John Howard Neal (18 October 1926 – 18 April 2012) 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 striki ...
er. Neal was a right-handed
batsman
In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the ball with a bat to score runs and prevent the loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since September 2021, officially referred to as a batter (historically, the ...
who fielded as a
wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being watchful of the batsman and ready to take a catch, stump the batsman out and run out a batsman when occasion arises. Th ...
. He was born at
Ditchling
Ditchling is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is contained within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park; the order confirming the establishment of the park was signed in Ditchling.
...
,
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 ...
and educated at
Hurstpierpoint College
(''Blessed are the pure in heart'')
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public SchoolIndependent School
, religious_affiliation = Church of England
, president =
, head_label = Headmaster
, head = Dominic Mo ...
.
Neal made his debut for
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 ...
in the 1950
Minor Counties Championship
The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...
against
Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
. Neal played a further two Minor Counties Championship matches from 1950 to 1951. Neal made a single
first-class appearance for Sussex against
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 ...
at
Old Trafford
Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
in 1951. In Sussex's first-innings, he scored 5 runs before being dismissed by
Malcolm Hilton
Malcolm Jameson Hilton (2 August 1928 – 8 July 1990) was an English left-arm spin bowler, who played for Lancashire and in four Test matches for England.
Cricket writer, Colin Bateman, stated, "he was the best slow left-arm bowler Lancashi ...
. In their second-innings, he was dismissed for 23 runs by
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 ...
.
This was his only major appearance for Sussex.
Neal died in hospital on 18 April 2012 after a short illness.
References
External links
John Nealat
ESPNcricinfo
ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...
John Nealat CricketArchive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neal, John
1926 births
2012 deaths
English cricketers
People educated at Hurstpierpoint College
People from Ditchling
Sussex cricketers
Wicket-keepers
Cricketers from East Sussex