Arthur Wood (25 August 1898 – 1 April 1973) was a

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

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 ...

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 as the

wicket-keeper The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...

in four

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

from 1938 to 1939.

Life and career

Wood was born in Fagley,

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, Yorkshire, England. He appeared in 420 first-class matches from 1927 to 1949. A right-hander, he scored 8,842 runs, averaging 21.20, with one century and 43 fifties, and made 886 dismissals, including 255

stumping Stumped is a method of dismissing a batsman in cricket, which involves the wicket-keeper putting down the wicket while the batsman is out of his ground. (The batsman leaves his ground when he has moved down the pitch beyond the popping crease ...

s. He was awarded his Yorkshire

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

in 1929, and made the wicket-keeping position at Yorkshire his own through the 1930s, including making 225 consecutive appearances. His most successful season with the bat was in 1935, when he scored his only century (123 not out 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 His ...

); in this season he passed 1,000 runs for the only time, the first Yorkshire wicket-keeper to do so. In 1938, Wood made his Test debut against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, just days before his 40th birthday. A late selection, he travelled from Leeds to London by taxi. On arrival in London the taxi driver asked him for the fare of £7 15s, Wood is believed to have informed him that he was only paying for the ride, not buying the taxi. He, however, contributed 53 in 92 minutes off 95 balls, to England's then world record total of 903–7 declared. Joining Joe Hardstaff with

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 ...

scoreboard reading 770–6 when

Len Hutton Sir Leonard Hutton (23 June 1916 – 6 September 1990) was an English cricketer. He played as an opening batsman for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1934 to 1955 and for England in 79 Test matches between 1937 and 1955. ''Wisden Cricketer ...

was dismissed for 364, he famously quipped "I was always the man for a crisis" before sharing a stand of 106 for the seventh wicket. In 1939, Wood was selected as one of the five

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 ...

; also in this year came his other three Test matches, which were against the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, and were the last Tests before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. His

benefit match A benefit is a match or season of activities granted by a sporting body to a loyal sportsman to boost their income before retirement. Often this is in the form of a match for which all the ticket proceeds are given to the player in question. Howeve ...

was the Yorkshire versus

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

match, played at

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

, Bradford, on 8–11 July 1939. Wood made 408 first-class appearances for Yorkshire. Wood died in Middleton,

Ilkley Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, in Northern England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the ...

, Yorkshire in 1973, aged 74.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Arthur 1898 births 1973 deaths England Test cricketers English cricketers Yorkshire cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Cricketers from Bradford Players cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI cricketers Sir T. E. W. Brinckman's XI cricketers Wicket-keepers