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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nigel Harvie Bennett | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 23 September 1912 Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 26 July 2008 (aged 95) Bristol, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Middle order batsman | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1946 | Surrey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First-class debut | 4 May 1946 Surrey v MCC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last First-class | 5 September 1946 Surrey v Combined Services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricketArchive, 6 September 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Major Nigel Harvie Bennett (23 September 1912 – 26 July 2008) was an English cricketer.
Bennett was unexpectedly appointed as the county captain of Surrey County Cricket Club in 1946 when the club was still recovering from the Second World War.[1] It is generally believed he was mistaken for the prominent club cricketer and BBC captain, Major Leo Bennett, who was mooted as a likely choice.[2][3] Leo Bennett later played for Northamptonshire.
Nigel Bennett had played three matches for Surrey Second Eleven in 1936, twice against Kent Second Eleven and once against Wiltshire. He played in 31 first-class matches for Surrey as a right-handed batsman, scoring 688 runs at an average of 16.00 with a highest score of 79. He scored four half-centuries and took six catches. E. M. Wellings said Bennett was "a weak batsman and utterly lost as a county captain",[4] and Surrey slumped to 11th, their worst ever finish.[5] E. H. D. Sewell, on the contrary, said Bennett was an excellent captain and the county's weak bowling was to blame for the poor performance.[6] Bennett was replaced by Errol Holmes, who was recalled as captain for the 1947 and 1948 seasons.
Bennett was born at Walton-on-Thames, Surrey and died in Bristol at the age of 95.
- ^ Gordon Ross. The Surrey Story (1957 ed.). Stanley Paul.
- ^ ACS Journal 2004
- ^ "Nigel Harvey Bennett - Cricinfo profile". Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
- ^ Wellings, E. M. (1986). "Unthanked captains". Wisden Cricket Monthly. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
- ^ "Former Surrey captain Bennett dies aged 95". Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
- ^ E. H. D. Sewell, Well Hit, Sir!, Stanley Paul, London, 1947, p. 187.