The Life of sporting Hero: Denis Compton: A Good Book on The Cavalier of Cricket

The Life of sporting Hero: Denis Compton: A Good Book on The Cavalier of Cricket

I always love the game of Cricket. I feel every cricket lover should watch the game or play the game just to enjoy. Then, this game will give you so much pleasure which cannot be expressed in words.  This is being realized at the time of reading the biography of such a talented England’s double international player as he was playing Cricket and Football at international level. He was also known as a Brylcreem boy because he was doing the advertisement for Brylcreem hair cream. Such a handsome player was Denis Charles Scott Compton and the name of the book,” The life of Sporting Hero: Denis Compton written by Tim Heald”. I got the opportunity to read this book to understand the cricketing era from late 1930 till late 1950. Since he retired as a cricket player in 1958 i.e. before my birth, I can understand the cricket of the old era through books only. As per the book, he was an outstanding sportsman who played cricket from 1936 to 1958 for Middlesex. He was also an accomplished footballer who played most of his football at Arsenal.

From Yogesh Gogwekar

Denis Charles Scott Compton was born on 23^rd May 1918 in the urban district of Hendon which was the part of Greater London in the family of Henry Ernest Compton and Jessie Anne Duthie. He was the youngest child who was educated at Bell Lane Primary School. His father was running a business of Painting and Decorating and he captained the old boys cricket eleven. Denis Compton used to go along with his father to watch the cricket matches. He got an opportunity to play the game when he was twelve. On one particular match, his father found one player short for his team and Denis Compton had filled the vacancy. He played this game so beautifully by dispatching the ball to the boundary and making a feeling of disappointment or sadness for the opposing team. His elder brother Leslie had also played cricket and played as wicket keeper of Middlesex team and later for England Team. After this match, Denis Compton captained the elementary school team and scored a century (114 runs) at Lords.  This match was watched by the grand old man of English Test Cricket and Cricket Administrator Sir Pelham Warner. He was on the selection committee of England Team. He immediately selected Denis Compton for M.C.C.

Denis Compton was also a talented footballer and he was playing football for Arsenal Football Club. He used to play this game for them and used to get twenty five shillings a week. At the age of 14, he joined M.C. C. ground staff and there also, on a weekly basis, he started earning twenty five shilling. This was a great opportunity for Denis Compton to prove his talent and he grabbed this opportunity in a perfect way and scored a century for the M. C. C. against Suffolk at Felixstowe.  In another match, at the age of seventeen, with E W Swanton he scored century for Middlesex second eleven match against Kent at Felixstowe. Thus, at the age of twenty, he became one of England's finest batsmen. His dashing approach to batting and slow left-arm wrist-spin bowler forced England to select him for the test match against New Zealand on 17^th August 1937 in which he scored 65 runs. He was the youngest player to debut for England. His real talent came into limelight when he scored his first century against the Don Bradman’s Australia team in 1938. He scored 102 runs for England and became the youngest player to score a century for England. Before him, J W Hearne did the same in 1911. In the same series, he scored wonderful 76 runs at Lord’s on rain-affected pitch which helped England to save the match. Even Don Bradman was very much impressed with his batting.  Again in 1939, he scored 120 runs against West Indies at Lord’s.

He missed the tour of South Africa in 1938-39 as he had been committed to his football contact with Arsenal. Not only Cricket but all games were not played from 1939 to 1945 due to World War II. Compton missed some of his best during this period. During the war time, he joined in English Army and posted to Mhow in India.  During his tenure in India, he obtained the permission from Princess State Indore to play in Ranji Trophy matches which is the first class cricket of India. In India, he met Keith Miller who was cricket player and footballer and also the national hero of Australia. They became very close friends off the field but remained rivals on the field.  After world war, cricket restarted. From 1947 till the retirement from cricket, Denis Compton reached breathtaking maturity. In 1946-47, England visited Australia, and they have been beaten in Australia very badly; but Denis Compton had played a fantastic game and scored century in each inning in the Adelaide Match. Later on, in South Africa, he scored 300 runs in Transvaal first class cricket Match in 1948-49 series. It is being said that it was the fastest three hundred runs in first class cricket.

During his tenure as a cricketer, Denis Compton played 78 test matches and scored 5807 in 131 innings with 17 hundreds and 28 fifties with an average of 50.06. He also took 25 wickets in 2716 balls with an average 56.40. He played 516 matches in first class cricket by scoring 38942 runs in 839 innings with an average of 51.85 by scoring 123 centuries and also took 622 wickets with an average of 32.27. According to the writer, his batting was having poetic rhythm. It is being said that not only was his cover-drive was very amazing but also sweep shot was pleased to watch. He was a good hooker and cutter of the ball. According to John Arlott,” Denis Compton was a highly talented all-rounder cricketer, and also to some degree, a cult figure. There is no doubt that especially in 1947, he became the symbol of post-war euphoria, and with his country colleague and friend Bill Edrich, he produced such a run of attractive and crowd-drawing successes as Lord’s had not-has not-otherwise known in modern times. Physically handsome, friendly and easy-going, he personified – and, moreover appeared to make the errors of - the ordinary Club cricketer, but his genius enabled him to make those mistakes’.

This book is an authorized biography of Denis Compton which can also be called traditional sport biography.  Since he has played the two sports, the book has covered all events of both games but more about cricket. This book gives the full information about Denis Compton as a person, as a cricket and football player. It also tells us about his marriage life, his injuries at the time of playing football and also about his full time involvement in cricket even after retirement. One more point of this book is that this book is trying to provide a balanced view of things which describes Denis Compton’s perspective.  It is written beautifully with proper research. This book tells us the detailed information about the cricket world from 1930 to 1960. It is a wonderful book written by Tim Heald who was a journalist and writer of mysteries. He was born in 1944 in Dorchester, England and studied modern history at Oxford before becoming a journalist. He has written many biographies and novels. He has also written the biography of another cricketer Brian Johnston.

No Cricketer summed up the post-war spirit of renewal and resurgence in England better than Denis Compton. He was a batsman of daring, flair and flourish and also a good footballer. I am finishing this writing by quoting the words of Neville Cardus written on Compton’s game. He said that,” When cricket was begun again, after the Hitler war, Compton in his wonderful years of 1946-47 expressed by his cricket the renewed life and hopes of a land and nation that had come out of the dark abyss. In a period still sore and shabby and rationed, Compton spread his happy favours everywhere. The crowds sat in the sun, liberated from anxiety and privation. The strain of long years of affliction fell from all shoulders as Compton set the ball rolling or speeding or rippling right and left, as he leaned to it and swept it from the off round the leg boundary, as he danced forward or danced backwards, his hair tousled beyond the pacifying power of any cream or unguent whatsoever . . . yes, the crowd sunned themselves as much in Compton's batting as in the beneficial rays coming from the blue sky”.

Yes, it is true that Denis Compton was Brylcreem boy and one of the best British sportsmen, and first cricketer to become first national celebrity. He died on 23^rd April 1997 at the age of 78. He will be remembered forever in the cricket world.

Mumbai

23/11/2020