Godfrey Evans
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| Full name | Thomas Godfrey Evans | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
18 August 1920 Finchley, Middlesex, England |
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| Died | 3 May 1999 (aged 78) Northampton, Northamptonshire, England |
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| Nickname | Godders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting style | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Right arm leg break | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Wicket-keeper-Batsman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut (cap 315) | 17 August 1946 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 20 June 1959 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1939–1967 | Kent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Source: CricketArchive, 3 May 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thomas Godfrey Evans CBE (18 August 1920 – 3 May 1999) was an English cricketer who played for Kent and England.
Described by Wisden as 'arguably the best wicket-keeper the game has ever seen', Evans collected 219 dismissals in 91 Test match appearances between 1946 and 1959 and a total of 1066 in all first-class matches. En route he was the first wicket keeper to reach 200 Test dismissals and the first Englishman to reach both 1000 runs and 100 dismissals and 2000 runs and 200 dismissals in Test cricket. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1951.
As a teenager Godfrey Evans was a good all-round sportsman, gaining his colours and captaining the cricket, football and hockey teams at Kent College, Canterbury. He was also a very good boxer, winning all his amateur and professional fights, but at the age of 17 was forced by the Kent committee to choose between cricket and boxing. He worked on the ground staff at Dover in 1937, operating the scoreboard on the occasion that Kent made 219 runs in 71 minutes to beat Gloucestershire.
He made his Kent debut on 22 July 1939 against Surrey at Blackheath. He made 8 in the first innings as the match ended in a draw. World War 2, during which he was in the Royal Army Service Corps, interrupted his career but a strong first season back in 1946 earned him a Test call-up.
Evans made his Test debut in 1946 against India, when he was chosen for the third Test at The Oval, replacing Paul Gibb. In a largely rain affected contest he didn't bat or take any dismissals.
Evans was selected as a member of Wally Hammond's side to tour Australia in 1946/47. After Gibb had played the first Test, Evans got his chance in the second at Melbourne. Australia won the match by an innings having scored 659/8 declared in their first innings, in 173 overs of English bowling Evans failed to concede a single bye, with Wisden commenting he 'kept wicket magnificently'. Evans didn't concede a bye in Australia's first innings of 365 at Adelaide in the third Test either, this took the tally past 1,000 runs before he conceded his first bye in Ashes Tests. In the Fourth Test at Adelaide, Evans shared in a vital ninth wicket partnership with Denis Compton, England were in danger of losing the Test at 255/8 but Evans played a fine defensive innings, scoring 10 not out in 133 minutes, this enabled Compton to complete his second century of the match and Hammond the chance to declare. Evans took 97 minutes before scoring his first run, a Test record which stood until 1999 when beaten by Geoff Allott.
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