Thomas Shepherd Jennings (3 November 1896 – 7 September 1972) 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. Jennings was a left-handed batsman who bowled slow left-arm orthodox. He was born in

Tiverton, Devon Tiverton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Devon, England, and the commercial and administrative centre of the Mid Devon district. The population in 2019 was 20,587. History Early history The town's name is conjectured to derive from "Twy-fo ...

. Jennings made his first-class debut for

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

in the 1921

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 ...

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 ...

. Jennings played first-class cricket for Surrey from 1921 to 1924, playing 18 times for them. In these 18 matches, he scored 194 runs at a batting average of 13.85, with a high score of 37 *. Predominantly a bowler, Jennings took 37 wickets for Surrey at a

bowling average In cricket, a player's bowling average is the number of runs they have conceded per wicket taken. The lower the bowling average is, the better the bowler is performing. It is one of a number of statistics used to compare bowlers, commonly use ...

of 29.56, with three

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Taking ...

s and once taking

ten wickets in a match In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bowle ...

, which came 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 ...

in 1924. He claimed 6 wickets in the Derbyshire first-innings and took 4 in their second. The pitches 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 early to mid-twenties were not friendly to Jennings style of bowling, thus he wasn't a regular feature in the Surrey team. Following the end of his first-class career, Jennings played Minor counties cricket for

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, having previously represented the Surrey Second XI in the

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 ...

. His debut for Devon came against the Surrey Second XI in 1926, with Jennings playing Devon from 1926 to 1933. Starting in 1935, Jennings began umpiring in the Minor Counties Championship, standing in 87 matches between 1935 and 1962. He stood in just the one first-class match, held in 1953 between a combined Minor Counties team and the touring

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Australians, several (or all) ...

at the

Michelin Ground Michelin Ground was a cricket ground in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The ground was built and owned by the Michelin Tyre Company and was located along Campbell Road. Its location today would be next to the bridge halfway along Campbell Ro ...

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

. Part of a large cricketing family, his brothers

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

and

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English language, English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek wikiwikiweb:Λέων, � ...

all played first-class cricket. Following his move back to Devon from, he became the head groundsman at Blundell's School in his home town. It was here that Jennings died on 7 September 1972.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jennings, Tom 1896 births 1972 deaths Sportspeople from Tiverton, Devon Cricketers from Devon English cricketers Surrey cricketers Devon cricketers English cricket umpires