St George's Day 23rd April 1997. An English hero passed on.
Denis Compton CBE (could be him above!!), an English test cricketer was born 23rd May 1918.... died 23rd April 1997, aged 78. (Height 1.78m).
Played for Middlesex and England in 78 tests. He was a right hand bat and spun a ball with his left arm.
He also played football for Nunhead (1933-40) and Arsenal, a defender, making his debut in 1936 helping the Gunners to the League Championship (First Division!) in 1937-8, but only in 7 appearances, so he didn't qualify for a medal. He did play in some War Time internationals for England. In 1948 he won his League medal, when Arsenal came top again and also he also won a Cup medal in 1950. Soon after this he had a knee injury following 54 apps and 15 goals.
With his contemporary, the footballer Stanley Matthews, Compton was the first British sportsman to make a substantial living by exploiting his sporting reputation to provide advertisements and endorsements. For many years he was the public face of the Brylcreem range of men's haircare products. Known for being absent mindedness, Compton turned up for a test v South Africa at Old Trafford without his kit bag. He went to the ground's museum and "borrowed" a vintage bat with which he scored 158 and 71 runs. He was also likely to run out partners with dodgey calling, even running out his brother Leslie, at his testimonial. Top test score 278 runs. He has a spectator stand named after him at Lords.
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