John Tunnicliffe (26 August 1866 – 11 July 1948) was 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, who played in 472 first-class matches for

Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club is one of 18 first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Yorkshire. Yorkshire are the most successful team in English cricketing hi ...

County career

Tunnicliffe was born at Low Town,

Pudsey Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds, City of Leeds Borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford, Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He was a tall, forceful right-handed opening batsman, and on his figures one of the best slip fielders of all time. A late starter in first-class cricket, he was a regular in the Yorkshire team from 1893 and, between 1895 and 1907, scored 1,000 runs in every season except 1903. His best year was 1898, when he scored 1,804 runs at an average of 41.00 runs per innings. That season he made his highest score, contributing 243 in a then-record partnership for any wicket of 554 with Jack Brown against

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

Queen's Park, Chesterfield Queen's Park is a county cricket ground located in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England and lies within a park in the centre of the town established for Queen Victoria's golden jubilee in 1887. It has a small pavilion and is surrounded by mature ...

. That stand is still the third highest for the first wicket, and the sixth highest for any wicket, in first-class cricket worldwide. Tunnicliffe was named as a

Wisden Cricketer of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

in 1901. Almost as important to Yorkshire as his batting was Tunnicliffe's slip fielding.

Nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

d "Long John of Pudsey", he had long arms that enabled him to bring off catches others would not have attempted. In 498 first-class matches, he took 695 catches. In a few of his early games in 1891 and 1892, he appeared to have acted as

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 ...

, but thereafter he was at slip. His 70 catches in the 1901 season was a record that stood until

Wally Hammond Walter Reginald Hammond (19 June 1903 – 1 July 1965) was an English first-class cricketer who played for Gloucestershire in a career that lasted from 1920 to 1951. Beginning as a professional, he later became an amateur and was appointed cap ...

caught 79 in 1928. His ratio of catches to matches is 1.393:1, which compares favourably with both Hammond (1.291:1) and

John Langridge John George Langridge MBE (10 February 1910 – 27 June 1999) was a cricketer who played for Sussex. His obituary in ''Wisden'' called him "one of the best English cricketers of the 20th century never to play a Test match". Born into a cricketi ...

(1.365:1). Tunnicliffe scored 20,310 first-class runs at an average of 27.00, and with his occasional bowling took seven wickets at 57.85.

Retirement and death

Tunnicliffe retired after the 1907 season, and became cricket

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

. He later served on the

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Gloucestershire. Founded in 1870, Gloucestershire have always ...

committee when his son was the county secretary. He died in

Westbury Park, Bristol Westbury Park is a suburb of the city of Bristol, United Kingdom. It lies to the east of Durdham Down between the districts of Redland and Henleaze. The area is very similar in character to nearby Redland and comprises mainly Victorian and early ...

in July 1948, aged 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tunnicliffe, John 1866 births 1948 deaths English cricketers Yorkshire cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year North v South cricketers Players cricketers Cricketers from Pudsey C. I. Thornton's XI cricketers Over 30s v Under 30s cricketers