Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Mervyn John Kitchen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Nailsea, Somerset, England | 1 August 1940|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Batting | Left-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bowling | Right-arm medium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Role | Batsman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1960–1979 | Somerset | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FC debut | 28 May 1960 Somerset v Middlesex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last FC | 23 June 1979 Somerset v Cambridge University | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LA debut | 22 May 1963 Somerset v Glamorgan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last LA | 17 June 1979 Somerset v Essex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Umpiring information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tests umpired | 20 (1990–2000) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ODIs umpired | 28 (1983–2001) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:CricketArchive,10 October 2009 |
Mervyn John Kitchen (born 1 August 1940),is a former English first-class cricketer and international umpire. [1] In his playing days he was a left-handed batsman for Somerset County Cricket Club,making 15,230 runs in his 354 first-class games between 1960 and 1979. He topped the Somerset averages in 1966 and 1968. After retiring as a player,he went on to become a first-class cricket umpire. He umpired in 20 Test matches and 28 One-Day Internationals before retiring from that at the age of 65 in 2005.
Kitchen was born in Nailsea,Somerset where his father played local club cricket. [2] He was educated locally at Backwell Secondary Modern School. He joined the playing staff at Somerset County Cricket Club as a 16-year-old in 1957 and appeared in the next three seasons for the county's second eleven in Minor Counties matches and,from 1959,in games in the newly constituted Second Eleven Championship. [3] [4]
He made his debut for the Somerset first eleven in 1960 as a middle-order batsman,but made little impact in that or the next season,and in 1962 and 1963,although he played in around half of Somerset's first-class matches,his batting average was below 20 and his place was often dependent on injuries to other players. At this stage in his career,he was primarily a defensive batsman "which suited neither his temperament,for he was not a selfish man,nor his technique",according to one history of Somerset cricket. [5] He played in most of Somerset's matches in the 1964 season and finally averaged more than 20 runs per innings,but returned to inconsistent performances and an uncertain place in the team in 1965. [6]
At the end of the 1965 season,Peter Wight,who had been a fixture in the Somerset side since 1955,batting at No 3,but whose form had declined markedly in the previous three seasons,was not re-engaged for the following year. The resulting vacancy in the Somerset batting line-up in 1966 was filled by Kitchen and he responded with his most successful season,finishing top of the county's batting averages with 1422 runs in all first-class matches. [6] The batting style had changed as well,and Kitchen was a much more attacking player than he had been,exemplified by an innings in July in a non-first-class match against the International Cavaliers team at Bath,where he won the match by hitting both of the last two balls of a 38-over match from the South African Test bowler Neil Adcock for six. [7] After this innings,Kitchen became a much more confident batsman and in the space of just over a week at the end of the season he made his first two first-class centuries and was awarded his county cap:"Until then in 142 innings he had not scored a century and had averaged under 20," says the history of Somerset cricket. [5]
Michael Burns is an English first-class list cricket umpire and former first-class cricketer who played county cricket for Warwickshire and Somerset in a first-class career which spanned from 1992 until 2005. He also played Minor Counties cricket for Cumberland and Cornwall. An adaptable cricketer,he appeared for Cumberland and Warwickshire as a wicket-keeper,but when he moved to Somerset he developed into an aggressive batsman who bowled at medium-pace when needed.
Graham Malcolm Tripp,was a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Somerset in the 1950s. He was born at Clevedon in Somerset in 1932.
Terence Ian Barwell is a South African-born former cricketer who played first-class and List A cricket for Somerset over a 10-season period from 1959 to 1968. He later represented Wiltshire in the Minor Counties and played List A cricket for both Wiltshire and for Minor Counties representative sides. He became a schoolteacher.
Frederick Castle was a schoolmaster in Bath,Somerset,who played first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club in the school holidays for the four summers immediately after the Second World War.
John Lawrence was a diminutive Yorkshire-born cricketing all-rounder whose middle or lower order batting and leg-break and googly bowling were of great importance to Somerset in the 10 cricket seasons immediately after the Second World War.
Harry Chidgey was a first-class cricketer who played for Somerset as a wicketkeeper between 1900 and 1921,and a Test match umpire. He was born and died at Flax Bourton,Somerset.
Brian Roe was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Somerset between 1957 and 1966.
Arthur Frank Irish was a British cricketer who played first-class cricket for Somerset for one season and Minor Counties cricket for Devon for many years.
James Geoffrey Lomax played first-class cricket as a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler for Lancashire and Somerset between 1949 and 1962. He was born at Rochdale,then in Lancashire,and died at Frenchay Hospital,near Bristol.
Paul Andrew Clayden Bail was a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Somerset and for Cambridge University.
John Lyon was a first-class cricketer who played for Lancashire between 1973 and 1979.
Geoffrey Harold Hall was an English cricketer. He was born in Colne,Lancashire. During his career,he played for Somerset County Cricket Club,and made a total of 48 first-class appearances for the county.
Geoffrey Clayton was an English professional first-class and List A cricketer for Lancashire and Somerset between 1959 and 1967. He was a lower-order batsman and a wicketkeeper.
Frederick Marshall Lee played first-class cricket for Kent and Somerset County Cricket Clubs between 1895 and 1907. He was born in Kensington in London and died at Wonford near Exeter in Devon.
Albert Edward Mark Whittle was a first-class cricketer who played for Warwickshire and Somerset. He was born in Bristol and died at Charminster,Dorset. Whittle was a useful right-handed batsman the bulk of whose cricket career was spent batting low in the order;he was also a right-arm medium-paced bowler.
Julian George Wyatt is a former cricketer who played first-class and List A cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club between 1983 and 1989. Wyatt was born in 1963 at Paulton,Somerset and educated at Wells Cathedral School.
Gary Vincent Palmer played first-class and List A cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club from 1982 to 1989. He also played for the England Young Cricketers side in both under-19 Test and One-day International matches. He was born at Taunton,Somerset and is the son of the former Somerset and England Test cricketer Ken Palmer.
Mervyn Llewellyn Hill was a Welsh first-class cricket wicketkeeper and batsman for Somerset between 1921 and 1932,and also appeared in matches for Glamorgan and Cambridge University. He was also a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) team that toured India in 1926–27 and helped lay the foundation for India's entry into Test cricket.
Michael Edward Latham played first-class cricket for Somerset in 1961 and 1962. He also played for Northumberland for many years in the Minor Counties and appeared for them in one List A match in 1971. He was born in Birmingham.
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