George Chesterton facts for kids

George Herbert Chesterton MBE (born July 15, 1922 – died November 3, 2012) was an English cricket player. He played first-class cricket from 1949 to 1966. Most of his games were for Worcestershire between 1950 and 1957. He was mainly a bowler and never scored 50 runs in his many innings.

Early Life and Cricket Beginnings

George Chesterton went to Malvern College and then Brasenose College, Oxford. He played his first big cricket game, called a first-class match, in 1948. He played for a team called Free Foresters against Oxford University. In that game, he scored 29 runs and took two wickets. A wicket is when a bowler gets a batter out.

Playing for Oxford and Cornwall

Even though he only played one first-class game that year, he also played for Cornwall a couple of times. In 1949, George played a lot for the Oxford team. That year was his best for taking wickets, getting 46 in total. He also took five wickets in an innings four times, which is a great achievement for a bowler.

His best bowling performance that season was taking 6 wickets for only 11 runs against Free Foresters. In the same game, he also scored his highest ever runs, 43. He played in the important University Match against Cambridge University at Lord's, a famous cricket ground.

Joining Worcestershire and MCC

In 1950, George started playing county cricket for Worcestershire. He took 38 wickets in first-class games that year. He twice took six wickets in an innings for Worcestershire. He also played for the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against Ireland in Dublin.

From 1952 to 1957, George played about five or six games each year for Worcestershire. He usually took between 20 and 30 wickets each season. He also kept traveling to Ireland with the MCC. In 1956, during a tour in Ireland, he had his best ever bowling performance. He took 7 wickets for only 14 runs! He then took 3 more wickets in the next innings, which meant he took 10 wickets in one match. This is a very rare and impressive feat in cricket.

End of Playing Career

George Chesterton stopped playing county cricket after 1957. However, he played one more game for Free Foresters in 1961. He also continued to go to Ireland with the MCC until the mid-1960s. His very last first-class game was in September 1966.

Life After Cricket

After his playing career, George Chesterton continued to be involved in cricket and education.

Writing Books

He wrote a book about how to coach young people in cricket. It was called Your Book of Cricket and he wrote it with another cricketer, Alan Duff. He also helped write another book called Oxford and Cambridge Cricketers.

He wrote a book about his time serving in the RAF (Royal Air Force) during the Second World War. It was called Also Flew. Another book, called A Remarkable Man, was written about his life by Andrew Murtagh.

The Chesterton Cup

In 1991, George started something special called The Chesterton Cup. This is an annual cricket competition for schools in the English Midlands. Schools like RGS Worcester, Cheltenham College, Malvern College, and Monmouth School often take part. In 2011, he became the president of the Cricketer Cup, which is another important cricket competition.

Working at Malvern College

Outside of cricket, George worked at Malvern College, the school he went to as a boy. He worked there until 1982 and became the deputy head. In 1990, he wrote a book about the school called Malvern College: 125 Years. In 2006, the Malvernian Society held a special dinner to celebrate his 70 years of connection with the college.

George Chesterton passed away at the age of 90 on November 3, 2012.