Rev.

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

Andrew Richard Wingfield Digby (born 27 July 1950) is a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

priest and former English cricketer. Wingfield Digby was a left-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

who bowled right-arm

medium pace Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

. He served as vicar of

St Andrew's Church, Oxford St Andrew's Church, Oxford is an evangelical Church of England parish church in Oxford, England. It was consecrated in 1907 and is located on the southeast corner of Linton Road and Northmoor Road in the suburb of North Oxford. History The ch ...

Education

Wingfield Digby was educated at

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors ...

and then at

Keble College Keble College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to ...

and

Wycliffe Hall Wycliffe Hall is a Church of England Seminary, theological college and a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is named after the Bible translator and reformer John Wycliffe, who was Master (college), mast ...

, both in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Cricket career

Oxford University

Wingfield Digby made his first-class debut for

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

against

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

in 1972. Wingfield Digby played 39 first-class matches for the University, his final first-class match coming against

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

in 1977. In his 39 first-class matches he scored 720 runs at a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of 12.41, with three half-centuries and a high score of 69 against Sussex in 1975. With the ball he took 96 wickets at a bowling average of 33.87, with four

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Taki ...

s and best figures of 5/79 against Warwickshire, on debut. In the field he took 20 catches. In 1975, he made his List A debut for the Combined Universities against

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

in the

Benson and Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Engla ...

. Wingfield Digby made nine List-A appearances for the Combined Universities from 1975 to 1977, his final List A match coming against

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The trad ...

in the 1977 Benson and Hedges Cup. He took 11 wickets for the team at an average of 29.18, with best figures of 3/28.

Dorset

Wingfield Digby made his

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

debut in 1972, playing a single match for the county in the Minor Counties Championship against

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

. Resuming in 1976, Wingfield Digby played 69 Minor Counties matches for Dorset, his final match coming against Buckinghamshire in the 1990 Minor Counties Championship. In 1986 he made his List A debut for Dorset against

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

in the first round of the

NatWest Trophy The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom. It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties competed each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland. La ...

. He played five List A matches for Dorset, his final match coming against

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

in the 1992 NatWest Trophy. He had a lean time with the ball, taking only two wickets at an average of 136.00. He also represented the

Minor Counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

in a single List A match against Somerset in the 1989 Benson and Hedges Cup. He captained Dorset in 1988 when they won their first trophy, the Minor Counties one-day competition, beating

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

by two wickets in the final. He attracted widespread controversy during the season when he instructed one of his bowlers to bowl 14 consecutive wides, conceding 60 runs, including 56 extras, in an over, in order to turn a Minor Counties Championship match against Cheshire that had been heading for a

draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...

into a close contest. As a result of the over Cheshire needed 53 from 10 overs instead of 113 from 11 overs, and they went for the runs. In the end Dorset won by 18 runs.

Other cricket

Wingfield Digby twice scored

centuries A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

in the ''

Church Times The ''Church Times'' is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London and published in the United Kingdom on Fridays. History The ''Church Times'' was founded on 7 February 1863 by George Josiah Palmer, a printer. It fought for the ...

'' Cricket Cup Final to win the competition for the Oxford team: 104 not out in 1994 and 106 in 1997.

Religious work

Wingfield Digby studied theology at

. In 1977, he took on a curate's post at

Christ Church, Cockfosters Christ Church, Cockfosters, is a conservative evangelical Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, i ...

, before ministering to Christ Church's "daughter church", St Paul's, Hadley Wood, from 1981. In 1984 he became the first paid employee of Christians in Sport as their National Director. In 1988, Wingfield Digby served as chaplain at the

Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. Between 1991 and 2001 he was official chaplain to the

English cricket team The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Engl ...

, having been appointed to the post 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 captai ...

, who created the position. He toured with the team regularly, including trips to India and Australia. In 2002, Wingfield Digby left Christians in Sport to become the vicar at

. He was one of the chaplains to the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. He has retired from full-time work and is now the associate minister at St Mary's in Swinbrook, Oxfordshire, and associate vicar at St John the Baptist in

Burford Burford () is a town on the River Windrush, in the Cotswold hills, in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is often referred to as the 'gateway' to the Cotswolds. Burford is located west of Oxford and southeast of Che ...

, Oxfordshire.

Books

Wingfield Digby is the author of ''A Loud Appeal: Playing by God's Rules'' (Hodder & Stoughton, 1988) and ''Go For It! Sports New Testament'' (International Bible Society, 1996) and co-author with Stuart Weir of ''Winning is Not Enough: Sports Stars Who are Going for Gold – and God'' (Marshall Pickering, 1991).

Family

Wingfield Digby and his wife Sue have three children. Wingfield Digby's older brother Nicholas also represented Dorset in Minor Counties cricket.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wingfield Digby, Andrew 1950 births Living people People from Sherborne Cricketers from Dorset People educated at Sherborne School Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Alumni of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford English cricketers Oxford University cricketers Dorset cricketers Minor Counties cricketers 20th-century English Anglican priests 21st-century English Anglican priests Dorset cricket captains Oxford and Cambridge Universities cricketers British Universities cricketers English religious writers