Fred Titmus - Early Years

Early Years

Titmus was in his school's first XI by the age of thirteen, and when sixteen he wrote to Lord's, the ground being very close to his home, to ask for a trial. He was quickly accepted onto the MCC groundstaff, and in June 1949 he was plucked straight from the groundstaff to make his first-class cricket debut against Somerset at Bath. Although he did little in the match, his selection for the first team at such a young age was a clear sign of his potential.

1950 was Titmus's first full season of county cricket, and he performed reasonably well, taking 55 wickets including 7–34 against [Minor Counties in July. His appearances in 1951 and 1952 were restricted because of his National Service obligations, although he kept his hand in with games for the Combined Services. In 1953 he returned to play for Middlesex full-time, and took 105 wickets, the first of 16 years in which he would reach three figures.

1955 was a superb year for Titmus, as he did the double for the first time: he took what would remain his best season's haul of 191 wickets at just 16.31, taking five or more wickets in an innings on no less than 18 occasions. 158 of these wickets were for his county, beating by four the record set up in 1900 by Albert Trott. He also passed a thousand runs for the first time, scoring 1,235 including the first of his six centuries, making 104 against Hamshire albeit in a losing cause as Middlesex lost by an innings.