Geoff Clayton
Encyclopedia
Geoffrey Clayton, born 3 February 1938 at Mossley
, Lancashire
, played first-class
and List A cricket for Lancashire
and Somerset
between 1959 and 1967. He was a lower-order batsman and a wicketkeeper.
Clayton was a regular first-team player in every season in which he played first-class cricket and he was at or near to the top of the wicketkeepers' lists for most dismissals each year. But his abrasive personality did not endear him to county committees – or to his county captain at Somerset – and he left first-class cricket at the age of 29.
while on National Service
. On discharge, he returned to Lancashire and was brought into the first team at the start of June 1959, remaining then as first-choice wicketkeeper until he left the county at the end of the 1964 season. In his first innings for the county side, he top-scored with 43. In his third County Championship
match, against Middlesex
at Liverpool, he scored an unbeaten 74. The batting was a bonus: Lancashire's previous first-choice wicketkeeper, Alan Wilson
, had a career batting average of less than six runs per innings. But Clayton in his first full season averaged more than 24, and though he did not sustain this, and the 74*
remained his highest score until 1963, he batted for most of his career at No 7 or No 8. Clayton's arrival was noted by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
's 1960 edition: "In the sturdily built Clayton, Lancashire discovered a wicketkeeper of real promise and lively character," it wrote.
Clayton was awarded his county cap in 1960, when he made 89 dismissals – his 76 catches for the county were a Lancashire record. It could have been more, but he was dropped for the final three matches of the season, and Wisden in 1961 mentioned this as part of a short list of "perplexing" events indicating disharmony at Lancashire. Unlike Jack Dyson
, who was sacked, and Alan Wharton
, who moved to Leicestershire
, Clayton was back for a full season in 1961, playing in 37 first-class matches in the season, though this was one of his less successful seasons as wicketkeeper. He was back to form in 1962 and with 92 dismissals, this was his best season in first-class cricket. The 86 catches for Lancashire that season remain the county record.
The 1963 season proved to be Clayton's best with the bat: he scored 894 runs in all matches at an average of 22.92. And, sent in as a nightwatchman
in the match against Sussex
at Hove he made 84, the highest score of his Lancashire career. But the following season, 1964, the discord at Lancashire resurfaced and at the end of the season Clayton was not re-engaged. The club issued a statement: "The committee have reviewed the performance of the team both on and off the field during the current season in conjunction with a special report which had been called for. A firm decision was taken not to re-engage P. Marner
and G. Clayton on the grounds that their retention was not in the best interests of the playing staff or the club." Dyson, who had returned after being sacked in 1960, was also not re-engaged, and Ken Grieves
was replaced as captain. Though much of the county committee was then replaced in the end of year election, Clayton was not reinstated and had in any case by then joined Somerset.
had been first-choice wicketkeeper since 1949 and captain since 1960, and though he was injured for much of the 1964 season he appears to have expected to continue in both roles. But Somerset's committee offered the captaincy to Colin Atkinson
and recruited Clayton as wicketkeeper.
The move was initially successful. "Clayton demonstrated that he is among the three or four best keepers in the country," Wisden wrote. "His 85 victims came only one short of the county record held by Harold Stephenson." Moreover, in just his fourth match for his new county, against Middlesex at the Imperial Ground, Bristol, he was sent in again as nightwatchman and this time made 106, the only century of his first-class career. The batting of the rest of his Somerset career never reached such heights again, but he was awarded his county cap in his first season and the following year, 1966, with just one fewer dismissal, he was the leading wicketkeeper in the English season.
The record in his first two Somerset seasons made his departure at the end of his third surprising. Wisden noted: "The wicketkeeping of Clayton, although he was never dropped from the side, deteriorated sufficiently to decide the Executive not to offer him a further contract." In fact, with 74 dismissals, he was third in the fielding statistics lists for the season. And he retained his place in the side right through to Somerset's first appearance in a one-day final at Lord's in the 1967 Gillette Cup.
There appear to have been other factors: David Foot, the Somerset CCC historian, wrote of Clayton that "he never quite integrated". In a later co-authored book, Foot wrote: "He rarely courted popularity and certainly antagonised some by the cussed individuality of his personality. He was never one to kowtow; team-mates and observers detected the chip that was reluctant to leave his shoulder. He was in the modern idiom, his own man. Colin Atkinson claimed he was once so annoyed by Clayton's go-slow attitude in a match that he threatened to send him off. In spite of all that, he was as all the players readily acknowledged a fine wicketkeeper."
After playing in the final County Championship match of the 1967 season, four days after the Gillette Cup final, Clayton left the Somerset staff and did not appear in first-class cricket again.
Mossley
Mossley is a small town and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, in Greater Manchester, England. The town is located in the upper section of the Tame valley in the foothills of the Pennines, northeast of Ashton-under-Lyne and east of Manchester.Mossley has the distinction of...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, played first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
and List A cricket for Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
and Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
between 1959 and 1967. He was a lower-order batsman and a wicketkeeper.
Clayton was a regular first-team player in every season in which he played first-class cricket and he was at or near to the top of the wicketkeepers' lists for most dismissals each year. But his abrasive personality did not endear him to county committees – or to his county captain at Somerset – and he left first-class cricket at the age of 29.
