England's great keeper dies
Following closely on the death of Cyril Washbrook last Tuesday, Godfrey Evans died Monday morning in Northampton Hospital after suffering a heart attack
14-May-2007
Between 1946 and 1956 the names C.Washbrook and T.G.Evans both graced
the England Test scorecard at the same time. Both popular, successful
players in an England team studded with stars. In the past week, both
have passed on.
Following closely on the death of Cyril Washbrook last Tuesday,
Godfrey Evans died Monday morning in Northampton Hospital after
suffering a heart attack. He was 78.
Thomas Godfrey Evans was England's first choice wicket-keeper for over
a decade playing 91 Tests, one of the series of great Kent keepers to
represent their country (others included Leslie Ames and Alan
Knott). He debuted for Kent in 1939, but then missed much cricket due
to the Second World War.
His technique was impeccable, both standing up and back, and his
enthusiasm, courage, and unflagging energy made him one of the finest
wicket-keepers of his or any time. He had superb reactions, and this,
combined with his natural athletic ability, allowed him to make some
astonishing catches, diving full length down the leg side to quick
bowlers, and sometimes diving well in front of the popping crease to
take bat-pad catches from spinners.
At the County level, he regularly kept to Doug Wright, whose quickish
leg breaks beat the bat frequently, and would challenge all but the
best. He habitually stood up to Alec Bedser, a feat few would attempt
with the ball seaming and swinging at fast-medium pace. Christopher
Martin-Jenkins wrote of him : "Of stocky build and a quicksilver
character. his darting movements flowed from his natural exurberance,
and he made acrobatic catches that few others, and certainly no other
contemporary could have reached." He was an enterprising and
attractive lower order bat, with two Test hundreds to his name.
Excellent footwork combined with a good eye allowed him to improvise
to great effect but he could defend stubbornly when needed.
Uncharacteristically he for many years held a slow scoring record,
taking 95 minutes to get off the mark in a Test against Australia in
1947, a record broken only this year by Geoff Allott of New Zealand.
His courage was never in doubt, and was amply demonstrated in 1955 in
the Old Trafford Test against South Africa. He broke a finger in two
places when keeping in the first innings, but not only continued
behind the stumps, but all but saved the match by scoring 36 out of a
49 run last wicket stand, using just one hand for defensive shots.
In 1960, after his retirement from the game, he was awarded a CBE for
his services to the game. He worked in a variety of professions after
ending his days as a player, including running a pub, but he was best
known in his latter days as the jovial white-haired mutton-chop
whiskered gentleman who acted as an advisor to bookmakers laying
cricket odds. Former England team-mate Trevor Bailey, speaking on
BBC radio yesterday, said he was "a wonderful man to have on tour. He
loved a party."
Flags were flown at half-mast at St Lawrence's Ground, Canterbury
yesterday, and a minute's silence observed before the start of Kent's
National League match against Leicestershire.
Godfrey Evans played 91 Tests for England between 1946 and 1959,
making 173 catches and 46 stumpings. His 219 Test dismissals was a
world record for a wicketkeeper until beaten by Alan Knott almost
twenty years later (and subsequently bettered by Rodney Marsh and Ian
Healy). He scored 2439 Test runs at an average of 20.49, the higher
of his two hundreds being 104. In all first-class cricket he scored
14882 runs at 21.22, held 816 catches and took 250 stumpings.
Source :: CricInfo365