Alan Leonard Dixon (born 27 November 1933) is a former English professional cricketer. He played for Kent County Cricket Club between 1950 and 1970.
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Alan Leonard Dixon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 27 November 1933 Dartford, Kent, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm medium Right-arm off break | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1950–1970 | Kent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricInfo, 10 November 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dixon made his first-class cricket debut for Kent in 1950 in a County Championship match against Essex at Clacton in August 1960. Dixon was aged 16 years and 248 days old on his debut.[1] At the time he was the second youngest player to play for the county after Wally Hardinge[1] and, as of 2016, is one of only five 16 year olds to have played for Kent.[1] He played just one match for the First XI in 1950 and once in 1954 before becoming a more regular member of the side in the 1955 season.[2] During this period he appeared regularly for the county Second XI in the Minor Counties Championship and was awarded his Second XI cap in 1951.[3] He was awarded his county cap in 1960 and played until the 1970 season, making a total of 378 first-class appearances for Kent as an all-rounder.[4][5] Dixon also appeared twice for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and once for an AER Gilligan XI as well as making 23 List A cricket for Kent during his career.[4][5] Despite a relatively limited number of List A appearances he led the country in List A wickets taken in the 1967 season as Kent won the 1967 Gillette Cup.
Dixon had originally retired from cricket at the end of the 1957 season to become a travelling salesman before reconsidering at the start of the 1958 season and rejoining the county.[6] After retirement he coached cricket at Tonbridge School.[7] He coached, among others, Kent and England swing bowler Richard Ellison who credited Dixon with developing his talent. Ellison was selected as one of Wisden's four Cricketers of the Year in 1986.[8][9]
In 2011 Dixon was short-listed as one of the 40 candidates for the Kent Legends Walkway at the St Lawrence Ground, the county's base in Canterbury.[10] He took 100 first-class wickets in a season for Kent in each season between 1964 and 1966, his highest total being 122 in 1964[11] and as of 2016 is tenth in the list of all time wicket takers for Kent.[12]
References
edit- ^ a b c Reid J (ed) (2016) 'VIII Players' Records' in 2016 Kent Country Cricket Club Annual, Kent County Cricket Club, p.233.
- ^ "First-Class Matches played by Alan Dixon". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ Minor Counties Championship matches played by Alan Dixon, CricketArchive.
- ^ a b "Alan Dixon". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ a b "First-class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Alan Dixon". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ Chalke, Stephen. "When the fat lady sings". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ "Tonbridge School". Archived from the original on 11 November 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ "Richard Ellison". Wisden. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
- ^ The Wisden Collector's Guide pp.250-251.
- ^ "Kent Legends Walkway - choose your favourite cricket hero". Kent Live. Retrieved 10 November 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Reid J (ed) (2016) 'Bowling records' op. cit. p.220.
- ^ Reid J (2016) 'Bowling records', op. cit. p.219.