Despite having only one year on Glamorgan’s playing staff, Tom Cartwright MBE made a massive contribution to Welsh cricket.
His one year in the daffodil sweater came during 1977 when the former Warwickshire and Somerset seamer became a member of Glamorgan’s team which reached the final of the Gillette Cup at Lord’s where the 42-year old veteran delivered a characteristically tight spell, finishing with the figures of 12-3-32-1 in the game against Middlesex..
He retired from county cricket at the end of the season, and became Glamorgan`s coach and cricket manager. He held these positions until 1980 when he was appointed as Director of Coaching to the Welsh Cricket Association. Since then, Tom’s tireless hours of effort and wise guidance produced a steady stream of talented Welsh cricketers, several of whom went on to win honours for England.
Tom had been one of the finest medium-pace bowlers in county cricket during the late 1950`s and 1960`s. In ten seasons with Warwickshire, he took over a thousand wickets, despite rarely using, or wanting, the new ball. Tom’s repertoire of in-swingers and subtle changes of place also won him 5 Test caps in 1964/65. Tom played for his native Warwickshire from 1952 until 1969 when he joined Millfield School as their coach and played for Somerset until 1976.
His career-best figures were 8/39 for Warwickshire against Somerset at Weston-super-Mare in 1962, whilst his best match figures were 15/89 against Glamorgan at Swansea in 1967. Tom was also an effective batsman, scoring in all seven first-class centuries. His highest score was 210 for Warwickshire against Middlesex at Nuneaton in 1962, – a season which also saw Tom complete the coveted `Double` of 1000 runs and 100 wickets.
CARTWRIGHT, Thomas William
Born – Aldermans Greens, Coventry, 22nd July 1935.
Died – Neath, 30th April 2007.
Best performances for Glamorgan:
In first-class cricket – 22* v Kent at Swansea, 1977; 4/46 v Yorkshire at Sophia Gardens, 1977.
In List A cricket – 10* v Derbyshire at Sophia Gardens,1977; 3/17 v Northamptonshire at Northampton, 1977.
| M | I | NO | RUNS | AV | 100 | 50 | CT | ST | |
| First-class | 7 | 11 | 2 | 76 | 8.44 | – | – | 2 | – |
| List A | 19 | 8 | 4 | 32 | 8.00 | – | – | 2 | – |
| Balls | M | R | W | AV | 5wI | 10wM | |
| First-class | 789 | 52 | 258 | 10 | 25.80 | – | – |
| List A | 912 | 26 | 503 | 17 | 29.58 | – | – |