Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Alan Philip Eric Knott | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Belvedere, Kent | 9 April 1946|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname | Knotty, Flea | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling | Right arm off spin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | Wicket-keeper-batsman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Relations | James Knott (son) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Test debut(cap 437) | 10 August 1967 v Pakistan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last Test | 1 September 1981 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ODI debut(cap 8) | 5 January 1971 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last ODI | 6 June 1977 v Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1964–1985 | Kent | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1969/70 | Tasmania | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:Cricinfo,14 November 2007 |
Alan Philip Eric Knott MBE (born 9 April 1946) is a former cricketer who represented England at international level in both Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODI). Knott is widely regarded as one of the most eccentric characters in cricket and as one of the greatest wicket-keepers ever to play the game. He was described by cricket journalist Simon Wilde as "a natural gloveman,beautifully economical in his movements and armed with tremendous powers of concentration". [1]
On the occasion of England's 1000th Test in August 2018 he was named in the country's greatest Test XI by the England and Wales Cricket Board. [2]
Born in Belvedere,Kent,Knott was educated at Belmont Primary School and Northumberland Heath Secondary Modern School. Encouraged by his father,he made his Kent debut in 1964 at the age of 18,joining the list of well-known Kent wicket-keepers.
A servant for Kent for over twenty years,helping them to a number of successes such as in the Benson and Hedges Cup in 1973 and 1976,in the Gillette Cup in 1974 (where he was man of the match in the final), [3] and to a share of the 1977 County Championship,Knott scored over 18000 first-class runs and made 1344 first-class wicketkeepting dismissals,placing him fourth on the all-time list (behind only Bob Taylor,John Murray and Bert Strudwick).
He gained his first Test cap at the age of 21,having been named Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year in 1965. He made his Test debut against Pakistan in 1967. Batting at number 8,he made a duck in his first Test,at Trent Bridge,but didn't concede a single bye in the match. He made 28 in the second match but didn't make the starting eleven for the 1967–68 tour of the West Indies,as Jim Parks was initially preferred. However,for the fourth and fifth matches of the series he was picked again. In the first of those he made his first Test half-century,a score of 69 not out,and he once again excelled at wicket-keeping. [4]
In the fifth Test at Bourda in Georgetown,Knott produced what he regarded as the innings of his career. [5] On the last day,with England needing only to draw the match in order to win the series,off-spinner Lance Gibbs took three quick wickets to have England teetering at 41 for 5 when Knott joined his captain Colin Cowdrey at the crease. The two of them combined for a 127-run stand and when Cowdrey was dismissed for 82,there was still over an hour for the West Indies to claim the four remaining wickets. [6] By the final over,Knott was still in,but with him was the number 11 batsman Jeff Jones. Amidst the tension - which was too much for Cowdrey and Tom Graveney,who had gone and locked themselves in the toilets - Knott stayed calm and guided Jones through the final over to obtain the draw. [5]
In the winter of 1968/69,again against Pakistan,Knott confirmed his position as England's premier wicketkeeper-batsman. He made two 50s in the series,including 96 not out at Karachi when the match was prematurely ended by a pitch invasion by Pakistani fans,denying him a well-deserved hundred. [7] [8] [9]
In 1970 Knott was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year. [10] County captain Colin Cowdrey said:
I think he is the most gifted and dedicated cricketer one could ever wish to play with,never satisfied with his performance and always seeking for a little more perfection. [11]
In the 1970–71 series in Australia he was instrumental in England regaining the Ashes,taking five catches and stumping Doug Walters in the decisive Seventh Test in Sydney. [12] In the following series against New Zealand he finally made his maiden Test century,110 at Auckland,having missed the first match of the series,so that Bob Taylor could take the gloves as a reward for patience as reserve keeper on the four-month combined tour. Knott did not miss a Test until 1977,making a sum of five centuries and twenty-eight 50s in that time.
Knott was with England when they lost the Ashes in 1974–5,but achieved a landmark in the fifth Test at Adelaide, Wisden reporting that Knott's 106 not out was "only the second hundred by a wicket-keeper in the 219 Tests between England and Australia. Kent and England also claimed the first one in 1934 when L.E.G. Ames scored 120 at Lord's", [13] and Knott would also make the fourth at Nottingham in 1977 (Rod Marsh making one in the intervening period in the Centenary Test of 1977).
He has the distinction of once scoring 7 runs from a single delivery in Test cricket,off Vanburn Holder in the Fourth England v West Indies Test at Headingley in 1976. Knott took a quick single to extra-cover where Bernard Julien fielded and overthrew the wicket-keeper. Knott and Tony Greig ran two overthrows before Andy Roberts,fielding at square-leg,retrieved the ball and threw it past the stumps at the bowler's end and over the long-off boundary for four more runs.
