Cardigan Adolphus Connor (born 24 March 1961) is an

Anguilla Anguilla ( ) is a British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is one of the most northerly of the Leeward Islands in the Lesser Antilles, lying east of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and directly north of Saint Martin. The terr ...

n born former 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 st ...

er. Connor was a right-handed

batsman In cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball, ball with a cricket bat, bat to score runs (cricket), runs and prevent the dismissal (cricket), loss of one's wicket. Any player who is currently batting is, since Septembe ...

and a right-arm

fast-medium Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

bowler.

Career

Connor left his home island of

in 1979 to pursue a cricketing career in England. Connor was signed by

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

in 1979 and remained at the club for five years playing 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 ...

. Connor was eventually spotted by former Hampshire cricketer

Charlie Knott Charles James Knott (26 November 1914 – 27 February 2003) was an English first-class cricketer. Knott was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm off-break and right-arm medium pace. Early life Knott was born in Southampton and educated ...

who recommended him to

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

, who signed him for the 1984 season. Connor made his first-class debut for Hampshire against

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 , lor ...

. This was to the first of Connor's 221 first-class matches for the club. The same year Connor made his List-A debut 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 trad ...

in the John Player Special League. Connor would go on to play 300 one-day matches for the club. Connor formed a deadly partnership with his fellow

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...

new ball bowler Malcolm Marshall, often trying to compete with his partner for pace. Connor was a member of the 1988

Benson and Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Engla ...

Hampshire team, taking two wickets in the final at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England ...

. A further honour came in 1991 when Connor was again a member of the Hampshire winning team, this time in the 1991 NatWest Trophy where he took three wickets, including that of future

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 ...

batsman Graham Thorpe for 93. There was call for Connor being called up to the England one-day squad, but this never materialised. Connor tasted success for a second time in the Benson and Hedges Cup, this time in 1992 when Hampshire beat

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. Connor took a single wicket in the match, that of Mark Ealham. In 1994 he was named the Hampshire Cricket Society Player of the Year. By this time Connor was something of a cult figure at the County Ground. Connor took his best innings bowling figures during the 1996 County Championship. In a match against

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 ...

he took 9/38, this at a time when Malcolm Marshall had retired. Connor made his final first-class appearance for Hampshire in a

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 b ...

match 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 1998, although that season he played just four first-class matches for the club. His final one-day appearance came on 13 September 1998 in an AXA League match against

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

. Connor retired at the end of the 1998 season. In total Connor took over 1,000 wickets for Hampshire. Testament to Connor's cult figure at the club, his benefit year raised £147,000.

After cricket

After retiring from cricket, Connor returned to Anguilla. He was Anguilla's 'chef de mission' (team manager) at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

in Manchester. Connor currently works as a hotel masseur and a fitness coach, with a website calling him ''"the island's most popular personal trainer".'' At the Anguillian general election in April 2015 Connor was elected in District 7 - West End for the

Anguilla United Front The Anguilla United Front is an alliance of political parties in Anguilla. At elections, 21 February 2005, the alliance won 38.9% of popular votes and 4 out of 7 elected seats. The Anguilla United Front (AUF) was created on 7 January 2000 as a ...

References

External links

Cardigan Connor

Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

Cardigan Connor
at CricketArchive

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connor, Cardigan 1961 births Living people Anguillan expatriate sportspeople in England English cricketers Anguillan cricketers Hampshire cricketers Buckinghamshire cricketers Anguillan cricket coaches People from The Valley, Anguilla