Norman Gordon

Norman Gordon

Personal information
Full name	Norman Gordon
Born	6 August 1911 Boksburg, Transvaal, South Africa
Died	2 September 2014 (aged 103)
Batting style	Right-handed batsman
Bowling style	Right-arm fast
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	South Africa
Test debut (cap 151)	24 December 1938 v England
Last Test	14 March 1939 v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1933–48	Transvaal
Career statistics
Competition Test First-class Matches 5 29 Runs scored 8 109 Batting average 2.00 5.19 100s/50s –/– –/– Top score 7* 20 Balls bowled 1966 7173 Wickets 20 126 Bowling average 40.35 22.24 5 wickets in innings 2 8 10 wickets in match – – Best bowling 5/103 6/61 Catches/stumpings 1/– 8/–
Source: CricketArchive, 22 August 2009

Norman Gordon (6 August 1911 – 2 September 2014) was a South African cricketer who played in five Tests in the 1938–39 South African cricket season.

He was born in Boksburg, Transvaal. He is the only male Test cricketer to live beyond 100 years of age. Gordon became the oldest-ever Test cricketer on 23 March 2011, when he surpassed New Zealander Eric Tindill, who died on 1 August 2010, approximately four months before his 100th birthday.^[1]

Personal life

Gordon was Jewish, and was born in Boksburg, Transvaal.^[2][3][4]

Cricket career

Gordon played first-class cricket for Transvaal from 1933–34 as a right-handed fast bowler and a tail-end right-handed batsman.

He made his Test debut against England in December 1938, playing every Test of the five-match series. In the first Test, he took his best Test match figures of 7–162, including 5–103 in the first innings.^[5] He was stumped by Les Ames off the bowling of Tom Goddard for a first-ball duck in the drawn match. In the second match he took 5–157 in England's only innings, but was again stumped by Ames off the bowling of Goddard for 0 in another drawn match.

In the third match, Gordon took 2–127 in England's only innings and was out for 1 and 0, falling to Ken Farnes and Hedley Verity as England won by an innings and 13 runs. In the fourth match, he took 2–47 and 3–58 but did not bat in the drawn Test. In the final Test Gordon took match figures of 1–256 and was not out in each innings, scoring 0 and 7. This match was the famous Timeless Test, which took 10 days and was eventually declared a draw by agreement between the teams. It was Gordon's final Test match.

He took his best innings figures of 6–61, followed by 3–86 in the second innings, for Transvaal against Natal at Johannesburg in 1939–40.^[6] He continued playing for Transvaal until the 1948–49 season.

Later life

Gordon ran a sports shop in central Johannesburg.^[7] He was the last living male to have played Test cricket before World War II. He turned 100 in August 2011 and lived in central Johannesburg.^[8]

See also

• List of select Jewish cricketers
• List of oldest Test cricketers
• List of centenarians in sport
• List of South Africa Test cricketers who have taken five wickets on debut

References

1. "Records - Test matches - Individual records (captains, players, umpires) - Oldest living players - ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo.
2. "Wait ’til next year!". New Jersey Jewish News - NJJN.
3. "Legendary South African Jewish Athlete Dies at 103". The Jewish Daily Forward. 2 September 2014.
4. "Norman Gordon".
5. "1st Test: South Africa v England at Johannesburg, Dec 24–28, 1938". espncricinfo. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
6. "The Home of CricketArchive".
7. Rodney Hartman, Ali: The Life of Ali Bacher, Penguin, Johannesburg, 2006, p. 20.
8. "Norman Gordon: First Test cricketer to see a 100 years". NDTV.com. 6 August 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2011.

External links

• Norman Gordon at CricketArchive
• Norman Gordon at Cricinfo