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Brian Davison (cricketer)

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Brian Davison
Personal information
Full name
Brian Fettes Davison
Born (1946-12-21) 21 December 1946 (age 77)
Bulawayo, Matabeleland, Southern Rhodesia
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm medium/Off break
RoleBatsman
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1967-68–1979-80Rhodesia
1970–1980Leicestershire
1981–1987Gloucestershire
1979-80–1987-88Tasmania
Career statistics
Competition FC List A
Matches 467 334
Runs scored 27,453 8,343
Batting average 39.96 31.24
100s/50s 53/148 7/46
Top score 189 158*
Balls bowled 1,802
Wickets 82 54
Bowling average 32.78 25.22
5 wickets in innings 1 0
10 wickets in match 0 n/a
Best bowling 5/52 4/29
Catches/stumpings 338/– 80/–
Source: Cricinfo.com, 4 December 2008

Brian Fettes Davison (born 21 December 1946) is a former cricketer who played 467 first-class matches for Rhodesia, Gloucestershire, Leicestershire and Tasmania, and former member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly.

Described as "an aggressive, fast-scoring right-handed batsman",[1] Davison was also a useful right-arm medium-pace bowler and an outstanding fielder who captained Rhodesia in 25 matches.

Early life

Born in Bulawayo in what was then Rhodesia, Davison attended Gifford Technical High School in Bulawayo, where his sporting skills were first evident (he also represented Rhodesia in field hockey). Davison made his first-class debut for Rhodesia on 25 November 1967, against Natal B in Salisbury, scoring 47. Davison soon attracted the attention of English county club Northamptonshire, playing for their Second XI in 1969 before switching to rival club Leicestershire in 1970.

First-class cricket career

Through the 1970s, Davison played for Leicestershire and Rhodesia, serving as captain of both, won the 1971 Walter Lawrence Trophy for a 63-minute century, named the South African Cricket Annual Cricketer of the Year in 1973 and led Rhodesia to their first major South African trophy, scoring an unbeaten 102 at the 1977/78 Datsun Shield final. With Leicestershire, Davison won the County Championship in 1975, the John Player League twice and the Benson & Hedges Cup twice.

Davison was enticed to captain Tasmania in 1979/80 and transferred from Leicestershire to rival county side Gloucestershire for the 1985 season. His leadership of a Tasmania newly inducted into the Sheffield Shield proved crucial to an inexperienced side and he continued to alternate between Leicestershire and Tasmania until his retirement from first-class cricket at the conclusion of the 1987/88 Australian domestic season.

By his retirement, Davison had scored 27453 first-class runs, with 53 centuries, which remained the most by any Rhodesian or Zimbabwean until surpassed by Graeme Hick.[1] 37 of those were for Leicestershire; the second most by any Leicestershire player,[2] while his 18537 runs for Leicestershire puts him ninth of their all-time highest runscorer list.[3]

Davison was also a successful one day player, making 8343 List A runs, including 6744 for Leicestershire (bettered by only four other Leicestershire players).[4] This included an unbeaten 158 in 1972, which remained the highest List A score for the county until 1996, and at the time the highest score for any one day competition in the world.[5]

Later life

Following his retirement from cricket, Davison remained in Tasmania and was elected as a Liberal representative to the Tasmanian House of Assembly Division of Franklin in 1990, where he served until his defeat at the 1996 election.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Martin-Jenkins, Christopher (1996). World Cricketers: A Biographical Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-210005-X.
  2. ^ "Most Hundreds for Leicestershire". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  3. ^ "Most Career Runs for Leicestershire". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  4. ^ "Most Career Runs for Leicestershire". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  5. ^ "Highest List A Innings for Leicestershire". Cricket Archive. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  6. ^ "The Parliament of Tasmania from 1856". Tasmania Members Biographical Database, Tasmanian Parliamentary Library. Retrieved 8 July 2007.
Sporting positions
Preceded by Tasmanian First-class cricket captains
1979/80–87/88 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Tasmanian One-day cricket captains
1979/80–87/88 		Succeeded by
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