| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Tony Charles Middleton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 1 February 1964 Winchester, Hampshire, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Slow left-arm orthodox | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Fletcha Middleton (son) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984–1995 | Hampshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source:Cricinfo,3 July 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tony Charles Middleton (born 1 February 1964) is an English cricket coach and a former first-class cricketer. Middleton played for Hampshire from 1984 to 1995,making over 160 appearances across first-class and one-day cricket. Following his retirement in 1995,he has held a variety of coaching roles at Hampshire and as 2025 is the club's batting coach.
Middleton was born at Winchester in February 1964. Having been a member of the Hampshire Second XI since 1982, [1] he made his debut for Hampshire in a first-class match against Kent at Bournemouth in the 1984 County Championship. He would have to wait two years before his appearance for the first team,when he made eight appearances in a late season run in the 1986 County Championship,before just an appearance each in 1987 and 1988,against Sussex and the touring Sri Lankans respectively. [2] During his early years with Hampshire,Middleton found his opportunities limited by Hampshire possessing arguably the strongest batting line-up in their history,consisting of international batsmen David Gower,Gordon Greenidge,Trevor Jesty,Paul Terry,and the Smith brothers Robin and Chris. [1]
The 1989 season saw make his debut in List A one-day cricket against Worcestershire at Bournemouth in the Refuge Assurance League, [3] alongside six appearances in the County Championship. [2] With several Hampshire players on international duty during the 1990 season,Middleton had his breakthrough season in the Hampshire side, [1] making eighteen first-class appearances. [2] In these,he scored 1,238 runs at an average of 47.61,with five centuries and a highest score of 127. [4] He played the same amount of first-class matches the following season,though his returns were more modest with 864 runs at an average of 29.79. [4] Middleton played in two winning one-day finals in the 1991 NatWest Trophy and the 1992 Benson &Hedges Cup, [3] joint top-scoring (78) with Robin Smith in the former. [5] Middleton scored 1,780 runs at an average of nearly 50 in first-class cricket during the 1992 season,making six centuries during the season. [4] Amongst these was his career high-score of 221 against Surrey at Southampton,in which he shared in an opening-wicket stand of 267 alongside Paul Terry,which remains a Hampshire record for the first wicket against Surrey. [6] His form in 1992 led to him being named The Cricket Society's Player of the Year and selection for that winter's England A tour to Australia. [7]
He did not meet with success on the tour and his form in the proceeding seasons dropped. [1] He made twelve and thirteen first-class appearances in the 1993 and 1994 seasons respectively,scoring over 500 runs and averaging in the mid-twenties in both. [4] In his final season in 1995,he featured in just two first-class matches,against Warwickshire in the County Championship,and the touring West Indians. [2] In total,Middleton made 105 first-class appearances for Hampshire,scoring 5,665 runs at an average of 34.75;he made thirteen centuries and 24 half centuries. [8] In one-day cricket,he made 61 appearances,scoring 2,139 runs at an average of 39.61;though he did not make a century in one-day cricket,he did make twenty half centuries,with a highest score of 98. [9]
Middleton retired during the 1995 season to take up a coaching role at Hampshire. [1] He was placed in charge of the Hampshire Academy upon its foundation in September 1998, [10] and was concurrently its Cricket Development Officer. He held this role until he was appointed coach of the Hampshire Second XI in December 1999,with Mark Garaway replacing him. [11] Alongside these roles,he played at club level for the Hampshire Academy,captaining them to promotion to the top division of the Southern Premier League. [12] He also briefly played for the Hampshire Cricket Board in the MCCA Knockout Trophy in 1998,playing once against Buckinghamshire. [13]
In January 2003,the England and Wales Cricket Board awarded Hampshire official academy status,with Middleton being appointed the academy's first director. [14] His tenure as director lasted until January 2012,when he was elevated to work with the first team and was replaced as director by Bobby Parks. [15] He is currently Hampshire's batting coach. Amongst the cricketers he has coached at Hampshire include his son,Fletcha,who is a current Hampshire player. [16]