Fred Trueman

Fred Trueman

OBE

Statue of Trueman in Skipton by Graham Ibbeson
Personal information
Full name	Frederick Sewards Trueman
Born	(1931-02-06)6 February 1931 Scotch Springs, Stainton, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died	1 July 2006(2006-07-01) (aged 75) Steeton with Eastburn, West Yorkshire, England
Nickname	Fiery Fred
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm fast
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 369)	5 June 1952 v India
Last Test	17 June 1965 v New Zealand
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1949–1968	Yorkshire
1972	Derbyshire
Career statistics
Competition Test FC LA Matches 67 603 18 Runs scored 981 9,231 156 Batting average 13.81 15.56 13.00 100s/50s 0/0 3/26 0/0 Top score 39* 104 28 Balls bowled 15,178 99,701 986 Wickets 307 2,304 28 Bowling average 21.57 18.29 18.10 5 wickets in innings 17 126 1 10 wickets in match 3 25 0 Best bowling 8/31 8/28 6/15 Catches/stumpings 64/– 439/– 5/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 18 March 2018

Frederick Sewards Trueman, OBE (6 February 1931 – 1 July 2006) was an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club and the England cricket team. He had professional status and later became an author and broadcaster.

Acknowledged as one of the greatest bowlers in cricket's history, Trueman deployed a genuinely fast pace and was widely known as "Fiery Fred". He was the first bowler to take 300 wickets in a Test career.^[1] Together with Brian Statham, he opened the England bowling for many years and they formed one of the most famous bowling partnerships in Test cricket history. Trueman was an outstanding fielder, especially at leg slip, and a useful late order batsman who made three first-class centuries. He was awarded his Yorkshire county cap in 1951 and in 1952 was elected "Young Cricketer of the Year" by the Cricket Writers' Club. For his performances in the 1952 season, he was named one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in the 1953 edition of Wisden Cricketers' Almanack.

His talent, skill and public profile were such that British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, himself from Yorkshire, jokingly described him as the "greatest living Yorkshireman". Even so, Trueman was omitted from numerous England teams because he was frequently in conflict with the cricket establishment, which he often criticised for its perceived "snobbishness" and hypocrisy. After he retired from playing, he became a media personality through his work in television and as an outspoken radio commentator for the BBC, mainly working on Test Match Special. He was awarded the OBE in the 1989 Birthday Honours for services to cricket. In 2009, Trueman was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.^[2]

On the occasion of England's 1000th Test in August 2018, he was named in the country's greatest Test XI by the ECB.^[3]