Derek Randall

Derek Randall

Derek William Randall (born 24 February 1951, Retford, Nottinghamshire, England) is an English former cricketer, who played first-class cricket for Nottinghamshire, and Tests and ODIs for England in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Known to cricketing colleagues and cricket fans as 'Arkle' after the racehorse, but always 'Rags' to himself, he was one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1980. The cricket writer, Colin Bateman, stated, "The Retford imp was, and still is, one of the most fondly admired figures in the game... the rolling gait and big sad eyes make him Chaplinesque – and like all clowns, there is pathos behind the public image... At times, genius sat on Randall's shoulders – the only trouble was it would not stop fidgeting". Randall played 47 Tests and 49 One Day International matches for England as a right-handed batsman before retiring to become a coach and cricket writer.