Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches and spent his whole cricket career with Middlesex. He was also an accomplished footballer, who played most of his football career at Arsenal. Compton was posthumously inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.
About Denis Compton in brief
Denis Charles Scott Compton CBE was an English cricketer who played in 78 Test matches and spent his whole cricket career with Middlesex. He was also an accomplished footballer, who played most of his football career at Arsenal. Compton earned his first England cap against New Zealand in 1937. He scored his first Test century aged just 20 years and 19 days in 1938 against Don Bradman’s touring Australians. In 1939 he scored 2468 runs for the season, including 120 against the West Indies at Lord’s. As an all-rounder Compton was a right-hand bat and a slow left-arm wrist-spin bowler. He is one of only twenty-five players to have scored over one hundred centuries in first-class cricket. In 2009, Compton was posthumously inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. The Denis Compton Oval and a stand at Lord’s Cricket Ground are both named in his honour. Compton was the second son and youngest child of Henry Ernest Compton and Jessie Anne Duthie; he had one older brother, Leslie Harry and one older sister, Hilda. He was educated at Bell Lane Primary School and joined the MCC ground staff atLord’s Cricket Ground at the age of 15. He lost some of his best years to the Second World War, during which he served in the army in India. In recognition of their amiable friendship and rivalry, the ECB and Cricket Australia decided in 2005 that the player adjudged the Player of the Series in the Ashes would be awarded the Compton–Miller medal. Compton produced a season of cricket that established him as a British household name, and one of the greatest cricketers of his era.
Helped by a rare summer of sunshine, Compton thrilled the war-weary English public with his cavalier batting. Compton scored five centuries, one for Middlesex, and four for England, accumulating 1,056 runs at an average of 88.16 runs in matches that season. His aggregate of 3,816 runs made in all matches that year remains the most ever in a season in first class cricket. Compton’s personal favourite innings of that summer was against Kent at Chasing 397 to win, and needing to score nearly 100 runs per hour. In September 1947, he scored 18 hundreds in a single season, which is another world record. Compton led the way with a dashing 168, but Middlesex fell short by 75 runs with the last one scored on September 15 September 1947. He remains the third youngest England debutant ever. He played for the Holkar team in the Ranji Trophy, India’s national cricket tournament, and was posted at Mhow, Central India. It was in India that he began his close friendship with his Australian counterpart, Test criceter, footballer and national hero, Keith Miller, They played against each other in the match at Calcutta between the Australian Services team and East Zone. The match was interrupted by rioting when Compton was on 94, and a rioters who had invaded the pitch ran up to Compton and said: ‘Mr Compton, you very good player, but the match must stop now.’
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