Ken Palmer will be best remembered as one of England's longer-serving umpires, but he also played one Test, when he was coaching in Johannesburg and was called up after a series of injuries in 1964-65. It was a chastening debut: his bowling average of 189 is the second-worst in England's Test history. In fairness, although it was a case of right place, right time, Palmer had been chosen in the England XII twice in 1963 only to be left out on the morning of the match. A stalwart allrounder for Somerset between 1955 and 1969, he was a solid middle-order batsman and fast-medium bowler. In 1961 he achieved the double - the youngest Somerset player to do so. He was appointed as an umpire in 1972, and in 31 seasons he stood in 22 Test matches and 23 one-day internationals. He was embroiled in controversy at Headingley in 1992 when he gave Graham Gooch not out when replays showed he had been run-out by two feet. The Pakistan side never forgave him as England went on to win a close match.
Martin Williamson