Brian Fettes Davison (born 21 December 1946) is a former cricketer who played 467 first-class matches for

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

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 ...

and

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, and former member of the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. The Assembly has 25 m ...

. Described as "an aggressive, fast-scoring right-handed batsman", Davison was also a useful right-arm medium-pace bowler and an outstanding fielder who captained Rhodesia in 25 matches.

Early life

Born in

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; Ndebele: ''Bulawayo'') is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council cl ...

in what was then

, Davison attended Gifford Technical High School in Bulawayo, where his sporting skills were first evident (he also represented Rhodesia in

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ci ...

). Davison made his first-class debut for Rhodesia on 25 November 1967, against Natal B in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

, scoring 47. Davison soon attracted the attention of English county club

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, playing for their Second XI in 1969 before switching to rival club Leicestershire in 1970.

First-class cricket career

Through the 1970s, Davison played for Leicestershire and Rhodesia, serving as captain of both, won the 1971

Walter Lawrence Trophy The Walter Lawrence Trophy is an annual award made to the player who has scored the fastest century in English domestic county cricket that season, in terms of balls received (not counting wides). Hundreds are considered by a panel of experts ...

for a 63-minute century, named the ''South African Cricket Annual'' Cricketer of the Year in 1973 and led Rhodesia to their first major South African trophy, scoring an unbeaten 102 at the 1977/78 Datsun Shield final. With Leicestershire, Davison won the County Championship in 1975, the John Player League twice and the Benson & Hedges Cup twice. Davison was enticed to captain

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

in 1979/80 and transferred from Leicestershire to rival county side Gloucestershire for the 1985 season. His leadership of a Tasmania newly inducted into the

Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield (currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Marsh Sheffield Shield) is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Sheffield Shi ...

proved crucial to an inexperienced side and he continued to alternate between Leicestershire and Tasmania until his retirement from first-class cricket at the conclusion of the 1987/88 Australian domestic season. By his retirement, Davison had scored 27453 first-class runs, with 53 centuries, which remained the most by any Rhodesian or Zimbabwean until surpassed by

Graeme Hick Graeme Ashley Hick (born 23 May 1966) is a Zimbabwean-born former England cricketer who played 65 Test matches and 120 One Day Internationals for England. He was born in Rhodesia, and as a young man played international cricket for Zimbabwe. H ...

. 37 of those were for Leicestershire; the second most by any Leicestershire player, while his 18537 runs for Leicestershire puts him ninth of their all-time highest runscorer list. Davison was also a successful one day player, making 8343

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

runs, including 6744 for Leicestershire (bettered by only four other Leicestershire players). This included an unbeaten 158 in 1972, which remained the highest List A score for the county until 1996, and at the time the highest score for any one day competition in the world. Davison was one of ten members of Leicestershire's first County Championship winning team in 1975 to have a road in Leicester named after him by the city council.

Chris Balderstone John Christopher Balderstone (16 November 1940 – 6 March 2000) was an English professional in cricket and association football, football, and one of the last sportsmen to combine both sports over a prolonged period. He played football as a mi ...

, Peter Booth,

Barry Dudleston Barry Dudleston (born 16 July 1945) is a former first-class cricketer and umpire. He was a right-handed batsman and occasional wicketkeeper who played cricket for Rhodesia, Gloucestershire and Leicestershire. By the end of his career of 295 firs ...

Ken Higgs Kenneth Higgs (14 January 1937 – 7 September 2016) was an English fast-medium bowler, who was most successful as the opening partner to Brian Statham with Lancashire in the 1960s. He later played with success for Leicestershire. Cricket wr ...

David Humphries David John Humphries (6 August 1953 – 15 July 2020) was an English cricketer. He was born in Alveley, Shropshire, and educated at Bridgnorth Olbury Wells School and Wulfrun College, Wolverhampton.Published under Association of Cricket Stati ...

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 ...

Norman McVicker Norman Michael McVicker (4 November 1940 – 19 November 2008) was an English cricketer. Having failed to establish himself with either Lancashire or Derbyshire, where he had trialled, McVicker initially played county cricket at minor cou ...

, John Steele and

Roger Tolchard Roger William Tolchard (born 15 June 1946) is an English former cricketer, who played in four Tests and one One Day International for England in the late 1970s. Life and career Tolchard was a wicket-keeper. Educated at Malvern College, he play ...

were the others.

Jack Birkenshaw Jack Birkenshaw, (born 13 November 1940) was an English cricketer, who later stood as an umpire and worked as a coach. Cricket commentator, Colin Bateman, stated "Jack Birkenshaw was the epitome of a good all-round county cricketer: a probing ...

Graham McKenzie Graham Douglas McKenzie (born 24 June 1941) – commonly known as "Garth", after the comic strip hero – is an Australian cricketer who played for Western Australia (1960–74), Leicestershire (1969–75), Transvaal (1979–80) and Austral ...

and Mick Norman missed out as there were already roads using their surnames.

Later life

Following his retirement from cricket, Davison remained in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and was elected as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

representative to the

Division of Franklin The Division of Franklin is an Australian electoral division in Tasmania. The division is located in southern Tasmania around the state capital, Hobart. It is the only non-contiguous federal electoral division in Australia, with the two part ...

in 1990, where he served until his defeat at the 1996 election. A keen golfer, he is a member of the Iron Pot Golf Club

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davison, Brian 1946 births Living people Cricketers from Bulawayo Zimbabwean cricketers Tasmania cricketers Leicestershire cricketers Leicestershire cricket captains Gloucestershire cricketers Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Tasmania Rhodesia cricketers Australian sportsperson-politicians Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers Zimbabwean emigrants to Australia

Early life

First-class cricket career

Later life

See also

References

External links