Trevor James Molony (6 July 1897 – 3 September 1962) 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

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. ...

. He is considered as the last lob bowler to play

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 ...

purely as a bowler. Trevor Molony studied at

Repton Repton is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England, located on the edge of the River Trent floodplain, about north of Swadlincote. The population taken at the 2001 Census was 2,707, increasing to 2,8 ...

and

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

. He appeared in but did not take any wickets in the Freshers match but another fine performance for his college won the attention of

Digby Jephson Digby Loder Armroid Jephson (23 February 1871 – 19 January 1926) was a cricketer who played for Cambridge University and Surrey. Jephson was a right-handed middle order batsman. But his enduring fame rests on his reputation as one of the last ...

. Jephson, himself a former first-class cricketer who bowled underarm, who was then involved in Cambridge cricket, recommended him for Surrey's pre-season trial match 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 April 1921. He took the wicket of

Jack Hobbs Sir John Berry Hobbs (16 December 1882– 21 December 1963), always known as Jack Hobbs, was an English professional cricketer who played for Surrey from 1905 to 1934 and for England in 61 Test matches between 1908 and 1930. Known as "The Mast ...

(who apparently gave away his wicket) in the first innings and three more in the second. This led to him being selected for the Surrey's match 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 ...

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also t ...

in May at the recommendation of the Surrey 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 ...

. Surrey was dismissed for 76 and Notts reached 170 for 5 when Molony was introduced into bowling. ''

The Cricketer ''The Cricketer'' is a monthly English cricket magazine providing writing and photography from international, county and club cricket. The magazine was founded in 1921 by Sir Pelham Warner, an ex-England captain turned cricket writer. Warner e ...

'' reported that Molony "is a lob bowler who bowls leg theory and bowls it accurately, too. He varies the flight of the ball excellently and bowls an exceedingly good full-toss at awkward height". Bowling with eight men on the leg side, Molony went on to take three wickets for 11 runs in seven overs, Notts being all-out for 201. ''Cricketer'' recorded that "the attempts of the last few batsmen were ludicrous, which evinced much laughter from the crowd, which showed their unmistakable delight in seeing a lob bowler go on". Molony took one wicket in his next match against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, Albert Lord being caught by the Surrey wicket-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 ...

who "had to catch it or be almost decapitated". Possibly on the protest from Strudwick, he was then dropped from the side. Molony was given one more match 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 ...

in June, but he took no more wickets. He was never again selected for Surrey or their Second XI. He continued in Club cricket for many more years playing for Repton Pilgrims. During the war he was a Station Commander in the RAF.2 Group RAF Bowker

References

Gerald Brodribb Arthur Gerald Norcott Brodribb (21 May 1915 – 7 October 1999) was a cricket historian and archaeologist. Life and career Born in St Leonards-on-Sea, Brodribb was educated at Eastbourne College and read classics and English at University C ...

, ''The Lost Art'', Boundary Books, 1997. , pp 51–53. The quotes from the ''Cricketer'' are also from this book.

External links

Wisden Obituary
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Molony, Trevor James 1897 births 1962 deaths Surrey cricketers English cricketers People educated at Repton School Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Sportspeople from Kensington Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge