Arnold Frederick Townsend (29 March 1912 – 27 February 1994) was an English

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 ...

er who played for

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

from 1934 to 1950.

Career

Townsend was born in Long Eaton, Derbyshire. He played his debut game for Derbyshire against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

in August 1934, which was his only game in the 1934 season when he scored 7 and 0. He played six games in the 1935 season without distinction, often being denied the chance to play a second innings and during Derbyshire's Championship-winning 1936 season he played only twice. He appeared in three games in the 1937 season but in the 1938 season came to the fore playing more matches and hitting two half-centuries. In the 1939 season he played a fuller season and made his top score of 142 not out 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_ ...

. Townsend went to South Africa during the war and played one first-class match against a team of South Africans, playing for an Air Force XI. He played for a Derbyshire team in 1945 and when the championship restarted in the 1946 season he became a first-choice batsman. 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-Avon an ...

, he scored 105 against the economical, penetrating bowling of Test player Eric Hollies. During the 1947 season, Townsend scored 137 against

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 ...

and 102 against

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and managed eight half-centuries, and was the most successful Derbyshire batsman during the season. In the 1948 season, he scored 102 not out against

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. In the 1949 season he sustained an eye injury when fielding at short leg and this seriously affected his ability to focus. As a result, he played fewer games in 1949 and in

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

played only twice before ending his first-class career.Wisden Obituaries in 1994
/ref> In his last three years he was also playing for Derbyshire second XI in the minor counties competition. Townsend was a right-handed batsman and played 200 innings in 117 first-class matches with an average of 23.13 and a top score of 142 not out. He bowled 11 overs without taking a wicket.
/ref> Wisden described him as "the epitome of erbyshire'spatient watchful batting". Townsend died in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

at the age of 81. His brother, Leslie Townsend, was a four-time

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 ...

Test player, and they played in the same Derbyshire team for six seasons prior to the outbreak of the Second World War.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Arnold People from Long Eaton Cricketers from Derbyshire 1912 births 1994 deaths English cricketers Derbyshire cricketers