Former England captain Ted Dexter dies aged 86

Ted Dexter, the former England captain, has died at the age of 86. A highly effective center-order batter and medium-pace bowler, Dexter played 62 Assessments, foremost the side in 30 of those, scoring 4502 runs and using sixty six wickets despite the fact that his lifestyle off the field was as just as noteworthy as his cricket feats.

In a initial-course profession that spanned from 1956 to 1968, he scored much more than 21000 runs and claimed 419 wickets. A damaged leg endured when he was trying to force his damaged down motor vehicle in 1965 impacted the latter levels of his profession, despite the fact that he made a quick comeback to the Examination side in the 1968 Ashes and would later participate in Sunday League video games in 1971 and 1972.

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“No English cricketer bred because the war has so captured the creativeness of those inside of, outside the house and far from, the boundary ropes of our huge cricket grounds,” mentioned the introduction to his profile as a single of Wisden’s 5 Cricketers of the Yr in 1961.

His Examination quantities as captain (ordinary 53.ninety three) ended up even higher than his fantastic profession figure of forty seven.89 which involved 9 hundreds. His debut arrived towards New Zealand in 1958 where he made a 50 %-century with his initial hundred arriving three video games later towards the identical opposition in Christchurch.

His tally of 481 runs in the 1962-63 Ashes continues to be the most by an England captain in Australia when in the 1959-60 sequence towards West Indies he had made 526 runs and sixty five.seventy five. “Tall, upright and commanding, Dexter played the small-pitched bowling superior than anybody else and carefully justified the religion of the selectors in picking out him, despite some before disappointments,” Wisden described of his functionality in the Caribbean.

A person of Dexter’s most iconic performances was his 70 off seventy five balls towards a West Indies assault that includes Wes Corridor and Charlie Griffith at Lord’s in 1963 throughout a match that arrived down to the closing more than with all four final results achievable and Colin Cowdrey coming out to bat with a damaged arm.

A spectacular all-spherical sportsperson Dexter, who was identified by his nickname of ‘Lord Ted’, also excelled at golf when his lifestyle outside the house of cricket was impressive.

“Ted Dexter was a single of the most accomplished batsmen of his era. His capability to dominate rapidly bowling was admirable and his outstanding batting towards the West Indies and Australia teams is remembered by all,” mentioned ICC acting chief Geoff Allardice in a assertion. “He also made noteworthy contributions to the video game in numerous capacities submit-retirement and helped acquire the players’ rankings that are so preferred right now.

“Ted was honoured to be a single of this year’s particular inductees to the ICC Corridor of Fame and it is seriously sad to hear the information of his passing. On behalf of the ICC, I would like to extend my condolences to his spouse and children and close friends.”

In 1964 he stood as a Tory candidate in the General Election and after his actively playing times he held a variety of roles including a broadcaster and journalist, running a PR agency, co-wrote a cricket-centered crime novel, Testkill, and developed what would later come to be the ICC ranking’s process. A capable pilot, he also after flew himself and his spouse and children to Australia in 1970-seventy one, producing twenty stops on the journey.

In 1989, he took on the placement of England’s chairman of selectors – the 12 months 29 gamers ended up applied in the Ashes – which he held until eventually England’s 1993 defeat towards Australia. It was a interval of important little results in Examination cricket, and Dexter was normally criticised, but England arrived at the closing of 1992 Earth Cup and he also set important changes in movement these as the shift to four-day Championship cricket.

In an job interview with the Every day Telegraph very last 12 months, around the publication of his autobiography, 85 Not Out, he was requested about what he would have been like actively playing in the existing era. “Oh sure. I consider I would have been coronary heart and soul,” he mentioned. “I consider I would have been off to India in the IPL at the fall of a hat to generate hundreds of thousands. I am glad I didn’t, frankly, mainly because the relaxation of my lifestyle would not have been so appealing if I was pretty soft and had a great deal of funds in the financial institution as a participant.”