Players that died young

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by Zainub Razvi

Gee this has made a bit sad, not that I wasn't already

Well Zainub, this is the Zainub type remark we have all come to like and respect, but you are right,it is a sad thread.

Originally Posted by Andy Mellon 41421

I'd forgotten about Wilf Slack. Interesting player as I (vaguely) recall.

Yep Andy I had hight hopes of him at one time, but it was evident that thigs with Wilf Slack were not right, I think he collapsed 4 times at the crease.

Originally Posted by Andy Mellon

Another one who died young that I know of as a fan of Essex is former England captain Johnny (JWHT) Douglas. He was an amateur boxing champion at the Olympics in 1908 as well as a stodgy bat and medium pace bowler. In fact, JWHT was the original Geoff Boycott in his batting style -

I thought when I started reading your post, boxer blood clot, but his death was unusual.

Originally Posted by Andy Mellon

The Cricinfo profile is quite an interesting read:

http://www.cricinfo.com/link_to_data...JWHT_01000334/

Thanks for the link Andy, fancy him being remembered from 75 years or so, an interesting piece of history there.

[Paoli]

Trevor Madondo died at 26, first black batsman to play for Zimbabwe...Needed his attitude to get into line but had the talent....He'd be knocking on the door in my books.

[Teatime FatCat]

Didn't Umer Rashid and is brother drown when they were on a pre-season tour with Sussex? - both good players by all accounts and a terrible waste.

I guess we can give thanks that all of these people, despite dying young, had an opportuntiy to play a sport that they loved for a living. However brief their time on this mortal coil, they must have been figures of pride for their families and friends and gave a lot of pleasure to their fans, so that's something positive to take from this thread.

[Zainub]

Originally Posted by Teatime FatCat

I guess we can give thanks that all of these people, despite dying young, had an opportuntiy to play a sport that they loved for a living. However brief their time on this mortal coil, they must have been figures of pride for their families and friends and gave a lot of pleasure to their fans, so that's something positive to take from this thread.

Beautiffuly put Teatime.

I'd like to suggest two names. Mohammad Nissar and his new ball partner Ladha Amar Singh.

Which Indian fast bowler has the best strike rate in Test matches? Kapil Dev? Javagal Srinath? Zaheer Khan? The answer is Mohammad Nissar, with a strike rate of a wicket every 48 balls, compared to the 60-odd balls per wicket of the others. This strike rate places him in the company of some of the greatest pure strike bowlers in the history of the game: men such as Frank Tyson, Malcolm Marshall and Waqar Younis. In fact Mohammad Nissar and his partner Ladha Amar Singh formed one of the most formidable pair of fast bowlers in the world at the dawn of Indian test cricket. It is one of the tragedies of Indian cricket that both were lost to the game rather early. Amar Singh died young, at the tender age of 29 from a bout of severe pneumonia, and Nissar too did not keep in the best of health and was not picked for any Tests after 1936. Upon Partition, Nissar moved to Lahore in Pakistan where he died prematurely, just barely past 50. More here

 Name:Mohammad Nissar
  Born: 1910-08-01 
  Died: 1963-03-11 
  Age: 52y 222d
  
  Career Statistics: TESTS
  (career)
                       M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave 100  50   Ct  St
 Batting & Fielding    6   11   3    55   14    6.87   0   0    2   0
 
                       O      M     R    W    Ave   BBI    5  10    SR  Econ
 Bowling             201.5   34   707   25  28.28  5-90    3   0  48.4  3.50
 
 FIRST-CLASS
  (career: 1928/29 - 1953/54)
                       M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave 100  50   Ct  St
 Batting & Fielding   93  136  34  1120   49   10.98   0   0   65   0
 
                     Balls    M     R    W    Ave   BBI    5  10    SR  Econ
 Bowling             15085  569  7010  396  17.70  6-17   32   3  38.0  2.78

 Name: Ladha Amar Singh Born: 1910-12-04 
 Died: 1940-05-21 
 Age: 29y 169d

 Career Statistics: TESTS
   (career)
                        M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave 100  50   Ct  St
  Batting & Fielding    7   14   1   292   51   22.46   0   1    3   0
  
                        O      M     R    W    Ave   BBI    5  10    SR  Econ
  Bowling             363.4   95   858   28  30.64  7-86    2   0  77.9  2.35
  
  FIRST-CLASS
   (career: 1931/32 - 1939/40)
                        M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave 100  50   Ct  St
  Batting & Fielding   92  150  12  3344  140*  24.23   5  18   77   0
  
                      Balls    M     R    W    Ave   BBI    5  10    SR  Econ
  Bowling             23689 1085  9286  506  18.35  8-23   42  14  46.8  2.35

[Ernest]

TESTS
 (including 26/12/2000)
                      M    I  NO  Runs   HS     Ave     SR 100  50   Ct  St
Batting & Fielding    3    4   1    90   74*  30.00  39.13   0   1    1   0

Very tragic this Paoli a very young age indeed, just at the start of his international career, aged 26.
Interesting he was the first black player for Zimbabwe