Norman "Buddy" Oldfield (5 May 1911 – 19 April 1996) 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 str ...

er and

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

who played in one

Test 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), ...

in 1939 and later umpired in two others. Between 1935 and 1939 he played

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 officia ...

for

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 Lancash ...

, before the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

interrupted and ended a promising start to his Test career. Oldfield changed clubs and played for

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 ...

between 1948 and 1954.

Career

Lancashire

Oldfield joined the Lancashire staff in 1929, but had to wait until 1935 before he could make his debut. His performance prompted

Neville Cardus Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (2 April 188828 February 1975) was an English writer and critic. From an impoverished home background, and mainly self-educated, he became ''The Manchester Gua ...

, a cricket journalist, to compare Oldfield's strokeplay to that of

Johnny Tyldesley John Thomas Tyldesley (22 November 1873 – 27 November 1930) was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Lancashire and Test cricket for England. He was a specialist professional batsman, usually third in the batting order, wh ...

. Retrieved on 18 December 2008. Oldfield shared in a 271 run partnership with

Eddie Paynter Edward Paynter (5 November 1901 – 5 February 1979) was an English cricketer: an attacking batsman and excellent fielder. His Test batting average of 59.23 is the seventh highest of all time, and second only to Herbert Sutcliffe amongst Englis ...

when Paynter scored 322 in five hours in 1937 (the innings is the third highest individual score for Lancashire). Oldfield again successfully paired up with Paynter in 1938 when they set a record of 306 for the third wicket; this record stood until 1990 when it was bettered by

Michael Atherton Michael Andrew Atherton (born 23 March 1968) is a broadcaster, journalist and a former England international first-class cricketer. A right-handed opening batsman for Lancashire and England, and occasional leg-break bowler, he achieved the ca ...

and

Neil Fairbrother Neil Fairbrother (born Neil Harvey Fairbrother; 9 September 1963) is an English former cricketer who played 75 One Day International matches and 10 Test matches as a batsman for England. Fairbrother, named by his mother after her favourite playe ...

. On 19 August 1939, Oldfield made his Test debut, aged 28, 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 Greate ...

. He made scores of 80 and 19 in what was his only Test match. A few days after the match ended, the Second World War broke out and he did not play first-class cricket until 1948, and curtailing what could have been a long Test career. Retrieved on 18 December 2008. He holds the record for most runs by an England player who has played only one Test.

Northamptonshire

After the war ended and first-class cricket resumed, the 35-year-old Oldfield could not agree terms with Lancashire and left. In later years, he reflected that it had been a mistake to leave Lancashire. In the 151 first-class matches he played for Lancashire, Oldfield scored 7,002 runs at an average of 35.72 with 12

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 ...

. Retrieved on 18 December 2008. Oldfield played for two seasons in the Lancashire League before joining Northamptonshire for the 1948 season. He enjoyed playing against the team that had spurned him, scoring three centuries against Lancashire. In only his second season with Northamptonshire, Oldfield scored 2,192 runs, a record for the team. Oldfield was never given his

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 ...

by Lancashire, but was awarded one by Northamptonshire in 1948 for his productive summer. Retrieved on 18 December 2008. In 1949/50, Oldfield toured India with the Commonwealth XI. Northamptonshire held a benefit year for Oldfield in 1953 which raised 2,728. Despite his regret about leaving Lancashire, he was more successful for Northamptonshire, scoring 9,321 runs at 38.51 in 159 matches. After retiring from first-class cricket in 1954, Oldfield became an umpire. He umpired between 1954 and 1965 and stood in two Test matches, one in 1960 and one in 1962. He returned to Old Trafford in 1968 when he became Lancashire's coach, and held the position for five years. He died on 19 April 1996.

References

External links

CricketArchive Stats

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oldfield, Buddy 1911 births 1996 deaths England Test cricketers English cricketers Lancashire cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers Commonwealth XI cricketers English Test cricket umpires People from Dukinfield English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 North v South cricketers