Dick Howorth
Dick Howorth, c. 1947
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| Full name | Richard Howorth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
26 April 1909 Bacup, Lancashire, England |
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| Died | 2 April 1980 (aged 70) Worcester, England |
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| Batting style | Left-hand bat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling style | Slow left-arm orthodox | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: [1]
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Dick Howorth (26 April 1909 – 2 April 1980) was an English all-rounder for Worcestershire between 1933 and 1951. Chiefly remembered as a left-arm spin bowler, Howorth also occasionally bowled medium pace and was a capable hard-hitting left-handed batsman. Ideally he would bat in the middle of the order, but so weak was Worcestershire's batting for much of his career that Howorth would often play as an aggressive opener, and it was in this role that he hit his two highest first-class scores – curiously both being 114. Howorth was also a dependable close-to-the-wicket fielder but would field with skill further out if needed.
As well as becoming one of the oldest English players to make his England debut at 38 years 112 days, Howorth took a wicket with his first ball in Test cricket, only the fifth Englishman to do so.
Born Richard Howorth in Bacup, Lancashire, but not seen as good enough for an engagement after playing a few times for the Lancashire Second XI, and having played for Bacup in the Lancashire League, Howorth qualified for Worcestershire in 1933, and appeared against the West Indians that season. Seen as a promising all-rounder, he played a full season in 1934 but was disappointing. In 1935, however, Howorth suddenly jumped to the top flight of slow left-hand bowlers in county cricket, with a total of 121 wickets for Worcestershire at an average cost of less than nineteen runs each, and the following year he maintained his skill as a bowler and, called upon to open with Worcestershire's batting weakened by the absence of Cyril Walters and the Nawab of Pataudi, hit 114 out of 173 against Kent. The following year was disappointing, but in 1938 Howorth missed the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets by a mere three runs – scoring a century against Surrey at The Oval and taking a career-best 13 for 133 against Gloucestershire at Stourbridge. In 1939, he duly completed the double in the last match against Nottinghamshire, before World War II put an end to first-class cricket. Though he was then aged 37, 1946 was even more productive. Howorth hit two centuries against the Indian touring team, and in playing for H.D.G. Leveson-Gower's XI in September, he also took nine wickets for 72 runs.
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