Michael Edward Latham (born 14 January 1939) played first-class

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 ...

for

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

in 1961 and 1962. He also played for

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

for many years in the Minor Counties and appeared for them in one

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

match in 1971. He was born in

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 ...

. A right-handed lower-order batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler, Latham played for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

's second eleven in 1959 and 1960 before switching to Somerset for the 1961 season. He made his first-class debut in the first home match of the season, taking three wickets in the

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

first innings (and one in the second) before arriving in the Somerset second innings, as No 11 batsman, with his side still 59 runs short of a target of 172 in a low-scoring match; with

Brian Langford Brian Anthony Langford (17 December 1935 – 12 February 2013) was an English first-class cricket, first-class cricketer who played as an off-spin bowler for Somerset County Cricket Club, Somerset. He captained the county from 1969 until 1971 and ...

he put on 40 before Langford was bowled. Latham's unbeaten 21 proved to be the highest score of his first-class career. He played in only two other first-class matches in the 1961 season. In the 1962 season, Latham played in almost half of Somerset's matches, though with a side full of fast-medium and medium-pace bowlers, he was bowled sparingly. He was the sixth bowler used when he played against

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and won the match by taking five for 20 in less than 10 overs, bowling off-cutters. But in the second match of the three-match Bath festival of cricket he was still the sixth bowler used in each innings, bowling only six overs in the game, and he was dropped for the third match. Selected again a couple of weeks later, he took five for 61 in

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 ...

's first innings in the game at Taunton on a batsman's pitch. And in his final match of the season, an innings victory over

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 ...

at Weston-super-Mare his four for 54 in the Northants first innings was the best of the Somerset bowlers. That, however, proved to be the last first-class match of Latham's career as he left the Somerset staff at the end of the season "to take up employment in engineering", and though he was expected to be "available for some matches", that did not happen. Instead, Latham moved to North-East England and began playing Minor Counties cricket for Northumberland, appearing for them for 10 seasons through to 1972. In 1971, he made his only List A appearance, an all-Minor County Gillette Cup match against

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

in which he made an unbeaten 26 with the bat but failed to take a wicket. Latham's son Patrick Latham has played List A and Minor Counties cricket for

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

and had second eleven matches in 1998 for both Durham and Somerset.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latham, Mike 1939 births Living people English cricketers Somerset cricketers Northumberland cricketers Cricketers from Birmingham, West Midlands