Stuart Surridge
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Walter Stuart Surridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 3 September 1917 Herne Hill, Surrey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 13 April 1992 (aged 74) Glossop, Derbyshire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm fast-medium | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Bowler, captain | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1939 | Minor Counties | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1947–1956, 1959 | Surrey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 15 June 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Walter 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 was 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,