, 8 September to Tuesday, 11 September. The Players won by 7 wickets. Mike Smith captained the Gentlemen in this match and Trueman again led the Players.''Wisden 1963'', p. 741. The match at Scarborough was also the final edition of the fixture which began in 1806: from the start of the 1963 season,

amateur status in first-class cricket Amateur status had a special meaning in English cricket. The amateur in this context was not merely someone who played cricket in his spare time but a particular type of first-class cricketer who existed officially until 1962, when the distinct ...

was abolished. Thus, all players thenceforward had equal status as cricketers and were nominally professionals or "Players", with the "Gentlemen" ceasing to exist.''Wisden 1963'', pp. 137–140. ''

ESPNcricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

'' has
photograph of Fred Trueman leading out the Players XI
for the start of the match at Lord's on 18 July. Immediately behind Trueman are

Tom Graveney Thomas William Graveney (16 June 1927 – 3 November 2015) was an English first-class cricketer, representing his country in 79 Test matches and scoring over 4,800 runs. In a career lasting from 1948 to 1972, he became the 15th player to score ...

(left, laughing) and

Derek Shackleton Derek Shackleton (12 August 1924 – 28 September 2007) was a Hampshire County Cricket Club, Hampshire and England cricket team, England bowler (cricket), bowler. He took over 100 wickets in 20 consecutive seasons of first-class cricket, but onl ...

. Wicket-keeper

Keith Andrew Keith Vincent Andrew (15 December 1929 – 27 December 2010) was an English cricketer who played in two Tests, in 1954–55 and in 1963. Life and career Born in Greenacres, Oldham, Lancashire, Andrew was a fine wicketkeeper who might have play ...

is mostly hidden by Graveney.

Norman Gifford Norman Gifford (born 30 March 1940) is a retired English cricketer, who played primarily as a left-arm spinner. Gifford played county cricket for Worcestershire, and Warwickshire County Cricket Clubs, and represented England in fifteen Test ...

(left) and Peter Walker (very tall) have just stepped onto the field. At the bottom of the steps are

John Edrich John Hugh Edrich, (21 June 1937 – 23 December 2020) was an English first-class cricketer who, during a career that ran from 1956 to 1978, was considered one of the best batsmen of his generation. Born in Blofield, Norfolk, Edrich came from a ...

(left) and

. Phil Sharpe is behind Edrich and almost completely hidden apart from his Yorkshire cap.

is behind Sharpe and

Micky Stewart Michael James Stewart (born 16 September 1932) is an English former cricketer, coach and administrator. A right-handed batsman, Stewart's international career was hampered by illness that curtailed his first overseas tour – serving as vice-ca ...

is near the top of the steps. There is
team photograph of the Gentlemen XI
in the Lord's match. They were: (''back row, l to r'')

Roger Prideaux Roger Malcolm Prideaux (born 31 July 1939) is an English former cricketer, who played in three Tests for England from 1968 to 1969. Life and career Prideaux was educated at Tonbridge School and Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. A talented, st ...

David Pithey David Bartlett Pithey (4 October 1936 – 21 January 2018) was a Rhodesian cricketer who played in eight Tests for South Africa from 1963 to 1967. As well as playing for Rhodesia and Western Province, he played first-class cricket for Oxford U ...

Ossie Wheatley Oswald Stephen Wheatley (born 28 May 1935) is a former cricketer who played for Cambridge University Cricket Club, Cambridge University, Warwickshire County Cricket Club, Warwickshire and Glamorgan County Cricket Club, Glamorgan, whom he captai ...

Tony Lewis Anthony Robert Lewis CBE (born 6 July 1938) is a Welsh former cricketer, who captained England, became a journalist, went on to become the face of BBC Television cricket coverage between 1986 and 1998, and became president of the Marylebone Cr ...

, Alan Smith (wk), Edward Craig; (''front row, l to r'') Bob Barber,

Trevor Bailey Trevor Edward Bailey (3 December 1923 – 10 February 2011) was an England Test cricketer, cricket writer and broadcaster. An all-rounder, Bailey was known for his skilful but unspectacular batting. As the BBC reflected in his obituary: "His ...

(captain),

David Sheppard David Stuart Sheppard, Baron Sheppard of Liverpool (6 March 1929 – 5 March 2005) was a Church of England Bishop of Liverpool who played cricket for Sussex and England in his youth. Sheppard remains the only ordained minister to have played T ...

, Mike Smith.

''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year

In its 1963 edition, ''

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...

'' announced that its five cricketers of the 1962 season were Don Kenyon,

, Phil Sharpe and

.''Wisden 1963'', pp. 156–172. As a rule, though it has occasionally been broken, ''Wisden'' never selects a player more than once. Among players of 1962 who had been selected previously were

in 1950;

and

in 1953;

Tony Lock Graham Anthony Richard Lock (5 July 1929 – 30 March 1995) was an English cricketer, who played primarily as a left-arm spinner. He played in forty nine Tests for England taking 174 wickets at 25.58 each. Lock took 2,844 first-class wickets ...

in 1954;

Fazal Mahmood Fazal Mahmood PP, HI (18 February 1927 – 30 May 2005) was a Pakistani international cricketer. He played in 34 Test matches and took 139 wickets at a bowling average of 24.70. The first Pakistani to pass 100 wickets, he reached the landm ...

and

Brian Statham John Brian Statham, (17 June 1930 – 10 June 2000) was an English professional cricketer from Gorton, in Manchester, who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club from 1950 to 1968 and for England from 1951 to 1965.Colin Cowdrey Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, (24 December 19324 December 2000) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Oxford University (1952–1954), Kent County Cricket Club (1950–1976) and England (1954–1975). Univers ...

in 1956;

in 1958;

in 1959;

Ken Barrington Kenneth Frank Barrington (24 November 193014 March 1981), was an English international cricketer who played for the England cricket team and Surrey County Cricket Club in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a right-handed batsman and occasional leg-sp ...

Ray Illingworth Raymond Illingworth CBE (8 June 1932 – 25 December 2021) was an English cricketer, cricket commentator and administrator. , he was one of only nine players to have taken 2,000 wickets and made 20,000 runs in first-class cricket.Arnold, Peter ...

and

Geoff Pullar Geoffrey Pullar (1 August 1935 – 25 December 2014) was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, Lancashire and Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, Gloucestershire and in 28 Test cricket, Tests for England cricket t ...

in 1960;

and Vic Wilson in 1961.

Achievements

Bill Alley William Edward Alley (3 February 1919 – 26 November 2004) was a cricketer who played 400 first-class matches for New South Wales, Somerset and a Commonwealth XI. Whilst in Australia, Alley was also a middleweight boxer, and was undefe ...

did the double, with 1,915 runs and 112 wickets Batting

topped the averages with 2,269 runs at 54.02 Bowling David Sydenham topped the averages with 115 wickets at 17.65

Footnotes

• a) The

Wisden Cricketers of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

for 1962 were announced in the 1963 edition of ''

''.

References

Annual reviews

* *

External links

CricketArchive – season summary

English Domestic Season, 1962
at

ESPN Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:1962 English Cricket Season 1962 in English cricket English cricket seasons in the 20th century