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Full name John Henry Childs
Born August 15, 1951, Lipson, Plymouth, Devon
Current age 57 years 59 days
Major teams England,Essex,Gloucestershire
Nickname Charlie
Batting style Left-hand bat
Other Coach
Height
6 ft 0 in
Education Audley Park Secondary Modern
Batting and fielding averages
Mat
Inns
NO
Runs
HS
Ave
BF
SR
100
50
4s
6s
Ct
St
Tests
2
4
4
2
2*
-
41
4.87
0
0
0
0
1
0
First-class
381
359
173
1690
43
9.08
0
0
116
0
List A
120
44
27
177
16*
10.41
0
0
22
0
Bowling averages
Mat
Inns
Balls
Runs
Wkts
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
4w
5w
10
Tests
2
3
516
183
3
1/13
2/92
61.00
2.12
172.0
0
0
0
First-class
381
70667
30600
1028
9/56
29.76
2.59
68.7
52
8
List A
120
5387
3649
99
4/15
4/15
36.85
4.06
54.4
2
0
0
Career statistics
Test debut
England v West Indies at Manchester, Jun 30-Jul 5, 1988 scorecard
Last Test
England v West Indies at The Oval, Aug 4-8, 1988 scorecard
Test statistics
First-class span
1975 - 1996
List A span
1975 - 1995
Profile
In 1988 John Childs became England's oldest debutant for 41 years when, aged 36 years and 320 days, he made his debut against West Indies. An orthodox left-arm spinner, Childs came late into first-class cricket, and despite being at Gloucestershire for ten seasons, he never really made an impression and was released at the end of 1984. He wrote to 15 counties asking for work, but it was Essex who took him on in 1985. That summer he took five wickets at 105, but instead of being released - as he expected - he was sent to lord's to work on his action with Fred Titmus and Don Wilson. In 1986, with a quicker approach to the crease and a flatter trajectory, he took 89 wickets at 15 and was a key reason Essex won the Championship, and was also named as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year. Two Tests were his reward in 1988, but it was the summer in which England used five captains and were demolished by West Indies. Childs was named in the party for that winter's Indian trip, but the tour was cancelled and he was not picked again, although he was named in the England XII at Headingley in 1992. Aged 40, that season he took 64 wickets as Essex again won the Championship. He carried on playing first-class cricket well into his forties and then moved into a coaching role at Chelmsford.
Martin Williamson
