Tony Nicholson      

Full name Anthony George Nicholson

Born June 25, 1938, Dewsbury, Yorkshire

Died November 4, 1985, Harrogate, Yorkshire (aged 47 years 132 days)

Major teams Yorkshire

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm medium

Tony Nicholson was a medium-paced bowler who played a big part in Yorkshire's five Championship-winning seasons in the 1960s. When they won in 1962, Nicholson played in only five matches, but a year later he took 65 wickets, and when they became champions again, in 1966, at the start of a three-year run, he took 113 wickets at 15.50 apiece. This was his best season. He swung the ball, had excellent control and was often found to be sharper in pace than the batsman expected. He played for Yorkshire from 1962 to 1975, having previously been a policeman in Rhodesia, and took 876 first-class wickets at 19.74 each.

More than once Nicholson was close to playing for England. He was picked for the 1964-65 tour of South Africa but had to drop out through injury. Later, when he was a still better bowler, there were more good bowlers of his type available, and being a modest batsman with a build which made him less than agile in the field - he did not have the all-round qualifications of others. After retiring from first-class cricket he became a brewery representative. He played league cricket for some years and at the time of his death was the captain of the Ripon City Golf Club.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack

Apr 2, 2004

Tony Nicholson

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