Thomas Stanley Worthington (21 August 1905 – 31 August 1973) was a

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 for

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 ...

between 1923 and 1947 and for

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 ...

between 1930 and 1937. He was an

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 ...

, scoring over 19000 runs and taking over 600 first-class wickets.

Career

Worthington was born at

Bolsover Bolsover is a market town and the administrative centre of the Bolsover (borough), Bolsover District, Derbyshire, England. It is from London, from Sheffield, from Nottingham and from Derby, Derbyshire, Derby. It is the main town in the Bols ...

, Derbyshire and went to Netherthorpe Grammar School,

Staveley, Derbyshire Staveley is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. Located along the banks of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother. It is (5 miles) northeast of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield, (5 miles) w ...

. He became an electrician with the Bolsover Colliery Company and played for the Colliery Club in the Bassetlaw League.

Fred Tate Frederick William Tate (24 July 1867 – 24 February 1943) was an English cricketer who played in one Test in 1902. This was the famous match at Old Trafford which England lost by 3 runs, and with it the series. Tate had the misfortune to dro ...

, who was talent-spotting for Derbyshire, saw him and introduced him to the club in 1923. Worthington played his debut for Derbyshire in August 1924 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 ...

, his only game that year. He scored a duck in his first innings and 12 in his second, but took four wickets in the match. He played three matches in 1925 and from 1926 played for the full season for the rest of his career. Worthington was a middle order right-hand batsman and a medium-fast right-arm bowler. In neither role did he often hit the headlines, but his consistency and reliability was big factor in the success that Derbyshire enjoyed through the 1930s. The county, normally one of the weaker 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 ...

teams, 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 ...

for the only time in its history in 1936, for which each player was awarded with a Gold Watch, engraved with the players name, date and championship title. Worthington played

Test cricket Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC). A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last fo ...

nine times for England, starting with the

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 ...

tour in 1929/30. His greatest success was 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 1936, when he scored 87 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 ...

and 128 at

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

. In the second game, he shared a fourth wicket partnership of 266 with

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 ...

that remains a record for Tests between England and India. He then toured Australia and New Zealand with

Gubby Allen Sir George Oswald Browning "Gubby" Allen CBE (31 July 190229 November 1989) was a cricketer who captained England in eleven Test matches. In first-class matches, he played for Middlesex and Cambridge University. A fast bowler and hard-hitting ...

, but an attempt to turn him into an opener was not a success, and he played no more Test cricket. Worthington with Derbyshire stayed for a couple of seasons after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and then played

Minor counties The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

cricket 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 ...

. He was Lancashire coach in the sixties, nurturing players like Harry Pilling. David Lloyd said he used to coach in a trilby, a cravat and a cigarette holder.Sky Sports Cricket ''The Cricket Lockdown Vodcast'' broadcast 11 June 2020 Lloyd says “he ruled the place with a rod of iron, he was feared by the players.” He was 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 1937. Worthington died at

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

in 1973.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Worthington, Stan 1905 births 1973 deaths English cricketers England Test cricketers Derbyshire cricketers People from Bolsover Northumberland cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Players cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 L. H. Tennyson's XI cricket team Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers