John Thomas Murray (1 April 1935 – 24 July 2018) was an English

cricketer Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. He played in 21

Tests Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

between 1961 and 1967.

Life and career

Murray was educated at the St John's Church of England School in

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

, London. He played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

as a

wing half In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

in his youth and was part of the

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or Sports league, league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team (a ...

which reached the semi-finals of the inaugural FA Youth Cup in the 1952–53 season. Murray made his debut as a

wicket-keeper In cricket, the wicket-keeper is the Cricket player, player on the fielding (cricket), fielding side who stands behind the wicket, ready to stop Delivery (cricket), deliveries that pass the batsman, and take a Caught, catch, Stumped, stump the ...

for

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

in 1952, aged 17 years and 54 days. Most elegant behind the stumps, he is acknowledged as one of the most distinguished wicket-keepers in the history of the game. Such was his batting prowess that he scored 1,000 runs in a season six times with Middlesex, and scored a Test century in 1966, batting at number nine against the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

. He played for Middlesex in 508 first-class matches between 1952 and 1975, and for England in 21 Tests. His tally of 1,527 first-class dismissals set a world record until it was broken by Bob Taylor in 1983. Murray was selected as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1967. He later served as an England selector and on the Middlesex General Committee. He married Colleen Bryan in 1958.They had a daughter Deborah and a son Nick

He died on 24 July 2018 at the age of 83, having been taken ill at

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

while watching a Middlesex match.John Murray: Ex-England & Middlesex wicketkeeper dies aged 83
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References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, John 1935 births 2018 deaths England Test cricketers English cricketers of 1946 to 1968 20th-century English sportsmen English cricketers Middlesex cricketers Combined Services cricketers Commonwealth XI cricketers International Cavaliers cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year Members of the Order of the British Empire England cricket team selectors Players cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers D. H. Robins' XI cricketers L. E. G. Ames' XI cricketers T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers Wicket-keepers Marylebone Cricket Club Australian Touring Team cricketers Cricketers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea