Full Name

John Henry Childs

Born

August 15, 1951, Lipson, Plymouth, Devon

Age

72y 217d

Nicknames

Charlie

Batting Style

Left hand Bat

Height

6ft

Education

Audley Park Secondary Modern

Other

Coach

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 four 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

John Childs Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
Tests24422*-414.87000010
FC3813591731690439.08--00--1160
List A120442717716*10.41--00--220

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
Tests2351618331/132/9261.002.12172.0000
FC381-706673060010289/56-29.762.5968.7-528
List A120-53873649994/154/1536.854.0654.4200
John Childs portrait

Explore Statsguru Analysis

Test

Debut/Last Matches of John Childs

FC Matches

Span
1975 - 1996

List A Matches

Span
1975 - 1995

Recent Matches of John Childs

MatchBatBowlDateGroundFormat
Essex vs Pakistanis0 & 0*0/82 & 1/6317-Aug-1996ChelmsfordFC
Essex vs Indians--2/72 & 4/9928-May-1996ChelmsfordFC
vs Indians10/4305-May-1996ArundelOTHEROD
Essex vs Cheshire--1/2627-Jun-1995ChesterList A
Essex vs Middlesex0* & 10/2326-Aug-1993ColchesterFC

Photos of John Childs

John Childs