Lancashire cricketer
Clayton played for Lancashire's second eleven in 1956 and 1957, but made his first-class cricket debut in the 1957 for the Combined Services cricket teamCombined Services cricket team
The Combined Services cricket team represents the British armed forces. The team played at first-class level in England for more than forty years in the mid-twentieth century. Their first first-class match was against Gentlemen of England at Lord's in 1920, while their last was against Oxford...
while on National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
. On discharge, he returned to Lancashire and was brought into the first team at the start of June 1959, remaining then as first-choice wicketkeeper until he left the county at the end of the 1964 season. In his first innings for the county side, he top-scored with 43. In his third County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
match, against Middlesex
Middlesex County Cricket Club
Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...
at Liverpool, he scored an unbeaten 74. The batting was a bonus: Lancashire's previous first-choice wicketkeeper, Alan Wilson
Alan Wilson (cricketer)
Alan Robert Wilson is a former English cricketer. Wilson was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. He was born at Littleport, Cambridgeshire....
, had a career batting average of less than six runs per innings. But Clayton in his first full season averaged more than 24, and though he did not sustain this, and the 74*
Not out
In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...
remained his highest score until 1963, he batted for most of his career at No 7 or No 8. Clayton's arrival was noted by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
's 1960 edition: "In the sturdily built Clayton, Lancashire discovered a wicketkeeper of real promise and lively character," it wrote.
Clayton was awarded his county cap in 1960, when he made 89 dismissals – his 76 catches for the county were a Lancashire record. It could have been more, but he was dropped for the final three matches of the season, and Wisden in 1961 mentioned this as part of a short list of "perplexing" events indicating disharmony at Lancashire. Unlike Jack Dyson
Jack Dyson
Jack Dyson was both an English first class cricketer and a professional footballer.He started his sporting career as a footballer and spent four seasons with Manchester City during which time he played 62 matches and scored 26 goals...
, who was sacked, and Alan Wharton
Alan Wharton
Alan Wharton was an English cricketer, who played for Lancashire, Leicestershire and England.-Life and career:Wharton was born in Heywood, Lancashire, England....
, who moved to Leicestershire
Leicestershire County Cricket Club
Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....
, Clayton was back for a full season in 1961, playing in 37 first-class matches in the season, though this was one of his less successful seasons as wicketkeeper. He was back to form in 1962 and with 92 dismissals, this was his best season in first-class cricket. The 86 catches for Lancashire that season remain the county record.
The 1963 season proved to be Clayton's best with the bat: he scored 894 runs in all matches at an average of 22.92. And, sent in as a nightwatchman
Nightwatchman (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a nightwatchman is a lower-order batsman who comes in to bat higher up the order than usual near the end of the day's play...
in the match against Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
at Hove he made 84, the highest score of his Lancashire career. But the following season, 1964, the discord at Lancashire resurfaced and at the end of the season Clayton was not re-engaged. The club issued a statement: "The committee have reviewed the performance of the team both on and off the field during the current season in conjunction with a special report which had been called for. A firm decision was taken not to re-engage P. Marner
Peter Marner
Peter Thomas Marner was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Lancashire and then Leicestershire. He was rated by Trevor Bailey as the most formidable English batsman without a Test cricket cap....
and G. Clayton on the grounds that their retention was not in the best interests of the playing staff or the club." Dyson, who had returned after being sacked in 1960, was also not re-engaged, and Ken Grieves
Ken Grieves
Kenneth James Grieves was an Australian first class cricketer who played for Lancashire. A middle order batsman, he made 452 first-class appearances for Lancashire and made a county record 555 catches...
was replaced as captain. Though much of the county committee was then replaced in the end of year election, Clayton was not reinstated and had in any case by then joined Somerset.
Somerset cricketer
Clayton's arrival at Somerset was itself controversial. Harold StephensonHarold Stephenson
Harold William Stephenson was an English first-class cricketer who played for Somerset. He captained Somerset from 1960 until his retirement in 1964....
had been first-choice wicketkeeper since 1949 and captain since 1960, and though he was injured for much of the 1964 season he appears to have expected to continue in both roles. But Somerset's committee offered the captaincy to Colin Atkinson
Colin Atkinson
Colin Ronald Michael Atkinson CBE - Cricketer, schoolmaster and headmaster of Millfield School....
and recruited Clayton as wicketkeeper.
The move was initially successful. "Clayton demonstrated that he is among the three or four best keepers in the country," Wisden wrote. "His 85 victims came only one short of the county record held by Harold Stephenson." Moreover, in just his fourth match for his new county, against Middlesex at the Imperial Ground, Bristol, he was sent in again as nightwatchman and this time made 106, the only century of his first-class career. The batting of the rest of his Somerset career never reached such heights again, but he was awarded his county cap in his first season and the following year, 1966, with just one fewer dismissal, he was the leading wicketkeeper in the English season.
The record in his first two Somerset seasons made his departure at the end of his third surprising. Wisden noted: "The wicketkeeping of Clayton, although he was never dropped from the side, deteriorated sufficiently to decide the Executive not to offer him a further contract." In fact, with 74 dismissals, he was third in the fielding statistics lists for the season. And he retained his place in the side right through to Somerset's first appearance in a one-day final at Lord's in the 1967 Gillette Cup.
There appear to have been other factors: David Foot, the Somerset CCC historian, wrote of Clayton that "he never quite integrated". In a later co-authored book, Foot wrote: "He rarely courted popularity and certainly antagonised some by the cussed individuality of his personality. He was never one to kowtow; team-mates and observers detected the chip that was reluctant to leave his shoulder. He was in the modern idiom, his own man. Colin Atkinson claimed he was once so annoyed by Clayton's go-slow attitude in a match that he threatened to send him off. In spite of all that, he was as all the players readily acknowledged a fine wicketkeeper."
After playing in the final County Championship match of the 1967 season, four days after the Gillette Cup final, Clayton left the Somerset staff and did not appear in first-class cricket again.