Bernard Constable (19 February 1921 – 14 May 1997) was an English

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

er who played for

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. ...

from 1939 to 1964. He was a member of the Surrey team that won seven successive

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 ...

s from 1952 to 1958.

Career

Constable was born to a family of boat builders in

East Molesey Molesey is a district of two twin towns, East Molesey and West Molesey, in the Borough of Elmbridge, Surrey, England, and is situated on the south bank of the River Thames. East and West Molesey share a high street, and there is a second retail ...

, in 1921.'' Wisden'' 1998, p. 1430. Playing for the Surrey club

for the earlier part of his career, he was a right-handed batsman, occasional leg-break bowler, and brilliant fieldsman at cover point. After service in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, Constable established himself in the Surrey team in 1948. He scored 18,849 runs in

at an average of 30.45, including 27 centuries. In his 434 matches for Surrey his highest innings was 205 not out in five hours against Somerset at The Oval in 1952. Small in stature, Constable was a fine cutter of the ball.''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', 1950 edition, Surrey Report His most successful season was 1961, when he scored 1799 runs, despite having had a kneecap removed. He batted up and down the order as the needs of the team demanded. He was a useful leg-spinner early in his career, becoming an occasional change bowler later on. Micky Stewart said of Constable: "He knew the game inside out and every first-class player inside out. I learned more about cricket from Bernie Constable than from anyone else." He died in

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

in May 1997, aged 76. His brother

Dennis Dennis or Denis is a first or last name from the Greco-Roman name Dionysius, via one of the Christian saints named Dionysius. The name came from Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstatic states, particularly those produced by wine, which is someti ...

was also a first-class cricketer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Constable, Bernie 1921 births 1997 deaths Surrey cricketers English cricketers Combined Services cricketers Royal Air Force cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers North v South cricketers People from Molesey A. E. R. Gilligan's XI cricketers Cricketers from Surrey