Martin John Horton (21 April 1934 – 3 April 2011) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 in two

Tests 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 1959. He was born in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

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 ...

, and played the bulk of 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 ...

for his native county. Cricket writer, Colin Bateman, noted that Horton was, "a versatile

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

who could bat anywhere in the top six and who twice took more than 100 wickets in a season with his

off-spin Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

...".

Life and career

Horton made his debut for

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

in 1952, and was an integral part of the side which won 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 ...

in 1964 (for the first time in the county's history) and 1965. He passed 1,000 runs in a season on 11 occasions, scoring 2,468 runs in 1959, the year he won his two Test caps. He scored a half century against

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 ...

in his first Test and took 2 for 24 in his second. He was dropped from the side, never to return. He achieved the

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

in 1955 and 1961, and he took 9 for 56 against the 1955 South Africans. In nearly two decades of cricket, he took 825 first-class wickets in all and scored 23 centuries with the bat. In late 1966, Horton moved to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

to begin a five-year contract as the national team's

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 ...

, a position he eventually held for seventeen seasons. He also played four seasons in the

Plunket Shield New Zealand has had a domestic first-class cricket championship since the 1906–07 season. Since the 2009–10 season it has been known by its original name of the Plunket Shield. History The Plunket Shield competition was instigated in Octob ...

with

Northern Districts The Northern Districts men's cricket team are one of six New Zealand first-class cricket teams that make up New Zealand Cricket. They are based in the northern half of the North Island of New Zealand (excluding Auckland). They compete in the ...

from 1967–68 to 1970–71. He returned to England in 1983 to become cricket coach at the Royal Grammar School, a post he held until 1996. He also became chairman of Worcestershire County Cricket Club. Horton died following a long illness in April 2011.

References

;Notes ;Sources
''Daily Telegraph'' obituary
Retrieved 10 Apr 2011

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Horton, Martin 1934 births 2011 deaths English cricket coaches England Test cricketers Northern Districts cricketers Worcestershire cricketers Combined Services cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Players cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers North v South cricketers