Former England batsman Tom Graveney passes away at the age of 88

Graveney went on to score 122 first-class centuries

Former England batsman Tom Graveney died yesterday at the age of 88, ESPNCricinfo reports. The right-handed batsman was suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Graveney, who was born in 1927 joined English army as a 19-years old in 1946. He was primarily a bowler, but his batting abilities came out when he played on concrete pitches in Egypt while serving the country.

When he returned for a home-leave in 1947, he was called to play in some benefit matches for the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club on his brother Ken’s advice. Eventually, the club offered him a contract worth £200 per year on the basis of his performances, and Graveney readily accepted it.

In the beginning, he was considered as a replacement for Wally Hammond at Gloucestershire but slowly he cemented his position in the club.

Graveney had a reputation of playing most of his shots on the front foot, something which the England selectors didn’t appreciate. "I even hooked off the front foot," he said, "I don't know how I wasn't killed."

His performances under pressure were also considered edgy. The tendency of playing on the front-foot troubled him a lot on fast pitches. His only century against Australia came at Sydney in 1954 when he was used as a make-shift opener.

However, his displays against other tougher opponents like West Indies who had great fast bowlers of their own in Wes Hall and Charlie Griffith were commendable. His maiden test century came against India in Bombay in 1951.

The interesting part is that before registering his first hundred, the batsman spent a week in hospital as he was suffering from a serious bout of dysentery.

He had a great 1956 season, where he scored more than 2000 runs, but he was dropped from the England team for the South Africa tour, even though he scored a double-hundred against West Indies in the second match after he was reinstated in the team. He scored a hundred again in the next match at The Oval.

In 1962, after three years of no show, he was included in the England's team to face Pakistan. The right-hander responded in style as he made scores of 97, 153, 37 and 114 in consecutive test matches.

A year before his feat against Pakistan, Graveney switched counties, when he joined Worcestershire where he spent nine years and won the County Championship in 1964 and 1965.

He was recalled in the Three Lions team a year later again, he went on to score four more centuries to achieve a total of 11 centuries in his international career. He played 79 test matches for his country and also captained the side once.

"I was the best batsman in the country between 1963 and 1966," he later said. "I just didn't get picked. And then to be brought back after my 39th birthday was a bit ridiculous."

Graveney spent three years playing for Queensland between 1969 and 1972. He scored as many as 122 centuries in his first-class career of 732 matches.

After retiring from cricket, he worked in various roles, including a squash club manager in Essex and a pub landlord in Prestbury, Gloucestershire. He also worked as a commentator for BBC later and also became the first former professional cricketer to be elected president of the MCC in 2004.

He was also one of the first 55 inductees in the ICC Cricket hall of fame.