7 oldest living cricketers in the world

NOTE: This list was complied on October 22, 2014.

#7 Deepak Shodhan (India)

Born in 1927 in Baroda, Deepak Shodhan had a memorable Test match where he scored 110 to help India reach 397 all out from a precarious 179 for 6. He also became the first ever Indian batsman to score a ton in his very first innings in Test cricket.

He was troubled by injuries during his career and played only 3 Tests for India. He had an average domestic career for Baroda, scoring 1802 runs with a best of 261.

He is currently India’s oldest living cricketer after Madhav Mantri passed away in May 2014.

#6 Israr Ali (Pakistan)

Israr Ali with Pervez Musharraf

Born in Jalandhar in 1927, Israr Ali played just 7 Test matches for Pakistan between 1952 and 1959. He made his debut vs India in Delhi in 1952, scoring 1 run before he was bowled by Vinoo Mankad.

He also picked up 6 in his short career at an average of 27.50. He is Pakistan’s oldest living cricketer.

#5 Trevor Barber (New Zealand)

Another member in the one Test club is New Zealand’s Trevor Barber. Born in 1925 in Otaki, Wellington, he didn’t have the best of debuts, scoring 17 runs vs the West Indies in Wellington in 1956. In a first-class career, spanning 15 years, Barber played just 49 matches, with one hundred and 14 fifties.

He, however, captained Wellington when they won the Shield in 1956.

#4 Don Smith (England)

Born in Sussex in 1923, Smith played only 3 Test matches for England, scoring 25 runs and picking up 1 wicket.

Like Ganteaume, he too played only one year of Test cricket for his country. However, he had a successful first-class career, scoring 16960 runs with the bat and picking up 340 wickets with the ball.

He retired from the game in 1962 and was also Sri Lanka’s coach during their early years. He is England’s oldest living cricketer at the moment and the fourth oldest overall.

#3 Arthur Morris (Australia)

Arthur Morris was born in Sydney in 1922 and was one of the most elegant left-handers to play the game at the time. Morris amassed 3533 runs for Australia at an average of 46.48 in a career spanning 9 years, scoring 12 centuries with a best of 206 vs England in 1951. The 92-year old also scored more runs than Sir Donald Bradman during the Ashes series of 1948.

An interesting stat about Morris is that he scored the same number of fifties and hundreds in both first-class cricket and Test cricket.

#2 Andrew Ganteaume (West Indies)

Born in Trinidad in 1921, Ganteaume played just the solitary Test for the West Indies scoring 112 at his home ground of Port-of-Spain vs England in 1947/48.

Despite the hundred, however, he didn’t find a regular place in the West Indies line-up due to the presence of stalwarts like Clyde Walcott, Everton Weekes, Frank Worrell, Gary Sobers, Rohan Kanhai etc.

He did continue to play for Trinidad, amassing 2785 runs at an average of 34.81 with 5 centuries.

#1 Lindsay Tuckett (South Africa)

The oldest living cricketer at the moment is South African Lindsay Tuckett. Born in Durban in 1919, the right-hand batsman played only 9 Test matches for his country in a career spanning just over 2 years. He was also a right-arm fast bowler and picked up 19 wickets, with a best of 5 for 68.

He, however, did have a good first-class career where he picked up 225 wickets at an average of 23.07 with a best of 8 for 32.