Middlesex and Gloucestershire batsman of the 1960s, Sid Russell, died in June after a heart attack while on holiday in Quebec. He was 56. Born in Feltham on Oct 4,1937, Sidney Edward James Russell, educated at Ashford Grammar School, joined the Middlesex staff at 19 and made his first-class debut in 1960, when he went on to pass 1000 runs with his 'somewhat pugnacious, unorthodox style', often displaying aggression. In August he made his maiden century, 129 against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham, a county he was destined to join in 1965 when his five seasons of intermittent cricket with his native county had brought him only one further century, 130, again against Gloucestershire, at Lord's in 1962. His first season after the move to Gloucestershire was to be his best: 1256 runs, albeit at the modest average of 25.12; and he was awarded his cap. Russell managed only one century in the two seasons that followed, however, and 1967 was his last full season. In all first-class cricket he scored 5464 runs at 23.86. A popular figure, he also played football for Brentford - 54 matches at full-back.
Wisden Cricket Monthly