Geoffrey Graham Arnold (born 3 September 1944) is 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 34 Test matches and 14

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

s for the

England cricket team The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Engla ...

. His nickname of "Horse" was based on his initials of GG. He was a seam and swing bowler, who finished his

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 ...

career, which lasted from 1963 to 1982, with 1130 wickets at an average of 21.91. He 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. ...

and

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, winning the

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 ...

with the former county in 1971. He was a ''Wisden'' Cricketer of the Year in 1972.

Life and career

After touring Pakistan with the MCC Under-25 side in 1966–67, Arnold made his England debut in 1967 against

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, a season during which he claimed 109 wickets. A succession of niggling injuries meant that he had to wait until the early 1970s before he became a fixture in the team. In 1974, he assisted

Chris Old Chris Old (born Christopher Middleton Old, 22 December 1948) is a former English cricketer, who played 46 Tests and 32 ODIs from 1972 to 1981. A right-arm fast-medium bowler and lower order left-handed batsman, Old was a key feature of the Yorks ...

in bowling out India for 42 at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and ...

. Surprisingly for an out-and-out seam bowler, he was fairly successful everywhere except in the West Indies. In 1972–73 series in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and Pakistan, he claimed 17 wickets (at 17.43), starting with match figures of 9 for 91 – his best – in the England win in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. Against both New Zealand and the West Indies the following summer, Arnold delivered 310 overs and took 31 wickets. He and

John Snow John Snow (15 March 1813 – 16 June 1858) was an English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology, in part because of his work in tracing the so ...

destroyed the New Zealand batting, but their potentially devastating bowling partnership fizzled out at that point. Initially joining Surrey as an allrounder, he made a half century in his second innings for England. Dropped after the 1975 Ashes series, he remained effective in

county cricket Inter-county cricket matches are known to have been played since the early 18th century, involving teams that are representative of the historic counties of England and Wales. Since the late 19th century, there have been two county championship ...

. In 1978, Arnold moved to

, as a replacement for the then retired Snow, where he remained for five seasons. In later years he occasionally proved a determined lower order batsman. After his playing career ended, he returned to Surrey as a bowling coach, and assisted at national level with upcoming pace bowlers. Arnold subsequently had a stint as bowling coach for

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, and is currently performing that role at

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 ...

References

External links

*
Wisden Cricketer of the Year article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Geoff 1944 births Living people English cricket coaches English cricketers England One Day International cricketers England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1969 to 2000 Free State cricketers Surrey cricketers Sussex cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Cricketers at the 1975 Cricket World Cup International Cavaliers cricketers People from Earlsfield Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Under-25s cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club President's XI cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club Touring Team cricketers