Maurice Tate
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 England (ENG) |
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| Batting style | Right-hand bat | |
| Bowling type | Right-arm fast medium | |
| Tests | First-class | |
| Matches | 39 | 679 |
| Runs scored | 1198 | 21717 |
| Batting average | 25.48 | 25.04 |
| 100s/50s | 1/5 | 23/93 |
| Top score | 100* | 203 |
| Balls bowled | 12523 | 150461 |
| Wickets | 155 | 2784 |
| Bowling average | 26.16 | 18.16 |
| 5 wickets in innings | 7 | 195 |
| 10 wickets in match | 1 | 44 |
| Best bowling | 6/42 | 9/71 |
| Catches/stumpings | 11/- | 283/- |
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Test debut: 14 June 1924 |
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Maurice William Tate (born 30 May 1895 in Brighton, Sussex, died 18 May 1956 in Wadhurst, Sussex) was a Sussex and England cricketer of the 1920s and 1930s and the leader of England's Test bowling attack for a long time during this period. He was also the first Sussex cricketer to take a wicket with their first ball in test cricket.[1]
The son of Sussex off spinner Fred Tate and nicknamed "Chubby" , Maurice began his career for Sussex as a hard-hitting batsman and spin bowler with one match in 1912. He played a few matches in 1913 and 1914, but established himself as a batsman in 1919 by scoring over a thousand runs for the first of eleven consecutive seasons. In the following two years, Tate's batting developed further with a double hundred against Northamptonshire in 1921 representing his highest first class score. However, his bowling remained secondary throughout this period and he was never able to match the skill of his father.
1922 was the turning point of Tate's career. He had, aided by some very poor batting sides, enjoyed more success as a bowler than in previous years. However, in a famous incident at training with his captain Arthur Gilligan, he bowled a faster ball, and it scattered the stumps.
This led to the famous quote "Maurice, you must change your style of bowling immediately". Sure enough, from now on Tate developed as a tireless fast-medium bowler and the founder of modern seam bowling. Though not exceptionally fast through the air, Tate became able to gain great speed from the pitch, so that on the fast wickets of the early 1920s, he was dangerous to almost any batsman. His easy, exceptionally rhythmic action and very solid build allowed him to do quite incredible amounts of bowling - his output in 1925 is unparalleled among bowlers of medium pace or above, especially when one considers he was forced to open the batting for Sussex in many matches!
From 1923 to 1925, Tate became an almost irrepressible force, not only in county cricket, but also in Test matches. In 1924, on his Test debut, he and Gilligan dismissed South Africa for 30 in just 12.3 overs in the first innings of the First Test, played at Edgbaston. He took 4/12 with Gilligan taking 6/7.
In each of the years 1923 to 1925, he took over 200 wickets, but his batting did not suffer even though Sussex were very weak in this department and though bowling support from Gilligan largely disappeared after 1924 due to a serious injury. Moreover when he toured Australia in 1924-5, on pitches which had proved too much for all English bowlers since Sydney Barnes and Frank Foster in 1911/1912, Tate took 38 wickets (average 23.18) and got through over 600 balls in three of the five Tests with almost no useful bowling support - still an unparalleled physical feat in cricket. It is still the record number of wickets by an Englishman in an Ashes series in Australia.
In the following six years, Tate's grand all-round service to Sussex and England continued, with his batting reaching a peak in 1927, when he hit five centuries for Sussex. In 1929, Tate hit his only Test century against South Africa, but from 1930, whilst he remained a force as a bowler, his batting declined severely and he began to go in very late in the order. The storm created by Don Bradman that year did not pass Tate. From that time, with exceptionally fast bowlers such as Harold Larwood and Bill Voce available, Tate was no longer an essential member of the England side, though he was still a match-winner for Sussex with 164 wickets in 1932. On his third tour of Australia, he did not play a Test match, and even with Larwood unavailable in 1934, Tate (though still bowling superbly for Sussex) was not chosen for any Test.
In 1936, age finally caught up with Tate's bowling. Except for a superb 7 for 19 against Hampshire, he was much more expensive than before, and after 1937, when he had been in and out of the first eleven, Sussex chose not to retain Tate any longer, but he continued to be a keen observer of the game until his death.
His statistics are remarkable. He still holds the record for the most wickets in a season outside England (116 in 1926-7 in India/Ceylon, average 13.78; he also scored 1,193 runs in that season and is the only man to do a 'double' outside England). He achieved the exceptional double of 1,000 runs and 200 wickets in a season three years running (1923, 1924 and 1925). His career total of 2,784 wickets (average 18.16) is the 11th highest ever, and with 21,717 runs (average 25.01) he is one of only nine people ever to get a career double of 20,000 runs and 2,000 wickets. He took three hat tricks in his career. He was Wisden Cricketer of the year in 1924.[2]
