Warwickshire Great Tom Prtichard Dies At 100
Aug 22, 2017 at 6:15 PM
Former Warwickshire fast-bowler Tom Pritchard passed away on Tuesday (August 22) aged 100. The bowling great who wreaked havoc in the 1940s and 1950s took a staggering 818 wicket at an impressive average of 23.30 in 200 first-class games but never represented his country.
One of the finest bowlers of his era, the New Zealand-born star came close to getting a call-up at the age of 20 in 1937 but turned down the offer due to the Second World War and concerns regarding his professional career in England. Consequently, he opted out of selection for New Zealand’s Test tour of England in 1949 after a sensational 1948 when he took 172 wickets at an average of 18.75. He never received a call again.
However, he kept on building his legacy in England’s domestic circuit as he claimed 100 wickets a season every year from 1948 to 1951, having completed a season of qualification in the second XI in 1946. The bowling legend is fourth on New Zealand’s first-class wicket-taking list behind Sir Richard Hadlee (1490), Clarrie Grimmett (1424) and Syd Smith (955).
Speaking to the New Zealand Herald on his 100th birthday in March, Pritchard stated that he did not have any regrets regarding his career.
“Cricket took me from being a young schoolboy whose family – my mother’s side emigrated from Germany in 1875 – were not interested in the game.
“I’m pleased I wasn’t [picked for New Zealand in 1937] because it would’ve messed a lot of things up,” he had said.
Pritchard had returned to New Zealand in 1986 after serving in the Middle East and Italy during the world war and got married to the love of his life, Mavis after the conclusion of the war.