5 facts about English cricket history that you probably didn't know

#4 Denis Compton won league title and FA Cup medals for Arsenal

Denis Compton in action against Chelsea

Back in the day, it was quite common for professional sportspersons to play more than one sports and in fact, many cricketers played either football or rugby when the cricket season wasn't on.

However, not many of them quite managed to play at the very highest level of first-class cricket and the 'old' first division (the equivalent of the English Premier League) in football.

However, in this regard, one of England's greatest batsmen, Denis Compton was a notable exception. Compton was one of England's greatest ever middle-order batsmen and averaged 56.40 in Test cricket over the course of a career that lasted twenty years. On the other hand, he remained a stalwart for Middlesex in the County Championships for close to three decades.

However, his gifts as a footballer are not to be sniffed at, at all. In fact, he played for one of the biggest clubs in English football, Arsenal and at a time when the club was the most dominant club in England.

Compton played as a winger and while he made his first appearance for the club in 1936, it was not till 1948 that he won honours. Compton was part the league and FA Cup winning 'Double' squad. He made 54 appearances in total stretched over 14 years (1936-1950) and scored 15 goals.