Brian Statham
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | John Brian Statham | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
17 June 1930 Gorton, Manchester, Lancashire, England |
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| Died | 10 June 2000 (aged 69) , Greater Manchester, England |
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| Batting style | Left-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Right-arm fast-medium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Bowler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| National side | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 356) | 17 March 1951 v New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 31 August 1965 v South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1950–1968 | Lancashire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1950/51–1962/63 | MCC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: CricketArchive, 28 December 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
John Brian "George" Statham, CBE (17 June 1930 – 10 June 2000) was one of the leading English fast bowlers in 20th century English cricket. Initially a bowler of a brisk fast-medium pace, Statham was able to remodel his action to generate enough speed to become genuinely fast. This, together with unflagging accuracy and the ability to make the ball – new or old – break back, made Statham a consistent force both for Lancashire in the County Championship and in Test cricket, where his strikepower helped give England perhaps its strongest attack of the 20th century during the 1950s and early 1960s. He overtook Alec Bedser's record of 236 Test wickets in the Fourth Test at the Adelaide Oval in 1962–63. This new record of 242 Test wickets (24.27) was rapidly overtaken by his famous new-ball partner Fred Trueman two months later in New Zealand. Statham finished with 252 Test wickets (24.84).
Statham was remarkably gentlemanly for a fast bowler and would rarely bowl a bouncer (and would warn the batsmen beforehand if he did), but his straight, full-length bowling could easily hit a batsman on the foot. Statham was also a brilliantly athletic out-fielder who was well suited to the one-day game when it emerged in the latter part of his career.
On 30 August 2009, Brian Statham was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
Statham was born in Gorton, Manchester on 17 June 1930. He played cricket for Whitworth Street in Manchester schools cricket matches. Statham played his earliest cricket as a junior for Reddish & Gorton Cricket Club (renamed Denton West Cricket Club in 1947) in the Saddleworth & District League and then the North Western League from 1948, along with his three brothers. Statham joined the Royal Air Force for his national service. He was based at Stafford and would return home at weekends to play cricket. He joined and played for them in the Central Lancashire Cricket League. Statham also played football for Denton West as left wing, and was offered trials with Liverpool and Manchester City. However, it went no further as his father did not want him to pursue football as a career. At the age of eighteen, he came to the notice of the Lancashire officials who needed considerable reinforcement for their bowling attack, and was offered an engagement a year later, which he accepted.
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