Arthur Milton

Infobox Historic Cricketer


nationality = English
country = England
country abbrev = ENG
name = Arthur Milton
picture = Cricket_no_pic.pngbatting style = Right-hand bat
bowling style = Right-arm medium
tests = 6
test runs = 204
test bat avg = 25.50
test 100s/50s = 1/-
test top score = 104*
test balls = 24
test wickets = -
test bowl avg = -
test 5s = -
test 10s = -
test best bowling = -
test catches/stumpings = 5/-
FCs = 620
FC runs = 32150
FC bat avg = 33.73
FC 100s/50s = 56/160
FC top score = 170
FC balls = 8414
FC wickets = 79
FC bowl avg = 46.07
FC 5s = 1
FC 10s = -
FC best bowling = 5/64
FC catches/stumpings = 760/-
debut date = 3 July
debut year = 1958
last date = 18 June
last year = 1959
source = http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/17037.htmlFootball player infobox
playername= Arthur Milton


fullname = Clement Arthur Milton
dateofbirth = birth date|1928|3|10|mf=y
cityofbirth = Belfast
dateofdeath = death date and age|2007|4|25|1928|3|10
countryofbirth = England
height = height|ft=5|in=9
currentclub = Retired
clubnumber = "7"
position = Centre Back
youthyears = 1946-49
youthclubs = Arsenal
years = 1950-1955
1955-1956
clubs = Arsenal
Bristol City
caps(goals) = 075 0(18)
014 0(3)
nationalyears = 1951
nationalteam =England
nationalcaps(goals) = 1
pcupdate = 14 May 1976
ntupdate =

Clement Arthur Milton (March 10, 1928 — April 25, 2007 [http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/07/04/25/SOCCER_Milton.html&TEAMHD=soccer Sporting Life report on Milton's death] ] ) was an English cricketer and footballer. He played County cricket for Gloucestershire from 1948 to 1974, playing 6 Test matches for the English cricket team in 1958 and 1959. He also played domestic football for Arsenal between 1951 and 1955, and then for a brief period for Bristol City. He played one match for the England national football team in 1951, against Austria at Wembley. He was the last survivor of the 12 people to have played at the highest international level for both England's football and cricket teams.

Early life

Milton was born in Bedminster, in Somerset, and was educated at Cotham Grammar School in Bristol. A natural sportsman, he became School Captain of cricket, football and rugby union. He also showed talent at mathematics, but decided to pursue sporting glory rather than attend university.

Football career

He joined Arsenal as an amateur in April 1945, turning professional the next year. National Service meant Milton had to break his football career for two years between 1946 and 1948, but he returned to Arsenal afterwards and continued to play in Arsenal's reserve side. He made his first-team debut against Aston Villa on his 23rd birthday, 10 March, 1951. He went on to become a regular for Arsenal at right half and outside-right.

After making only twelve League appearances, Milton was called up for England, and won his first and only cap, in a 2-2 draw against Austria on November 28, 1951. Milton went on to win the First Division title with Arsenal in 1952-53, but soon after faced competition for his place from Danny Clapton and Derek Tapscott.

In all, Milton played 84 matches for Arsenal, scoring 21 goals. After only being a bit-part player for two seasons, he moved to Bristol City in February 1955 for a transfer fee of £4,000. He helped them win promotion to Division Two. After 15 matches at Bristol, he retired from football altogether in the summer of 1955 to concentrate on his cricket career.

Cricket career

Milton played for Stapleton Cricket Club as an all-rounder, and then started to play for Gloucestershire Second XI. He made his first-class debut for Gloucestershire in June 1948, against Northants. He went on to play county cricket in 585 matches over 26 years until he retired in 1974.

After being 12th man in the Ashes series against Australia in 1953, Milton played 6 Tests for England between 1958 and 1959. He made his Test debut in the 3rd Test against New Zealand on 3 July 1958 at Headingley. He opened the batting with MJK Smith (another double international, at cricket and rugby), scoring 104 not out. He was the first Gloucestershire player to score a century on his England Test debut since W.G. Grace. He was also the first England player to remain on the playing field the whole of a Test match: fielded throughout New Zealand's first innings, then opened the batting for England and ended undefeated, and fielded again through New Zealand's second innings, as England won by an innings and 71 runs. [http://www.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/1950S/1958/NZ_IN_ENG/NZ_ENG_T3_03-08JUL1958.html] He lost his place for the 4th Test, but returned for the 5th Test at the Oval. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1959.

Milton was part of the England side that toured Australia that winter, playing in the 1st Test at Sydney and the 3rd Test at Melbourne, but he struggled, and returned home with an injured finger. He played in the first two Tests against India in 1959, ending his short Test career in the 2nd Test at Lord's that June.

Milton never played Test cricket again, but he continued to achieve success in county cricket. In all, he took 79 first-class wickets with his right-arm medium pace bowling, and his football fitness and quick reflexes also made him a notably fast runner in the field, taking 758 catches, but he was mainly a prolific opening batsman from 1951, noted for his running between the wickets. He scored over 32,000 first-class runs at the relatively low batting average of 33.66 runs, passing 1,000 runs in 16 seasons. He played 1,017 innings for Gloucestershire, a record for the county. Perhaps his best season was 1967, when, aged 39, he scored 7 centuries and passed 2,000 runs. He was Gloucestershire captain in 1968.

He was a coach at Oxford University after his retirement.

Personal life and retirement

He married Joan, the daughter of his first landlady as a young recruit at Arsenal. After his sporting career ended, Milton became a postman in Bristol, where he was a big fan of greyhound racing. He also played golf, off a handicap of four, and snooker and billiards.

He received an honorary MA from Bristol University in 2002. He died at the age of 79 in hospital, shortly after suffering a heart attack in his house in Bristol on the morning of April 25, 2007. He was survived by his wife and their three sons.

References

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,2066693,00.html Obituary] , "The Guardian", 27 April 2007
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article2488790.ece Obituary] , "The Independent", 27 April 2007
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=SSALP5HIFTV1LQFIQMFCFGGAVCBQYIV0?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2007/04/27/db2701.xml Obituary] , "The Daily Telegraph", 27 April 2007
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1717255.ece Obituary] , "The Times", 28 April 2007
*cricinfo|ref=ci/content/player/17037.html
* [http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/292360.html Double international Arthur Milton dies] , Cricinfo, 25 April 2007