Denis Charles Scott Compton
CBE (23 May 1918 -
23 April 1997) was an
English cricketer
and
footballer. He was born in
Hendon,
Middlesex.
By the 1930s he
was a leading England
batsman and
remained at the top of his profession for almost three decades. As an
all-rounder Compton was a right hand bat and a
slow left arm Chinaman
bowler.
His dashing approach to batting and the sheer enjoyment he exuded endeared
him to a generation of cricket lovers. In
1947 he thrilled a
war weary English public by breaking record after record in scoring 3816 runs,
he scored 18 centuries and scored 753 runs against the touring
South Africans. This season was the summit of a glittering career that began
on the ground staff at
Lord's,
selection for
Middlesex followed in
1936 and
England the following year.
He scored his first
Test
century as a precocious 19 year old in
1938 against
Don
Bradman's touring
Australians. Later in the same series he scored a match saving 76 not out at
Lord's, this innings was scored on a rain affected
pitch
and greatly impressed Don Bradman. In
1939 he scored 2468
runs for the season, including 120 against the
West
Indies at Lord's.
As with many other sportsman of his generation he lost some of his best years
to the
Second World War, during which he served in the army in
India.
1946 saw England
touring Australia, although beaten by the powerful Australian team, Compton
distinguished himself by scoring a century in each innings at the Adelaide Test.
Back in England in
1947 he had his glorious season, thereafter he remained a wonderful
adornment to the game of cricket until his retirement in
1956/1957.
He finished his cricket career after playing 78 Test matches with 17 centuries
at an average of 50.06. In all
first-class cricket he scored 123 centuries.
Compton also played football, spending his entire career at
Arsenal.
A
winger, he made his debut in
1936, and won the
League in 1948
and the FA Cup
in 1950. However,
the latter part of his sporting career was dogged by knee trouble, the knee had
been damaged in a collision with the
Charlton goalkeeper; he was limited to 60 official (i.e. non-wartime)
appearances and 16 goals. He represented
England in wartime 12 times, but never in a full official match.
Compton jointly captained
Middlesex CCC between
1951 and
1952, with
W.J.Edrich.
They were honoured with the creation of the Edrich and Compton stands at the
Nursery End in
Lord's Cricket Ground.
After retiring from sport, Denis Compton became a
journalist
and later a
commentator for
BBC
Television. He was made a CBE in
1958. He became the
first former professional cricketer to be elected President of Middlesex CCC in
1991. He served two
terms, until a week before his death in
Windsor,
Berkshire aged 78.
His brother
Leslie also played cricket for Middlesex and football for Arsenal and
England.