Knott helped England regain the Ashes in England in 1977. His highest score of 135 came in the third test of this series,helping to turn the tide in a struggling England innings. This remains as of 2022 the highest score by an England wicket-keeper in the Ashes. [14] Previously however he had been persuaded by England colleague Tony Greig to join Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. This effectively put his England career on hold as the 'Packer players' were banned from Test cricket. When he returned to Tests after the end of World Series Cricket in 1980,he had very little success against a mighty West Indian side,averaging 5.14 in the series. He did not play in the tour of the West Indies that immediately followed,but was picked for the final two Tests of the famous 1981 Ashes series. Fittingly for one of England's greatest players,he ended his last Test against Australia at The Oval,with a score of 70 not out and an England series win,the fourth time he had ended a series on the side that won or retained the Ashes.
Knott played for England in 20 one-day internationals,including the first one-day international of all and all of their matches in the first Cricket World Cup. He captained England in one one-day international in 1976 against the West Indies,incidentally the match in which Ian Botham made his international debut,and Graham Gooch his one-day international debut. [15]
Knott's England career came to an end when he chose to take part in the first rebel tour to South Africa in 1981-82,in defiance of the sporting ban against the apartheid state. For this he and the other rebels were banned from international cricket for three years. [16] However,when the ban had expired,during the 1985 County Championship season,there were still some media commentators suggesting a recall to the Test team.
After 22 seasons with Kent Knott announced his retirement from cricket at the end of that season aged 39. He was still regarded as one of the finest wicketkeepers in the country,and his reasons for retirement included concern over an ankle injury as well as concentrating on his sports shop in Herne Bay,Kent,and gymnasium business. [17] [18]
Knott was known for his idiosyncratic behaviour on the field. His trademarks included always keeping his shirt collar turned up to protect him from the sun;his sleeves rolled down to safeguard his elbows when diving;and,after a tip from former Northamptonshire and England wicket-keeper Keith Andrew,warming his hands with hot water before going onto the field. According to Bob Taylor,Knott preferred strong-backed gloves with full webbing and plenty of padding in the palms,wearing two pairs of chamois inners with strips of plasticine across the palms. [19]
After retiring from playing Knott was employed by the England management as a part-time wicketkeeping coach and assessor of Test cricketers. He would have taken up a specialist wicketkeeping coaching position but it never materialized. In the early 2000s he and his wife moved to Paphos,Cyprus. [20]
In the October 2004 edition of The Wisden Cricketer magazine he was voted as the wicketkeeper in "England's Greatest post-war XI",receiving votes from 20 of the 25 panellists.
In an article written in 2008 The Daily Telegraph journalist Michael Henderson,comparing Knott with Adam Gilchrist,called Knott the greatest wicketkeeper-batsman,without argument,as opposed to Gilchrist,whom he called a batsman-wicketkeeper. [21]
On 6 September 2009 Alan Knott was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame, [22] and in 2013 he was named in Wisden's all-time Test World XI. [23]
His son James has also played first-class cricket for Surrey and Minor counties cricket for Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. [24]
Knott was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to cricket. [25]
Michael Colin Cowdrey, Baron Cowdrey of Tonbridge, was an English cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club from 1950 to 1976, and in 114 Test matches for England from 1954 to 1975. He was born in Ootacamund, Madras Presidency, British India and died in Littlehampton, West Sussex.
Andrew Flower is a Zimbabwean cricket coach and a former cricketer. As a cricketer, he captained the Zimbabwe national cricket team and is widely regarded as the greatest Zimbabwean cricketer ever and one of the greatest wicket-keeper-batters of all time. He was Zimbabwe's wicket-keeper for more than 10 years and is, statistically, the greatest batsman the country has produced. His highest score in ODI cricket which was his 145 he made against India in the 2002 ICC Champions Trophy is also the highest score made by a Zimbabwe player at any tournaments. During his peak from October to December 2001, Flower was ranked as the best Test batsman in the world. He was widely acknowledged as the only Zimbabwe batsman of proper test quality in any conditions. After retirement, he served as the coach of the English cricket team from 2009 to 2014. Under his coaching, England won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20. Flower became the second foreign coach in the team's history. Currently, he is the head coach of Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League, St Lucia Kings in the Caribbean Premier League, Trent Rockets in The Hundred and Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.
Leslie Ethelbert George Ames was a wicket-keeper and batsman for the England cricket team and Kent County Cricket Club. In his obituary, Wisden described him as the greatest wicket-keeper-batsman of all time. He is the only wicket-keeper-batsman to score a hundred first-class centuries.
