Mike Denness

Mike Denness

Personal information
Full name	Michael Henry Denness
Born	1 December 1940 (1940-12-01) Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right arm off break Right arm medium
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 444)	21 August 1969 v New Zealand
Last Test	14 July 1975 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 21)	5 September 1973 v West Indies
Last ODI	18 June 1975 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1959–1967	Scotland
1962–1976	Kent
1977–1980	Essex
Career statistics
Competition	Tests	ODI	FC	LA
Matches	28	12	501	232
Runs scored	1,667	264	25,886	5,393
Batting average	39.69	29.33	33.48	27.23
100s/50s	4/7	-/1	33/152	6/28
Top score	188	66	195	118*
Balls bowled	-	-	84	-
Wickets	–	–	2	–
Bowling average	–	–	31.00	–
5 wickets in innings	–	–	–	–
10 wickets in match	–	n/a	–	n/a
Best bowling	–	–	1/7	–
Catches/stumpings	28/–	1/–	410/–	94/–
Source: Cricinfo, 22 March 2009

Mike Denness (born Michael Henry Denness, 1 December 1940, Bellshill, North Lanarkshire) is a former Scottish cricketer who played for England, Scotland, Essex and Kent. Scotland did not have a representative international team at the time of Denness' career, so he could only play for England at Test and ODI level. Denness became the first Scotsman to captain England. Denness later became an ICC match referee. He was one of the inaugural inductees into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame and was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1975.

Playing career

Denness captained England on nineteen occasions, winning six, losing five and drawing eight matches. He stepped down from the captaincy after the first Test of the 1975 series against Australia. Throughout his career, he suffered a lack of support from Geoffrey Boycott, which contributed to his downfall as a skipper – Boycott's absence costing England during matches against Australia. Once while in Australia, Denness received an envelope that had been sent with the address "Mike Denness, cricketer". The letter inside read, "Should this reach you, the post office clearly thinks more of your ability than I do." Denness played in twenty eight Tests overall, scoring 1,667 runs including four centuries. His best of 188 came against Australia on 8 February 1975. His seven accompanying half-centuries helped to leave him with a Test batting average of 39.69. His ODI career was less successful, playing only 12 matches and scoring 264 runs at 29.33, with a best of 66.

In domestic cricket, Denness played for both Essex and Kent between 1959 and 1980, making 501 appearances in first-class cricket and 232 more in one day matches. He scored over 30,000 domestic runs in all, including 33 first class hundreds and a best of 195; and six one day centuries with a top score of 188 not out. He also took two wickets with his occasional bowling.

Match referee controversy

Main article: Mike Denness and Indian cricket team incident

In his capacity as an ICC match referee, Denness caused controversy after the Port Elizabeth Test between South Africa and the visiting Indians when he sanctioned six Indian players. At first, India refused to accept the sanctions and named the players for the following Test match. The International Cricket Council responded by stripping the game of Test match status. Soon after both the BCCI and ICC decided to establish a referee committee to verify Denness's conclusions. The match referee was heavily criticised for failing to explain his actions at a press conference, thus infuriating the Indian cricket establishment. The BCCI later decided to forget the incident on humanitarian grounds, after Denness underwent heart surgery.

In March 2002, Denness' role as a match referee came to an end, when the ICC failed to select him for their newly formed Elite Panel of Referees, although he had been put forward by the ECB as a candidate.

Statistical summary

Mike Denness' career performance graph.

External links

• Player profile: Mike Denness from ESPNcricinfo

Sporting positions
Preceded by Ray Illingworth	English national cricket captain 1973/4–1974/5	Succeeded by Tony Greig
Preceded by Colin Cowdrey	Kent County Cricket Club captain 1972–1976	Succeeded by Asif Iqbal
Preceded by Ray Illingworth	England ODI Captain 1973–1975	Succeeded by John Edrich