English cricketer
Stuart Surridge
(3 September 1917 ? 13 April 1992) was an English
first-class cricketer
who captained
Surrey County Cricket Club
.
Neither a remarkable
batsman
nor
bowler
, Surridge was one of the most successful
team captains
in the history of the
County Championship
who, when not playing
cricket
, helped develop his family
sports equipment
business, Stuart Surridge & Co.
[1]
Career
[
edit
]
Born at
Herne Hill
,
Surrey
, and educated at
Emanuel School
in south London, Surridge died at
Glossop
,
Derbyshire
, being one of the most successful
cricket captains
in
County Championship
history.
Through aggressive tactics, he turned an under-performing Surrey team into a record-breaking success in the 1950s. Surrey won the title in each of the five years Surridge was captain, from 1952 to 1956, and then won two more under
Peter May
to create a sequence that has not been equalled.
From a famous family of
cricket bat
makers, Surridge was only a moderate
cricketer
: a lower order
batsman
and a right-arm
fast-medium bowler
, whose stats, by the standards of his time, were somewhat expensive. He was 30 before he played in a first-class match, and usually Surridge was only selected for the first team if other players were injured or on
Test duty
.
Surrey's team in the early 1950s included several top-class bowlers.
Alec Bedser
was the main strike bowler for England for ten seasons after the
Second World War
;
Jim Laker
was amongst the best
off spin
bowlers in the country;
Tony Lock
was an aggressive slow left-arm bowler; and
Peter Loader
. Batting resources were thinner but, in Peter May, Surrey had a talented batsman. Despite having these players, Surrey lacked success until Surridge was appointed team captain after the 1951 season. They had shared the 1950 Championship with
Lancashire
but that was their only success since before the
First World War
.
Surridge's belief was that
bowlers
and catches win matches, and he aimed to win as many matches as he could. A fearless
fielder
close to the
wicket
, he encouraged others to follow his example. In his five years as captain, only in 1953 did Surrey win less than half their matches; in 1955, the county won 23 out of 28 games, losing the other five and going through the whole season without a single draw. His tactics were sometimes ruthless: in one match against a weak
Worcestershire
, having dismissed his opponents for a total of 25 runs, Surridge declared the Surrey innings closed at just 92 for three wickets, before bowling Worcestershire out again for 40 to win by an innings and 27 runs. "The weather forecast had not been good", he said. Even when Surrey's Test cricketers were playing for
England
, Surridge would inspire their replacements to go well.
Recognised as
Wisden Cricketer of the Year
in 1953,
[2]
Surridge was selected to play for
MCC
1954?56 and was elected
president of Surrey CCC
in 1981 (his widow, Betty, becoming president in 1997). In retirement after 1956, he served Surrey CCC on various committees as well as expanding his bat-making business, and was visiting the Surridge factory when he collapsed and died, aged 74. His son, also called Stuart, played once for
Surrey
in 1978.
Stuart Surridge & Co
[
edit
]
In 1867, Percy Stuart Surridge, Stuart Surridge's grandfather started a company repairing
cricket bats
. The business expanded, making a host of equipment including the Rapid Driver cricket bat that had a reinforced toe (patent no. 19386/28) which was used by
W. G. Grace
,
K. S. Ranjitsinhji
,
C. B. Fry
and
Sir Don Bradman
amongst others.
[3]
[4]
In 1923 the company received a patent for their design in reinforcing
tennis rackets
to stop strings fraying,
[5]
and produced a variety of equipment for sports, including
hockey
.
[6]
The business was originally based at 175
Borough High Street
,
London
,
[3]
before they opened factories including their main base in
Witham
,
Essex
,
[7]
and a willow farm in
Aldermaston
,
Berkshire
.
[8]
During the 1950s Stuart Surridge worked with his brother Percy at the business, introducing the SS logo during the 1960s.
[7]
[9]
The company introduced the Cobbler football during this time, which was used in the
Bundesliga
[10]
and the
1976 Football League Cup final
.
[11]
During the 1970s Surridge entered the big hitter cricket bat market with its Jumbo, which was used by
Viv Richards
and
Clive Rice
.
[12]
[13]
[14]
In 1979, Surridge manufactured the official ball of the
English Football League
, along with
Mitre
, with their version being called the UFO and was recognisable by its red stripe. The ball was most famously used by
Justin Fashanu
in the 1980
F.A. Cup
match against Liverpool to score that year's
BBC Goal of the Season
.
[15]
In the 1980s, John Surridge, Stuart's nephew and Percy's son designed the Turbo cricket bat. It was revolutionary as it was made from several pieces of
timber
glued together, with the
glue
flexing
to give the batsman more power.
[16]
The bat was most famously used by
Graham Gooch
in 1990 to score his record 333 against India at
Lord's
.
During the 1980s the company provided
Jimmy White
with snooker cues, launching an eponymous range of cues for sale.
[17]
In 1991 the company sponsored
Paul Gascoigne
.
[18]
In the early 1990s the company successfully went to
court
in
India
over the SS branding, which was also used by
Sareen Sports Industries
.
[7]
Surridge died in 1992 at age 74 while visiting one of the company's factories in Glossop.
[1]
In 1993, after his death, the Surridge family sold the business to
Dunlop Slazenger
.
[18]
The Surridge brand was then sold on to a group of Indian and South African investors in 2000, before being purchased in 2003 by the SDL Group,
[19]
based at
Burnley
in Lancashire.
[18]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
edit
]