Thomas William Graveney, OBE
4 November 2015
Born: 16 June 1927, Riding Mill, Northumberland
Died: 3 November 2015 (aged 88 years 140 days)
Tom Graveney, who has died aged 88, was widely regarded as one of the greatest, as well as the most elegant and graceful, professional batsman to emerge in the years following the Second World War.
Between 1948 and 1971 he played 1,223 first-class innings in 732 matches, scoring 47,793 runs (including 122 centuries) at an average of 44.91. Seven times he surpassed 2,000 runs in a season. His Gloucestershire career spanned from 1948-1960 where he made 296 appearances, scoring 19,705 runs at an average of 43.02. He also played 79 Test Matches for England between 1951-2 and 1969.
The England and Wales Cricket Board’s Chairman, Colin Graves, paid tribute to Graveney as “one of the game’s great stylists.” He went on to say: “I count myself privileged to have seen Tom Graveney bat. He was a batsman whose name became synonymous with elegance and whose perfectly executed cover drive will live long in the memory of those who saw it.
“He was also a true gentleman; someone who served our county game with distinction and who, later in life, gave back much to the game he so dearly loved by becoming MCC President.”
Graveney left Gloucestershire at the end of 1960 and spent the following year qualifying to play for Worcestershire. He returned to the County Championship in 1962 and was deemed to be at his peak during 1964 and 1965, helping his new County win the title in both years. In 1964, Graveney became only the 15th batsman in the history of cricket to make 100 first-class hundreds. Joining such illustrious company as Wally Hammond and Dr W G Grace.
The end of Graveney’s Test career came in 1969 and in 1970 he and his family emigrated to Australia, where he became a player/coach for Queensland. They returned to the UK in 1972.
Following his cricket career, there followed spells as the manager of a squash club at Westcliff-on-Sea and as a well-regarded host and landlord of the Royal Oak Pub in Prestbury.
In 1979 he became a television commentator. Jonathan Agnew, the BBC’s cricket correspondent, remembered a colleague who loved talking about the game. "He would sit in the bar and just talk for hours about the modern game, and how he used to play,” he said. "He had pretty strong opinions.
“He would talk a lot about some of the West Indian throwers he faced in his batting days and how he thoroughly disapproved of that, but he was a real gentleman. I think that's what he'll be remembered for as much as for the style that he brought to the crease.”
In 2004 the seal was set on Graveney’s career when he became President of the MCC - the first professional cricketer to be elected to that post.
His elder brother Ken (who pre-decreased Tom on 25 October) also played for and captained Gloucestershire before eventually taking on the Chairmanship of the County Club. His nephew, David, also captained the county, who later became Chairman of the England Test selectors.
Everyone at Gloucestershire joins the wider cricketing world in sending our condolences to the Graveney family.
