Tom Spencer (cricketer)

{{For|the Somerset cricketer and administrator|Thomas Spencer (cricketer)}}

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Tom Spencer

| image =

| country = England

| fullname = Thomas William Spencer

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|3|22|df=y}}

| birth_place = Deptford, London, England

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1995|11|01|1914|3|22|df=y}}

| death_place = Seaton Delaval, Northumberland, England

| batting = Right-handed

| bowling = Right-arm medium

| role = Batsman

| club1 = Kent

| year1 = {{nowrap|1935–1946}}

| type1 = FC

| debutdate1 = 4 September

| debutyear1 = 1935

| debutfor1 = Kent

| debutagainst1 = Essex

| lastdate1 = 7 August

| lastyear1 = 1946

| lastfor1 = Kent

| lastagainst1 = Somerset

| umpire = true

| testsumpired = 17

| umptestdebutyr = 1954

| umptestlastyr = 1978

| odisumpired = 6

| umpodidebutyr = 1972

| umpodilastyr = 1975

| fcumpired= 701

| umpfcdebutyr = 1950

| umpfclastyr= 1981

| listaumpired = 193

| umplistadebutyr = 1950

| umplistalastyr = 1984

| columns = 1

| column1 = First-class

| matches1 = 76

| runs1 = 2,152

| bat avg1 = 20.11

| 100s/50s1 = 0/12

| top score1 = 96

| deliveries1 = 30

| wickets1 = 1

| bowl avg1 = 19.00

| best bowling1 = 1/19

| fivefor1 = 0

| tenfor1 = 0

| catches/stumpings1 = 36/–

| date = 17 December

| year = 2023

| source = https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/tom-spencer-20958 CricInfo

}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name =

| position = Winger

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 =

| years1 = {{0|0000}}–1933

| years2 = 1933

| years3 = 1934–1936

| years4 = 1936

| years5 = 1936–1937

| years6 = 1937–1938

| years7 = 1938–1939

| clubs1 = Hastings & St Leonards

| clubs2 = Bexhill

| clubs3 = Tunbridge Wells Rangers

| clubs4 = Fulham

| clubs5 = Lincoln City

| clubs6 = Ashford

| clubs7 = Sittingbourne

| caps4 = 0

| caps5 = 4

| goals4 =0

| goals5 = 1

}}

Thomas William Spencer {{post-nominals|OBE}} (22 March 1914 – 1 November 1995) was an English first-class sportsman who played first-class cricket for Kent County Cricket Club and association football for Lincoln City in the Football League. He was later a notable cricket umpire who stood in 17 Test matches and six One Day Internationals.Spencer, Thomas William, Obituaries in 2003, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 2003. ([https://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/155075.html Available online] at CricInfo. Retrieved 2024-04-28.)

Cricket career

=Playing=

Spencer played 76 matches for Kent[https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/32/32959/32959.html Tom Spencer], CricketArchive. Retrieved 2020-12-20. {{subscription required}} either side of World War II as an attacking batsman. His batting average was 20.11, he took one wicket for 19 runs from the five overs he bowled, and took 36 catches.[https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/tom-spencer-20958 Tom Spencer], CricInfo. Retrieved 2024-04-28. Although Spencer won his County cap, his career was disrupted by World War II in which he served in the Royal Air Force.Brooke R, Tom Spencer: Obituary, The Cricketer, March 2003. ([https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/tom-spencer-20958 Available online] at CricInfo. Retrieved 2024-04-28.

=Umpiring=

At the suggestion of Frank Chester, Spencer joined the first-class umpire's list in 1950 and was appointed to his first Test in 1954. For reasons he never understood he had to wait 15 years before he was asked again. Years later he claimed to have been "a bit disgusted," but that he "was determined to plod on and become a bloody good county umpire."Quoted in Wisden, 2003, op. cit.. Spencer eventually stood in 17 Test matches, the last in 1978, and six One Day Internationals, including the first ODI at Lord's in 1972 and the first World Cup final in 1975. For the last 20 years until his retirement in 1980 he travelled to matches by train rather than car which he said allowed him to rest his eyes between appointments. In all, Spencer stood in a record 570 County Championship matches and 701 first-class fixtures, a total second only to Chester.

Football career

Spencer was with his local club Hastings & St Leonards{{cite news |date=1 October 1932 |title=Southern Amateur League: Reserves Section: Aquarius Reserves 1 – Hastings Reserves 7 |work=Hastings and St Leonards Observer |location=Hastings |page=11}} until September 1933 after which he had a short spell with Bexhill{{cite news |date=15 September 1933 |title=Football Tests; New players in the Field |work=Sussex Express |location=Lewes |page=7}} of the Sussex County League. He moved on to Southern League club Tunbridge Wells Rangers{{cite news |date=12 January 1934 |title=Sussex Senior Notes |work=Sussex Express |location=Lewes |page=}} and then in July 1936 was signed by Second Division Club Fulham,{{cite news |date=31 July 1936 |title=With The Rangers: Spencers New Club |work=Kent & Sussex Courier |location=Tunbridge Wells |page=17}} but he did not make any league appearances for them. In November 1936 Spencer joined Lincoln City{{cite news |date= 29 November 1936 |title=Sporting Chatter: Lincoln's Sixth |work=The People |location=London |page=21}} of Division 3 North and played in four league matches scoring one goal{{ENFA |access-date=4 December 2023}} which he scored on 25 December 1936 against Rotherham United. From the 1937–38 season he returned to playing non-league football in the Kent League, firstly for a season with Ashford{{cite news |date=27 August 1937 |title=Football: Ashford Signings |work=Kentish Express |location=Ashford |page=12}} and then for the 1938–39 season with Sittingbourne.{{cite news |date=14 October 1938 |title=Kent League Side's fine win |work= Kent & Sussex Courier |location=Tunbridge Wells |page=17}}

Personal life

Spencer was a natural sportsman. He claimed to have played four sports professionally, the other two being table tennis and boxing. After retiring from cricket he moved into professional coaching at Wrekin School and for many years he spent the northern winter coaching at St. Patrick's Christian Brothers' College, Kimberley in South Africa.Carlaw D (2020) Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part Two: 1919–1939, pp. 137–139. ([https://archive.acscricket.com/books/Kent_Cricketers_A_to_Z_Part_Two.pdf Available online] at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 2020-07-01.)

Spencer was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1976 Birthday Honours.UK list: {{London Gazette |date=4 June 1976 |supp=y |issue=46919 |pages=8026 }}

In later life he lived for many years in the North East. During June 1981 he wrote a series of historic career articles in the Newcastle based Sunday Sun newspaper.{{cite news |last1=Spencer |first1=Tom |date=14 June 1981 |title=Dickie Loves Those Cameras |work=Sunday Sun |location=Newcastle |page=25}} His death in 1995 was reported in his local media,{{cite news |last1=Wood |first1=Ian |date=7 November 1995 |title= Umpire Spencer dies at 81 |work=Evening Chronicle |location=Newcastle |page=2}} but overlooked in the wider cricketing world. His obituary did not appear in Wisden or The Cricketer until 2003.