Jack Dyson (8 July 1934 – 22 November 2000) was both 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 and a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

. He was born and died in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

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 Lancashi ...

. He started his sporting career as a footballer and spent four seasons with

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

during which time he played 62 matches and scored 26 goals. One of those goals came in their

1956 FA Cup Final The 1956 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 1955–56 staging of English football's primary cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, better known as the FA Cup. The showpiece event was contested between Manchester City a ...

victory over

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

. After leaving football he concentrated on his cricketing career, which had already begun while he was with Manchester City. A right-handed batsman and handy offspinner, he made his first-class debut in 1954, playing with

. He earned his Lancashire Cap two years later in 1956, the same year that he had won his FA Cup winner's medal. In that season he scored what would be his only first-class hundred, 118 not out against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He also played in an unusual victory over Leicestershire as it was achieved without losing a wicket, with two opening partnerships of 166 and 66 between Dyson and

Alan Wharton Alan Wharton (30 April 1923 – 26 August 1993) was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire, Leicestershire and England. Life and career Wharton was born in Heywood, Lancashire, England. An attacking left-handed batsman, Wharton appe ...

enough to give a victory by 10 wickets. Dyson was a controversial figure throughout his career, he was a free spirit and it ended up costing him his job at Lancashire. In 1960 the Lancashire committee charged him with "a serious breach of discipline and an act of insubordination and insolence to the captain". For the next two years Dyson played with

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

and in league cricket. In September 1962 the Lancashire committee was overthrown and Dyson returned to the county for two more seasons, but was released again at the end of the 1964 season.

Honours

* FA Cup winner 1956

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dyson, Jack 1934 births 2000 deaths English cricketers Lancashire cricketers Staffordshire cricketers English footballers Manchester City F.C. players English Football League players Stirling Albion F.C. players Scottish Football League players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Nelson F.C. players Association football inside forwards People from Oldham FA Cup Final players