Thomas Mitchell (Kent cricketer)

Thomas Frank Mitchell (22 October 1907 – 20 May 1960) was an English cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club between 1928 and 1934.

Thomas Mitchell
Personal information
Full name
Thomas Frank Mitchell
Born(1907-10-22)22 October 1907
Johannesburg, Transvaal, South Africa
Died20 May 1960(1960-05-20) (aged 52)
St John's Wood, London, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm offbreak
RelationsFrank Mitchell (father)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1928–1934Kent
FC debut9 June 1928 Kent v Sussex
Last FC16 June 1934 Kent v Warwickshire
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 31
Runs scored 711
Batting average 15.12
100s/50s 0/2
Top score 64
Balls bowled 444
Wickets 2
Bowling average 123.50
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 1/48
Catches/stumpings 15/–
Source: CricInfo, 21 December 2018

Early life

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Mitchell was born at Johannesburg in South Africa,[1] the son of Frank Mitchell who had played Test cricket for both England and South Africa.[2] He was educated at Tonbridge School in Kent, being described in 1922 as a very young batsman of "distinguished cricketing stock".[3] As a schoolboy he was described as having a "steadiness" when batting[4] and a "pretty good" batsman who watched the ball well[5] who bowled "quite well enough" to be considered an allrounder.[6]

Cricket

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He played for Lord's schools against The Rest and the Public Schools against the Army in both 1924 and 1925 and captained Tonbridge in 1925, his final year at school.[7][8] He first played for Kent's Second XI the same year and scored a century for the side in 1927 before making his Kent First XI debut in June 1928 in a match against Sussex at Tunbridge Wells. He went on to play 24 times for the county as an amateur, usually appearing in May and June. He made one half-century for Kent, scoring 64 runs against Northants in 1930, and played occasional matches for the Second XI. He played his final First XI match in 1934.[7]

Mitchell also played six times for MCC and once for HDG Leveson Gower's XI in first-class matches and played club cricket for Blackheath, Old Tonbridgians and Band of Brothers.[2][7] He also played rugby union for Kent.[7]

Professional and later life

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Professionally Mitchell worked as a broker at Lloyd's of London. During the Second World War he served in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, ending the war as a Squadron Leader, although he did not learn to fly until after the war. Mitchell married Joan Hall in 1925 and died at St John's Wood in London in 1960 aged 52.[7][1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Thomas Mitchell, CricInfo. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
  2. ^ a b Thomas Mitchell, CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
  3. ^ Altham HS (1923) Public School Cricket in 1922, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1923, p.337. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
  4. ^ Altham HS (1924) Public School Cricket in 1923, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1924, p.305. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
  5. ^ Altham (1924) p.315
  6. ^ Altham HS (1925) Public School Cricket in 1922, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1925, p.299. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
  7. ^ a b c d e Carlaw D (2020) Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part Two: 1919–1939, pp.126–127. (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-11-29.)
  8. ^ Altham (1925) p.314
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Thomas Mitchell at ESPNcricinfo