Ray Swallow

Raymond Swallow (born June 15, 1935 in Southwark) was an English cricketer and footballer. He was a right-handed batsman.

Cricket career

He played the first game of his career for Marylebone Cricket Club, before moving to Derbyshire.

Having made his debut for Derbyshire in 1959, his first County Championship appearance came in the 1960 season. During this first season he scored heavily, making two half-centuries, the first on his debut performance, though he didn't get into the first team until 1962, when a good run of form gave him the only century of his career, a towering 145 against Oxford University, and a strong showing for his Derbyshire team as they finished in seventh place.

Swallow was to exit the game the following year, after a string of poor performances left his team languishing in last place in the County Championship table.

Throughout his career, Swallow played extensively in the opening order, though in his last season, supplemented by the continual presence of Ian Hall, he moved to the middle-order.

Football career

Swallow started his footballing career at Arsenal as a trainee in 1952. After three years in Arsenal's youth and reserve sides (interrupted by a bout of National Service) he made his Arsenal first-team debut on April 8 1955 against Cardiff City. He was only a bit-part player at Arsenal and made a total of 13 appearances at wing half or inside forward, scoring four goals, over the course of four seasons. In September 1958 he moved to Derby County; over the course of five years he played 118 times and scored 21 goals in the league, before leaving the game in 1963.

External links

* [http://cricketarchive.com/Players/33/33145/33145.html Raymond Swallow] at Cricket Archive
* [http://jkarlsson.netfirms.com/players/s/swallow_r/ Raymond Swallow] at Gunnermania