LEGENDARY Worcestershire batsman Tom Graveney has passed away at the age of 88 after a brave battle against Parkinson’s disease.
Graveney was a prolific scorer for the county after moving to New Road from Gloucestershire in 1961 and played a major part in the 1964 and 1965 County Championship triumphs.
Graveney, who was famed for his classical cover drives, made his Test debut in 1951 and his form for Worcestershire earned him a recall to the England side in 1966 at the age of 39 against the West Indies.
He won a further 24 caps and in total made 79 Test appearances, scoring 4,882 runs at an average of 44.38.
He was also Worcestershire President from 1994 to 1998 and continued to visit New Road on a regular basis, attending this summer’s Worcestershire Old Players’ Association Day in the 1865 Lounge.
Pears’ Chief Executive David Leatherdale said: “Tom has been a major figure in Worcestershire’s history and everyone at the club is saddened by today’s (Tuesday) news and our thoughts go out to the Graveney family at this sad time.
“He was one of the stalwarts of our first two Championship triumphs and will be hugely missed by everyone at Worcestershire CCC and by cricket as a whole,” he added.
Graveney, who was born in Northumberland in 1927, amassed 47,793 first class runs at an average of 44.38 which included 122 first class hundreds.
After he retired from the game in the early 1970s, Graveney became a highly respected TV summariser on the game.
Current Pears skipper Daryl Mitchell was among the players to pay his respects when he tweeted: “Sad to lose someone who’s had such a huge impact on our clubs history and a lovely man! RIP Tom Graveney.”
And Alex Gidman, who like Graveney made the journey from Gloucestershire to New Road tweeted his sympathies: “Extremely sad to hear that @Gloscricket and @WorcsCCC legend Tom Graveney has passed away- such a lovely, down to earth man.”