Alec James Stewart is an English former cricketer, and former captain of the England cricket team, who played Test cricket and One Day Internationals as a right-handed wicket-keeper-batsman. He is the fifth-most-capped English cricketer ever in Test matches and third-most-capped in One Day Internationals (ODIs), having played in 133 Tests and 170 ODIs. An attacking batsman in tests against the new ball, Stewart is regarded as one of England's greatest openers. Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram considers him one of the most difficult batsmen he ever bowled to. He was a part of the English squad which finished as runners-up at the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
Geraint Owen Jones is a former cricketer who played for both England and Papua New Guinea. Born to Welsh parents in Papua New Guinea, Jones was the first-choice wicketkeeper for the England cricket team between 2004 and 2006. He later played international cricket for Papua New Guinea from 2012 to 2014. He announced his retirement from first-class cricket in July 2015 following his resignation as the first-class cricket captain of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club.
Devon Eugene Malcolm is a Jamaican-born English former cricketer. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Malcolm played in 40 Test matches and 10 One Day Internationals for the England cricket team.
Rodney William Marsh was an Australian professional cricketer who played as a wicketkeeper for the Australian national team. He was a part of the Australian squad which finished as runners-up at the 1975 Cricket World Cup.
Robert Charles "Jack" Russell is an English retired international cricketer, now known for his abilities as an artist, as a cricket wicketkeeping coach, and a football goalkeeping coach.
Thomas Godfrey Evans was an English cricketer who played for Kent and England. Described by Wisden as 'arguably the best wicket-keeper the game has ever seen', Evans collected 219 dismissals in 91 Test match appearances between 1946 and 1959 and a total of 1066 in all first-class matches. En route he was the first wicket keeper to reach 200 Test dismissals and the first Englishman to reach both 1000 runs and 100 dismissals and 2000 runs and 200 dismissals in Test cricket. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1951.
Robert William Taylor MBE is an English former cricketer who played as wicket-keeper for Derbyshire between 1961 and 1984 and for England between 1971 and 1984. He made 57 Test, and 639 first-class cricket appearances in total, taking 1,473 catches. The 2,069 victims across his entire career is the most of any wicket-keeper in first-class history. He is considered one of the world's most accomplished wicket-keepers. He made his first-class debut for Minor Counties against South Africa in 1960, having made his Staffordshire debut in 1958. He became Derbyshire's first choice wicket-keeper when George Dawkes sustained a career-ending injury. His final First Class appearance was at the Scarborough Festival in 1988. He remained first choice until his retirement except for a short period in 1964 when Laurie Johnson was tried as a batsman-wicketkeeper. He was a part of the English squad which finished as runners-up at the 1979 Cricket World Cup.
Gladstone Cleophas Small is an English former cricketer, who played in 17 Test matches and 53 One Day Internationals (ODIs) for the England cricket team. He was a part of the English squads which finished as runners-up at the 1987 Cricket World Cup and as runners-up at the 1992 Cricket World Cup.
Stephen John Rixon is an Australian cricket coach and former international cricketer. He played in 13 Test matches and six One Day Internationals between 1977 and 1985. He has coached the New Zealand cricket team, New South Wales cricket team, Surrey County Cricket Club, Hyderabad Heroes and the Chennai Super Kings of the Indian Cricket League and was the fielding coach of the Australian national cricket team, Pakistan national cricket team and Sri Lanka national cricket team.
Denis Thomson Lindsay was a South African cricketer who played 19 Test matches for South Africa between 1963 and 1970. His outstanding series was against Australia in 1966–67, when he scored 606 runs in seven innings, including three centuries, took 24 catches as wicketkeeper and conceded only six byes.
James Michael Parks was an English cricketer. He played in forty-six Tests for England, between 1954 and 1968. In those Tests, Parks scored 1,962 runs with a personal best of 108 not out, and took 103 catches and made 11 stumpings.
Richard Mark Ellison is an English former cricketer who played in 11 Tests and 14 One Day Internationals (ODIs) from 1984 to 1986, playing a key role in the 1985 Ashes series. He was born in Willesborough in Kent.
Clifton James Richards is an English former first-class cricketer, who played in eight Tests and 22 ODIs for England from 1981 to 1988. He was a wicket-keeper and a useful lower-middle order batsman, who made 133 for England against Australia at the WACA, Perth in 1987.
David Nicholls, was an English cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club during the 1960s and 1970s. He was born at East Dereham in Norfolk and died at Dartford in Kent in 2008 aged 64.
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