Cricket Career
Denis Compton was the second son of Harry and Jessie Compton; his older brother was Les Compton. He was educated at an elementary school and joined the MCC groundstaff at Lord's in 1934. By the late 1930s he was a leading England batsman and remained at the top of his profession for some twenty years. His dashing approach to batting and the sheer enjoyment he exuded endeared him to a generation of cricket lovers. As an all-rounder Compton was a right-hand bat and a slow left-arm Chinaman bowler.
In 1947 he thrilled a war-weary English public by breaking record after record in scoring 3816 runs; he scored 18 centuries. 753 of those runs came against the touring South Africans. This season was the summit of a glittering career that began on the ground staff at Lord's; selection for Middlesex followed in 1936 and England the following year.
He scored his first Test century aged just 19 in 1938 against Don Bradman's touring Australians. Later in the same series he scored a match-saving 76 not out at Lord's; this innings was scored on a rain-affected pitch and greatly impressed Don Bradman. In 1939 he scored 2468 runs for the season, including 120 against the West Indies at Lord's.
As with many other sportsmen of his generation he lost some of his best years to the Second World War, during which he served in the army in India. It was in India, however, that he began his close friendship with his Australian counterpart as Test cricketer, footballer and national hero, Keith Miller. They played against each other in the match at Calcutta between the Australian Services team and East Zone. The match was interrupted by rioting when Compton was on 94 and one of the rioters who had invaded the pitch ran up to Compton and said "Mr Compton, you very good player, but the match must stop now", which Miller gleefully repeated whenever Compton came to the crease subsequently. In recognition of their friendship and rivalry, the ECB and Cricket Australia decided in 2005 that the player adjudged the Player of the Series in the Ashes would be awarded the Compton-Miller medal.
England toured Australia in the 1946-47 Ashes series and though they were beaten by the powerful Australian team, Compton distinguished himself by scoring a century in each innings of the Adelaide Test. Back in England in 1947 he had a glorious season.
Two of his finest innings were played against the formidable Australian side of 1948. In the First Test at Trent Bridge he scored 184 in the second innings after Australia had established a first innings lead of 344, and it looked as though he might save the match for England until he lost his balance to a short-pitched ball from Miller and hit his wicket. In the Third Test at Old Trafford, he made 145 not out in the first innings, when no other batsman made more than 37. Early in his innings he tried to hook a Ray Lindwall bouncer, but edged the ball onto his head. He had to retire hurt, and needed two stitches, but returned to the crease at 119-5 and enabled England to reach 363. This was the only match that England did not lose, and if so much time had not been lost to the weather they might have won it. In the series he made 562 runs at 62.44, against fierce fast bowling from Lindwall, Miller and Bill Johnston.
On the MCC tour of South Africa 1948-49 he scored 300 against North-Eastern Transvaal in just a minute over three hours - still the fastest triple-century ever in first-class cricket. His first hundred took 66 minutes (he said, "I was getting a sight of the bowling"), his second 78 minutes (he was not out overnight and had to play himself in again next morning), and his third hundred took just 37 minutes. Reminiscing about the match later, Compton compared the South Africans' bowling with a decent county side, but criticised their catching (he had been dropped before he reached 20).
He toured Australia for 1950-51 Ashes series as vice-captain, the first professional in the 20th century to be awarded the position, but had a dismal tour due to a recurring knee problem caused by an old football injury. He averaged only 7.57 in the Tests, but 92.11 in his other first-class matches. He became the first professional to captain the MCC for an entire game, Jack Hobbs having taken over from the injured Arthur Carr in 1924-25. He and Len Hutton made the winning runs in the Fifth Test at Melbourne, the first time Australia had been beaten since 1938. On the 1954-55 tour his departure was delayed for a remedial operation on his knee and he joined the team in Australia by plane. In the First Test at Brisbane he badly cut his hand when he hit a billboard while fielding and batted at the bottom of the order. He missed the Second Test. He came third in the England Test averages (38.20), but topped the tour averages (57.07) and made three centuries. In his last Test against Australia in 1956 he made a dazzling 94 despite having just had his right kneecap removed.
Compton finished his cricket career after playing 78 Test matches with 17 centuries at an average of 50.06. In all first-class cricket he scored 123 centuries.
Compton jointly captained Middlesex County Cricket Club between 1951 and 1952, with W.J. Edrich.
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