Tony Sutton (cricketer)

Michael Antony Sutton (29 March 1921 – 28 June 2019) played first-class cricket for Oxford University in 1946 and 1947 and also appeared in a single first-class match for Somerset in 1948, playing against Oxford University.[1] He was born at Weymouth, Dorset. CricketArchive lists him as "Tony Sutton" and this is confirmed in a book published in 2018 that includes material from interviews with him.[2]

Tony Sutton
Personal information
Full name
Michael Antony Sutton
Born(1921-03-29)29 March 1921
Weymouth, Dorset, England
Died28 June 2019(2019-06-28) (aged 98)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm off-spin
RoleBowler
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1946–1947Oxford University
1948Somerset
First-class debut22 May 1946 Oxford University v Yorkshire
Last First-class25 June 1948 Somerset v Oxford University
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 19
Runs scored 144
Batting average 8.00
100s/50s –/–
Top score 30
Balls bowled 2678
Wickets 47
Bowling average 25.91
5 wickets in innings 1
10 wickets in match
Best bowling 5/63
Catches/stumpings 23/–
Source: CricketArchive, 27 February 2011

Sutton was educated at Ampleforth College and at Worcester College, Oxford.[3] In the Second World War, he was part of the Westminster Dragoons involved in the Normandy landings and was awarded a Military Cross and latterly a Legion d'Honneur for his service.[4]

As a cricketer he was a right-handed lower-order batsman and a right-arm off-spin bowler. In the 1946 season, he was the most economical of Oxford's regular bowlers, with 31 wickets at an average of 22.93 runs each. The best bowling figures of his career came in the match against Leicestershire when he took five second innings wickets for 63 runs, his only five-wicket return.[5] He took three wickets in the 1946 University match against Cambridge.[6]

Sutton played for the Oxford University side again in 10 matches in 1947 but his bowling was less effective and the English-born Canadian off-spin bowler Basil Robinson was preferred in the team for the 1947 University match.[7] In 1948 he played his one first-class match for Somerset and in 1954 he played once in the Minor Counties for Devon as well as in two other minor matches.

Sutton's premature obituary appeared in the January 1993 issue of The Cricketer,[8] an erratum notice was published[9] followed by a letter from Sutton laying out some of his other cricketing achievements that did not make his obituary.[10] His death was announced in The Times on 2 July 2019.[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Tony Sutton". www.cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
  2. ^ Stephen Hill; Barry Phillips (22 May 2018). Somerset Cricketers, 1946–1970 (2018 ed.). Halsgrove. pp. 67–69. ISBN 978-0-85704-325-2.
  3. ^ "Other Matches at Lord's, 1946". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1947 ed.). Wisden. pp. 209–210.
  4. ^ "M.A. Tony Sutton (O40)". Ampleforth Society. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Scorecard: Oxford University v Leicestershire". www.cricketarchive.com. 5 June 1946. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  6. ^ "Scorecard: Oxford University v Cambridge University". www.cricketarchive.com. 6 July 1946. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
  7. ^ "The Universities in 1947". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (1948 ed.). Wisden. p. 560.
  8. ^ Brooke, Robert (January 1993). "Obituaries". The Cricketer. Vol. 74, no. 1. p. 63. Retrieved 2 May 2024 – via CricketArchive.
  9. ^ Brooke, Robert (February 1993). "Obituaries". The Cricketer. Vol. 74, no. 2. p. 56. Retrieved 2 May 2024 – via CricketArchive.
  10. ^ "Letters - Brought Back to Life". The Cricketer. Vol. 74, no. 3. March 1993. p. 44. Retrieved 2 May 2024 – via CricketArchive.
  11. ^ "Deaths". The Times. No. 72888. London. 2 July 2019. p. 53.
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