Denis Compton – Cricket’s Gay Cavalier

By A.C. De Silva

FLASHBACK: A cavalier of the willow, Dennis Charles Scott Compton, who also turned out to be a fine soccer player, son of a “good club player” made up his mind to be a professional cricketer when he was still a schoolboy of 13. He had just scored a century against a public schools side.

A 30-shilling a week job on the ground staff at Lord’s and a similar job at Arsenal’s Highbury Stadium planted the determined youngster on the very first rungs of a successful dual sports career.

At 18 he made the Middlesex first XI, oddly enough as a bowler. With Gubby Allen, he pushed the Middlesex score past their opponents total for victory. He didn’t keep that No. 11 spot for long. He slowly went up the batting order and at 19 hit his first county century against Northants.

In his first Test for England at the age of 19, he hit 65 off the New Zealand attack, and the following year at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, he scored his first Test century – against the Australians. He was established just as war came to interrupt a career which might well have set a new high for teenage cricketers.

Exuberance

With war behind him, Compton had lost none of his teenage style and exuberance for the game when in 1947 he broke two records by scoring 18 centuries and 3,816 runs. The previous season he had toured Australia and his famous “Chinaman” brought him 73 wickets.

And what better advice for an enthusiastic youngster than the words of the successful and himself enthusiastic teenager: practise; be level headed, concentrate, listen to all the best advice and play your natural game.

In all, this cavalier of cricket has played in 78 Tests, batted through 131 innings, was 15 times not out and scored 5,807 runs with a highest total of 278. He has also taken 25 Test wickets.

Most people outside Highbury tend to forget Compton’s soccer career. He didn’t win an international cup but he did gain a Cup-winner’s medal with the successful Arsenal side of 1950.