Fred TruemanFred Trueman, the Yorkshire and England fast bowler, who has died of lung cancer aged 75, was a legend in his youth, establishing himself in the public imagination in his first Test match at the age of 21. His career, though colourful - and long for a cricketer of his type - was not uniformly successful. Over 13 years he played only 67 times for England; but he took more Test wickets, 307, and at a considerably lower average, 21.57, than any English bowler until then (Ian Botham has since taken 383, and Bob Willis 325).
Fred was born at Scotch Springs, Stainton, to the east of Rotherham and near the Maltby Main colliery, where his father, Allan, a keen cricketer himself, was a miner. At that point the Trueman legend began: he weighed 14lb 1oz at birth, and always contrived to appear more than life size.
At Maltby Hall secondary school he was encouraged to bowl fast, though a serious blow in the groin from a cricket ball caused him to lose two seasons before hospital treatment succeeded. At 14, he started playing club cricket, at 15 became an apprentice bricklayer, and at 16 joined Sheffield United - a cricket club before it spawned a football club - in the Sheffield league. An invitation to play for Yorkshire Boys followed, and in 1949, at 18, he made eight county appearances. His coaches, especially Bill Bowes, noted his strong physique, splendid action and a genuine pace, but his control was uncertain.
From 1948 to 1951, he worked in the Maltby Main tally office, and in the 1951 season made a considerable advance to 90 wickets. He was fortunate that his RAF national service allowed him leave of absence to play in Test matches.
In 1952, he was chosen for the first Test against India. After three series of heavy defeats at the hands of Australia - notably delivered by Lindwall and Miller - all cricketing England longed for a fast bowler capable of hitting back. When his luck was in, Trueman had a fine sense of occasion; now he made his Test debut under England's new Yorkshire professional captain, Len Hutton. Sure enough, on Test match Saturday at Headingley, he took three of the first four wickets to reduce India to the unique Test score of none for four.
In the Third Test, on a rain-affected pitch at Old Trafford, Trueman worked up such a high pace that several of the Indian batsmen visibly retreated before him, giving him eight for 31, the then-best figures for a really fast Test bowler.
However, as his captain and advisers knew, he was not yet fully ready. Indeed, to public disappointment, he was not chosen for any of the first four 1953 Test matches against Australia. Brought in for the fifth, he took four for 86 in the first innings, helping England to win the only match in the series to reach a finish - and regain the Ashes after 19 years.
All his life Trueman remained a controversial figure: first the rebel, not sent overseas for five years after various incidents on the 1953-54 West Indies tour; then, "in his pomp" from about 1957 to 1964, a superb and complete fast bowler, resourceful and controlled; then the old warhorse, successful on the 31 occasions he captained Yorkshire, between 1962 and 1968, when the club was a leading force in the county championship.
As a bowler he was capable of a deadly late outswinger, of a varied pace approaching the highest, and of a terrifying, well-concealed bouncer which, when riled, he tended to bowl too often. In 1964, he virtually threw away the Third Test at Headingley against Australia when he bowled bouncers to Peter Burge, who hooked him savagely in an innings of 160. The match was lost, and the rubber, too. Trueman was dropped from the next Test, at Manchester, but was recalled for the Oval. He became the first bowler to take 300 wickets in Test cricket, but he could not save the series.
He took 111 wickets in the 1966 season, but from then on it was a steady, though not undistinguished, exit. A single first-class match in 1969 ended 21 seasons of cricket that were never dull. Year after year he had been Yorkshire's sharpest attacking weapon, taking 100 wickets in 12 of them. There were four hat tricks; occasional days when he simply swept away powerful batting sides by speed, artifice and movement. His fast reactions and determination made him a fearless short leg fieldsman. A strong hitter who once took 26 off an over by Derek Shackleton of Hampshire, he scored three first-class centuries.
After his playing days, Trueman became an influential member of the Yorkshire committee, a radio and television commentator and performer, and continued as a newspaper columnist. He was made an OBE in 1989 for his charity work, mostly for children. He is survived by his second wife, Veronica, and by the two daughters and son of his first marriage, which ended in divorce.
Frederick Sewards Trueman, cricketer, born February 6th, 1931; died July 1st, 2006