|
James Southerton (16 November 1827 in Petworth, Sussex – 16 June 1880 in Mitcham, Surrey) was a professional cricketer who played first-class cricket between 1854 and 1879. After a slow start, he became along with Alfred Shaw the greatest slow bowler of the 1870s. ==Early career== Southerton began his cricketing life during the 1850s as a batsman, but apart from a few good scores in 1858, when he at times opened the batting〔For example in (Kent v Sussex at Higher Common Ground in 1858 )〕 and averaged 22 which in an era pre-dating the heavy roller was exceeded by only two players with more innings,〔(First-Class Batting by Average in England in 1858 )〕 he did little for Sussex in this role and played in none of the major first-class games in the following two seasons. In 1861, Southerton was engaged at Southampton and resided at the Antelope Ground until 1867. During this period Southerton, operating in a period before regulations prevented a played from turning out for more than one county in the same season, played for both Sussex and Hampshire. It was not until 1865 that Southerton developed the slow bowling for which he was to gain belated fame and set many records. At a time when bowling was mainly fast round-arm, Southerton’s slower speed with its deceptive flight and sharp break was a challenge for batsmen that they did not adapt to easily. Southerton had much more than spin and flight, however. He was able to vary his pace and pitch very well, often deceiving batsmen by bowling a ball outside the off stump〔Grace, William Gilbert; "Forty Years of Cricket"; in ''The Sydney Mail''; 21 June 1890〕 which turned on the under-prepared pitches of his time viciously into the right-handed batsmen. Southerton typically would then bowl a faster, straighter ball as a contrast, and was exceptionally strong at knowing what ball would be most difficult for each individual batsman.〔 Like Lancashire’s Alec Watson, who was often called "the Southerton of the North", the fairness of Southerton’s delivery was sometimes called into question,〔 though he was never criticised as severely as the powerful Lancashire attack of the early 1880s. He had hardly bowled at all up to 1864, but in August 1865 with six for 50 against Middlesex and seven for 45 aided by six dismissals from wicket-keeper George Ubsdell against the team for whom he was later to carry out most of his major bowling feats, Southerton established himself as a permanent fixture in top-class cricket at the age of thirty-eight. Upon leaving Southampton, Southerton turned out for Surrey as well as Sussex and Hampshire, and with more cricket to play because of Surrey’s longer programme,〔Wynne-Thomas, Peter; ''The Rigby A-Z of Cricket Records''; p. 53 ISBN 072701868X 〕 became the most successful bowler in England. Playing only for Surrey and Sussex, Southerton in 1868 was the leading wicket-taker in England with 151,〔(First Class Bowling in England in 1868 by Wickets )〕 aided by an exceptionally hot summer and very bad pitches even for the era. Two years later Southerton became the first bowler to reach 200 wickets in a first-class season, and played in as many as twenty-seven of only forty-nine first-class matches during the year.〔(First Class Bowling in Each Season )〕 During this period it was said that Southerton was the one bowler able to defeat or even contain the brilliant batting of W. G. Grace as that player broke countless batting records and reduced fast bowlers who had been terrors for other batsmen to impotence.〔Rae, Simon; ''W.G. Grace: A Life''; pp. 94, 106. ISBN 0571178553〕 He continued as a leading force between 1871 and 1875,〔 with the apogee being sixteen wickets for fifty-two runs in a day for the South against the North on a sticky wicket on 17 May 1875.〔(South v North in 1875 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「James Southerton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|