Tom Richardson

Tom Richardson (born August 11, 1870, Byfleet, Surrey; died July 2, 1912, Chambéry, France) was one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and certainly the most prolific in terms of wicket-taking feats, largely owing to his amazing stamina and appetite for work, which allowed him to gain remarkable success under conditions that were far too much for almost all other bowlers of his time.

Decline

Naturally, Richardson was chosen to tour Australia in 1897/1898, but this is where his great years ended. Though he always seemed fit and lithe, the reality is that Richardson was always a heavy drinker and around this time, apparently, the habit got out of hand and his weight began increasing, thus reducing his amazing speed and stamina. He produced one magnificent performance on the disappointing 1897/1898 tour, but as soon as he returned to England, his decline was plain for all to see.

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Indeed, in the first two months of the season Richardson accomplished almost no performance of note, and even when he improved from the beginning of July onwards, Surrey could no longer rely on him to bowl over after over after over on the extremely true Oval pitches: his body could no longer carry the amazing workload of previous years. Only in a few games late in the season at the Oval, against Yorkshire (when Surrey inflicted that county's biggest defeat on record on a near-perfect pitch) and Warwickshire (when he took a career-best 15 for 83 on a pitch offering no help), did he appear anything like as potent as the bowler of 1897. His haul of wickets in the County Championship fell from 237 to 126 and their cost from about 14 to over 21.

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