Kent Cricket saddened by death of Tony Pawson

Tony Pawson, Kent’s oldest surviving capped player has died at the age of 91 following a brief illness.

Henry Anthony (Tony) Pawson, played for the County as an amateur from 1946 until 1953. He was also an outstanding amateur footballer, representing England in the immediate post-war period and as a member of the squad for the 1948 London Olympics. He became the World Fly-Fishing Champion and was made an OBE for his services to angling.

At Oxford University he won Blues for cricket and association football, and captained the University cricket XI in 1948. His football career included two appearances for Charlton Athletic in the 1950s, playing on the right wing. In the first of those matches, against Tottenham Hotspur on Boxing Day, he scored two goals. As a member of the Pegasus side (an amalgamation of Oxford and Cambridge players) he won two FA amateur cup final medals.

He was an entertaining batsman, playing 43 matches for Kent, during which he scored 2,100 runs at 33.33. His best season was 1947, when he scored 437 runs at an average of 43.70. His running between the wickets, especially in partnership with Godfrey Evans, was an entertainment in itself, as was his fleet of foot fielding. In his 69 first-class matches he scored 3,807 runs at an average of 37.32 and with a highest score of 150.

Kent Cricket Honorary Curator, David Robertson commented on the news; “Tony Pawson enjoyed his cricket, and set out to make sure spectators shared that enjoyment. I have many happy boyhood memories of his batting and fielding at Canterbury. His running between the wickets, especially with Godfrey Evans as his partner, was always an eagerly awaited feature of the game.”

Until this year, when ill health prevented it, Tony Pawson was a regular attendee at the Kent retired players’ get-together held during Canterbury Cricket Week.

Jamie Clifford, Kent Cricket CEO said; “The Club is saddened to learn news of Tony Pawson’s passing and our thoughts are with his family and friends. Tony made a great contribution to Kent Cricket and many of our Members have fond memories of watching him play at the St Lawrence Ground.”