Brian Statham

Who was Brian Statham?

John Brian "George" Statham, CBE 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 was rapidly overtaken by his famous new-ball partner Fred Trueman two months later in New Zealand. Statham finished with 252 Test wickets.

Statham was remarkably gentlemanly for a fast bowler and would rarely bowl a bouncer, 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.