Malcolm Hilton
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Chadderton, Lancashire, England
Oldham, Greater Manchester, England
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Malcolm Jameson Hilton | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 2 August 1928 Chadderton, Lancashire, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 8 July 1990 (aged 61) Oldham, Greater Manchester, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Slow left-arm orthodox | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National side | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Test debut | 12 August 1950 v West Indies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Test | 6 February 1952 v India | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: CricInfo, 6 November 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Malcolm Jameson Hilton (2 August 1928 – 8 July 1990)[1] was an English left-arm spin bowler, who played for Lancashire and in four Test matches for England.
Cricket writer, Colin Bateman, stated, "he was the best slow left-arm bowler Lancashire had seen this century and, at 22, was in the Test side, seemingly set for life. Hilton, however, suffered the spinners' nightmare, the jitters, and lost his way at times". Bateman added, "He also, say colleagues, enjoyed cricket's social life a little too much although his 1,006 first-class wickets still cost only 19 apiece".[1]
Hilton was born in Chadderton, Lancashire. He began playing in the Central Lancashire League at Werneth Cricket Club as a teenager in 1945, and made his first-class debut in 1946 against Sussex at Hove, scoring 2 not out and taking one wicket. He came into prominence at the age of 19 by dismissing Donald Bradman twice in Lancashire's match with the Australians in May 1948, making national newspaper headlines.[2] His first 10 wickets were Test batsmen, but Lancashire kept him from the front line up to the end of 1949, until the late Bill Roberts and Eric Price were no longer on the staff. He took 103 wickets for the Second Eleven in the Minor Counties Championship in 1949 and, in 1950, he gained a permanent place in the First Eleven taking 125 wickets for less than 17 runs apiece. He was called up for the final Test match against the West Indies but was not successful.
England
In 1951, he bowled with great steadiness against the South Africans,[3] taking 3 for 176 in the first innings on a featherbed pitch at Headingley during the fourth Test Match. He toured India the following winter, but was criticised in Wisden as lacking the ability to exploit the Indian type of pitch. Despite this, at Kanpur in the Fourth Test he took nine wickets in the match, and led England to victory, alongside his off-spinning Lancastrian colleague Roy Tattersall.