On the 5 June, 1952, ‘Fiery’ Fred Trueman made his Test Cricket debut against India at Headingley, Leeds, which England won by 7 wickets. Trueman bowled a total of 35 overs, including 7 maidens, and took 7 wickets in all, at a cost of 116 runs.
Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest bowlers in cricket history, Trueman was the first bowler to take 300 wickets in a Test career. Together with Brian Statham, he opened the England bowling for many years, and formed one of Test cricket’s most famous bowling partnerships.
Even so, Trueman was omitted from numerous England teams because he was frequently in conflict with the cricket establishment, which he perceived as being ‘snobbish’ and ‘hypocritical’.
He made his first-class debut for Yorkshire in May 1949, in the three-day match against Cambridge which Yorkshire won by 9 wickets. Mistakenly described by Wisden as a spin-bowler, he opened the bowling in both innings with Brian Close, and collected a total of 3 wickets at a cost of 94 runs.
He was awarded his Yorkshire County Cap in 1951, and in 1952 was elected ‘Young Cricketer of the Year’ by the Cricket Writers’ Club. An outstanding fielder, especially at leg slip, Fred was a useful late order batsman, collecting three first-class centuries in his career.
Trueman appeared in 603 first-class matches, scoring 9,231 runs, his top score being 104. He bowled a total of 99,701 balls and took 2,304 wickets, his best performance being 8 for 28.
(Photo by Edward Wing/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Fred also played in 67 Test matches for England, his last appearance coming in June 1965 against New Zealand. He knocked up 981 runs, his highest score being 39 not out, and bowled 15,178 balls, collecting 307 wickets, his best figures being 8 for 31
After he retired from playing, he became a media personality, working mainly on Test Match Special for the BBC. In 1989, he was awarded the OBE for services to cricket.
Frederick Sewards Trueman, OBE, (1931-2006) was born in Stainton, near Maltby, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, weighing in at 14 lb 1 oz. Shortly before his death aged 75 in Steeton with Eastburn, West Yorkshire in 2006, Trueman is said to have discovered his grandmother was Jewish, which claimed, according to Jewish law made him Jewish. Typically, it is maintained Freddie joked, he was ‘happy with that, but would not give up bacon sandwiches’ !
5 June, 2019