Nigel David Howard (18 May 1925 – 31 May 1979) was an English

cricketer 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 ...

, who played for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

and

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 ...

. Born in

Gee Cross Gee Cross is a village and suburb of Hyde within Tameside Metropolitan Borough, in Greater Manchester, England. History Gee Cross village centre dates back to the times of the Domesday Book. Originally, Gee Cross was the larger village in th ...

, Hyde, Cheshire, he captained England on the tour to India in 1951-52. In the only four Test matches he played in, England won one and drew three, although the series was tied after the Fifth Test was lost (Howard was ill and

Donald Carr Donald Bryce Carr OBE (28 December 1926 – 12 June 2016) was an English cricketer who played for Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the so ...

captained England in his absence). Howard was chosen to lead the side to the sub-continent largely because he was the best available

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...

(

Len Hutton Sir Leonard Hutton (23 June 1916 – 6 September 1990) was an English cricketer. He played as an opening batsman for Yorkshire County Cricket Club from 1934 to 1955 and for England in 79 Test matches between 1937 and 1955. '' Wisden Cricke ...

became the first professional England captain of the 20th century a few months later) and a successful leader of Lancashire (1949–53).

Youth and early career

Howard's younger brother

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 195 ...

, also played for Lancashire, and their father

Rupert Rupert may refer to: People * Rupert (name), various people known by the given name or surname "Rupert" Places Canada * Rupert, Quebec, a village *Rupert Bay, a large bay located on the south-east shore of James Bay *Rupert River, Quebec *Rupert ...

was secretary of

Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in English cricket. The club has held first-class status since it was founded in 1864. Lancashire's home is Old Trafford Cricket Ground, although the team also play ...

for several years. Howard went to

Rossall School Rossall School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was fou ...

and played for Rossall Cricket Club. He showed early promise, leading his club's

averages In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

for the 1941 and 1942 seasons while still in his teens. As well as performing well at cricket, Howard was also a capable golfer and hockey player, representing Cheshire in both sports. Retrieved on 21 December 2008. He made his debut for Lancashire on 25 May 1946. Playing against

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, Howard batted at number four and made scores of 4 and 3 as Lancashire won by seven wickets. Retrieved on 21 December 2008. It was the only first-class match he played in the year. In the 1946 and 1947 seasons, he scored 131 runs in 7 matches at an average of 14.56. Retrieved on 21 December 2008. He established himself as a regular player in the 1948 season, in which he scored 944 runs in 23 matches at an average of 36.30. This included his only

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

of the year; he made 145 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 ...

, the highest score of his career, and was awarded his county

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

in 1948. Retrieved on 21 December 2008.

Captaincy

Howard was officially given the Lancashire captaincy in 1949 at the age of 23, becoming the youngest player to captain Lancashire. He guided the team to a share of 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 b ...

title in 1950; Lancashire did not win again until 2011. He remained Lancashire's captain until he retired from

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 ...

at the end of 1953. He led the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influe ...

(MCC) most capably on, and equally importantly in view of the considerable diplomatic demands of those times, off the field, during the tour to India in 1951-52. He soldiered on despite developing

pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity ( pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant dull ache. Other sy ...

during the second half of the tour. At county level he was a stylish batsman and excellent fielder.

Post-cricket

After his cricketing career ended, Howard entered the family textile business. He retired in 1976 and moved to the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...

where he died on 31 May 1979, aged 54.

References

External links

CricketArchive stats

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Nigel 1925 births 1979 deaths England Test cricketers England Test cricket captains English cricketers Lancashire cricketers Lancashire cricket captains People educated at Rossall School People from Hyde, Greater Manchester Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers North v South cricketers Free Foresters cricketers Gentlemen cricketers