Jim Eaglestone

Wisden Obituary
Eaglestone, James Thomas, who died in Pinner, Middlesex, on October 14, 2000, aged 77, played only three seasons of first-class cricket, never hit a hundred, yet in successive summers was in Championship-winning sides - with different counties. A left-hander, Jim Eaglestone signed for Middlesex in 1947 and went straight into the side after he scored 77 (his career-best) and put on 128 with Denis Compton for MCC against Surrey in early May. He began his county career with a duck, as Middlesex opened with defeat by Somerset, but a week later he hit 55 in a century stand with Bill Edrich, who went on to 225. There was another half-century, 61 against Oxford, but Middlesex had no shortage of free-scoring batsmen. Although his speed in the field was an asset, he played only seven games for 151 runs in the title race. Glamorgan, conscious that Arnold Dyson would be coaching Oundle School for much of 1948, encouraged the 24-year-old Eaglestone to head west, along with his fast-bowling team- mate Norman Hever. Eaglestone contributed 595 runs at 18.59 to Glamorgan's Championship campaign, and his captain, Wilf Wooller, considered the runs he saved in the field as valuable as those he scored. His 65 against Hampshire put Glamorgan in a strong position when rain softened the pitch later in the day, and against Sussex at Swansea he knocked up 72 in 50 minutes. In 1949, however, he managed only 341 runs at 11.36 and decided to give up first-class cricket and return to London. In 60 games he had scored 1,420 runs at 15.77 and held 23 catches. For years afterwards he ran a newsagent's in Paddington.
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2003