Famous Cricketers No 39 - D.C.S.Compton

at Chelmsford, and Victoria Alexandra, born at Bracknell in 1984, when Denis was 66 years of age! His declining years were spent living in Gerrard’s Cross. He died on 23rd April 1997, St. George’s Day, after a long illness. His memorial service at Westminster Abbey on 1st July 1997 was attended by many distinguished people from all walks of life. What of Compton the man and the cricketer? Denis was an undoubted batting genius and able to play all the shots in the book. Most memorable were his famous leg sweep and his off drive. He was a fast scorer and batted well on all types of wickets. He was a most agile fielder, particularly in his younger days. His googly left-arm bowling was most effective and he would have taken many more first-class wickets had he been allowed the opportunities. He will always be remembered for the great pleasure he gave in his enchanting batting to both friend and foe. In today’s era he would have been a megastar. He was in at the beginning of commercial sponsorship and became known as “The Brylcreem Boy”. Posters and newspaper advertisements appeared all over the country advertising the product that showed his sleek head and shoulders with no caption needed. He was the first sportsman to employ an agent; one Bagenal Harvey taking on the role after he had found Denis’s paperwork in such confusion. In 1957 Compton joined the advertising firm of Royd’s, later becoming a partner in the agency. Compton was a happy-go-lucky character, almost unflappable. Stories are told of him falling asleep in the dressing-room and having to be woken up to be told that a wicket had fallen and he was now due in to bat. He was extremely popular with all his colleagues. In his heyday in the immediate post-war years a cheer always went up from the small boys in the crowd as he went in to play another innings. His latter years were hampered by his knee. First operated on in 1947 it continued to give him trouble and hastened the end of his career. Although he was given the vice-captaincy of the M.C.C. tour to Australia in 1950/51 ahead of Len Hutton it is hard to see that he would have made a good England captain. One weakness of his cricket was his running between the wickets. Countless tales are told of his errors in this respect. He managed to run out his brother Leslie in the latter’s benefit match at Lord’s. He was able to pursue a most successful career in first class football. Although this generally gave way to cricket except in the winter of 1938/39 it is significant that his best time in the winter game was during the wartime years when he was one of the best outside-lefts in the country and played a number of representative matches. He was a very fast winger with a most dangerous cross to the centre. If Compton had enjoyed full health and had not lost those crucial early years in his cricket career to the ravages of war there is no saying to what heights his batting might have reached. Despite his great success in both the major sports that he played with so much ability Denis Compton remained throughout his life the same charming easy-going, good-natured person that he had always been, a man unique in his power to entertain and captivate all with whom he came into contact. 8