Compton, Denis Charles Scott

▪ 1998

      British cricketer (b. May 23, 1918, Hendon, Middlesex, Eng.—d. April 23, 1997, Windsor, Berkshire, Eng.), was one of the 20th century's most gifted and audacious batsmen, admired for his mastery of the sweeping stroke and his "cheeky schoolboy" spirit both on and off the field. In a first-class career that spanned almost three decades (1936-64), Compton scored 38,942 runs (average, 51.85) and 123 centuries, including 5,807 runs (avg. 50.06) and 17 centuries in 78 Test matches. Although he batted right-handed, as an occasionally devastating left-arm spin bowler he took 622 first-class wickets (avg. 32.27), including 25 in Tests. "Compo" made his first-class debut for Middlesex in 1936, and the next season he was selected for his first Test appearance, in which he scored a 65 against New Zealand. He played in international sports matches while serving in the military in India during World War II and returned home with a boyish enthusiasm that delighted war-weary English fans. In 1947, at the pinnacle of his career, he scored 3,816 runs (avg. 90.85) and 18 centuries, both single-season records that still stood at the time of his death. In 1948-49, playing for the Marylebone Cricket Club against North-Eastern Transvaal in South Africa, he scored 300 runs in 181 minutes, the fastest-ever triple-hundred in first-class cricket. An outstanding all-around athlete, he also played association football (soccer) for Arsenal from 1936 until 1950, when knee surgery ended his football career shortly after Arsenal won the FA Cup. Compton was cricket correspondent for the Sunday Express from 1950, a sports commentator for BBC television from 1958, and the author of numerous books. He made his last Test appearance in 1956 and was made C.B.E. in 1958. A celebrated series of postwar Brylcreem hair-dressing advertisements made the dashing Compton a familiar face, even outside sporting circles.

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