Denis Russell

Denis Russell, died on December 29, 1986, aged 77. Captain of Beaumont College in 1927, he was four years at Oxford without getting a Blue, although in 1930 he scored 40 and 101 in the Seniors' match and, playing for H. D. G. Leveson Gower's XI at Eastbourne against the University in 1931 after the side had been made up, scored 92. Meanwhile he had made his mark for Middlesex, for whom he made 25 appearances between 1928 and 1932. In 1929 he scored 66 against Warwickshire at Birmingham and 52 against Kent at Dover, while in 1930 he enjoyed a triumph as a bowler, taking seven for 43 against Gloucestershire at Lord's. A right-handed bat, he had beautiful strokes, and with a slightly stronger defence, and perhaps a more stable temperament, he could have been a fine player. He was a slow-medium left-arm bowler who, if memory serves, relied more on length and a bit of pace off the wicket than on spin. He was also an excellent field. In all first-class matches he made 666 runs, with an average of 13.87, and took seventeen wickets at 31.00.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack