Thomas Edgar Sidwell (30 January 1888 – 8 December 1958) 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. A right-hand batsman and a wicketkeeper, Sidwell made 392 appearances for

Leicestershire County Cricket Club Leicestershire 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 Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the count ...

between 1913 and 1933. His 551 catches and 127 stumpings were a county record until beaten by

Roger Tolchard Roger William Tolchard (born 15 June 1946) is an English former cricketer, who played in four Tests and one One Day International for England in the late 1970s. Life and career Tolchard was a wicket-keeper. Educated at Malvern College, he play ...

, and his keeping skill made him a rival of incumbent national keeper

Herbert Strudwick Herbert Strudwick (28 January 1880 – 14 February 1970) was an English wicket-keeper. His record of 1,493 dismissals is the third-highest by any wicket-keeper in the history of first-class cricket. Biography Born in Mitcham, Surrey, Strudwic ...

though Sidwell was never selected 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 ...

. Two of his three centuries came in the 1928 season where he hit 1,153 runs, and he batted in both the lower and top order.

Career

Sidwell first played for Leicestershire in 1913, debuting on 12 July against

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

. Batting at number nine, he made seven runs before taking two catches and a stumping as William Shipman routed the opposition without Leicestershire having to bat again. Sidwell made four more appearances for his county that season. The following year he was taken on the staff and appeared in the full 22 matches, scoring 315 runs, taking 34 catches and making six stumpings. His career was then interrupted by the First World War, the outbreak of which in August 1914 led to the early termination of the 1914 County Championship, and no further first-class cricket was played for the duration of the war. The County Championship resumed in 1919, when he played 15 games, taking 27 more catches and five more stumpings, followed by 34 catches and 10 stumpings in 1920. He would become a regular on the team list for the rest of his career. Sent in on one occasion during 1921 as a nightwatchman, Sidwell survived until morning. However while travelling to the ground –

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 ...

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. ...

– for the next day's play, he became lost on the

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and was given

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while mid-transit. The resulting disagreement between the cricket administrative body and Surrey's captain

Percy Fender Percy George Herbert Fender (22 August 1892 – 15 June 1985) was an English cricketer who played 13 Tests for his country and was captain of Surrey between 1921 and 1931. An all-rounder, he was a middle-order batsman who bowled mainly l ...

created a minor media stir. Though he never made an international appearance, Sidwell played for the Rest of England and the North of England in 1922 and 1923 respectively, and appeared in a first-class England XI in 1929. He enjoyed a benefit season with his club in 1926, where he played 28 matches, scoring 892 runs at 22.30 (with his only other century), taking 36 and performing nine stumpings. Two years later in 1928 he hit 1,153 runs – a career best – including the two centuries and five half-centuries. He retired after the 1931 season, but reappeared in 1933 when Percy Corrall, his replacement as Leicestershire wicketkeeper, was injured, making 13 appearances. Between 1914 and 1931 he only missed six matches. He went on to play club cricket until 1957.

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sidwell, Tom 1888 births 1958 deaths Cricketers from Leicester English cricketers Leicestershire cricketers North v South cricketers Players cricketers English cricketers of 1919 to 1945 People from Belgrave, Leicester Wicket-keepers