Born On This Day: 1st February

Opening batsman Tony Middleton was born in Winchester in 1964. If timing is the key to a long and successful career as a county batsman then Tony Middleton was particularly unfortunate, for during his time with the county they had the strongest batting line-up in their history.

He played first for the 2nd XI in 1982 and between then and his final season, 1995, Hampshire could select at various times from Test batsmen, Greenidge, Terry, Gower and the Smith brothers, plus Jesty, Turner, James, and the captain Nicholas.

Middleton made his debut in 1984, at a damp Bournemouth v Kent in a match in which Underwood took 12-121 and 40 wickets fell without any side reaching 200. He then had to wait two years for his next chance and a run in the side in the late summer which brought 316 runs at 28.72, and a first half-century. Despite this he played just two more matches in the next two seasons, and seven more in 1989, by which time he had made his limited-overs debut.

1990, a good season for batting, was Middleton’s breakthrough year, with 1,238 runs at 47.61 and five centuries, and while his record declined somewhat in 1991, he was even more successful in 1992, with 1,780 runs at 49.44, and six more centuries, including 221 v Surrey at Southampton.

Meanwhile late in 1991, Chris Smith, having helped Hampshire to their first Nat West Final, departed and Middleton made his 60-over debut in a Lord’s Final, and was equal top scorer with 78 as Hampshire beat Surrey in a thrilling finish.

In a short period, Middleton had gone from a loyal reserve to a leading player and he was rewarded with a tour of Australia with the England ‘A’ side. By his own admission, he tried to adapt his patient game, to a more enterprising one, and it did not work. He scored few runs on the tour and in the next two first-class seasons scored just over 500 runs.

There were just two games in 1995 and he retired to take up a coaching role with the county which he still holds, while his son Fletcha is now a member of the county’s 2nd XI. Tony scored 5,665 runs for Hampshire at 34.75, one of the highest averages by any Hampshire-born batsman, and including 13 centuries. Bowling slow-left-arm, he took five wickets.