Lists of oldest cricketers explained

This is a set of lists of the oldest Test and first-class cricketers.

Oldest living Test cricketers

Name	Country	Date of birth	Debut	Last match	Age as of
	South Africa	24 December 1926	10 February 1950	6 March 1950
		8 October 1928	22 January 1948	20 February 1963
		8 November 1929	13 October 1955	6 February 1956
		22 December 1929	13 November 1952	13 November 1959
	India	1 March 1930	14 March 1951	28 January 1960
	New Zealand	7 June 1930	1 January 1954	5 January 1954
	India	24 November 1930	28 December 1955	2 January 1956
	Australia	29 February 1932	21 November 1959	6 February 1960
	South Africa	31 March 1932	8 December 1961	20 February 1962
	New Zealand	23 June 1932	6 March 1953	13 March 1964

Oldest living Test cricketers by country

Country	Player	Age as of
Afghanistan	Mohammad Nabi
Australia	Neil Harvey
Bangladesh	Enamul Haque
England	Micky Stewart
India	C. D. Gopinath
Ireland	Ed Joyce
New Zealand	Trevor McMahon
Pakistan	Wazir Mohammad
South Africa	Ronald Draper
Sri Lanka	Somachandra de Silva
West Indies	Cammie Smith
Zimbabwe	John Traicos

Note: Twenty-seven first-class cricketers are known to have attained centenarian status (see relevant section below). Source:^[1]

Oldest Test cricketers still playing at Test level

Name	Country	Date of birth	Debut	Age as of
	Zimbabwe	19 August 1985	04 August 2011
	Pakistan	8 October 1985	12 July 2009

Oldest Test cricketers still playing at Test level, by country

Country	Name	Age as of
Afghanistan	Amir Hamza
Australia	Usman Khawaja
Bangladesh	Shakib Al Hasan
England	Chris Woakes
India	Ravichandran Ashwin
Ireland	Craig Young
New Zealand	Ajaz Patel
Pakistan	Fawad Alam
South Africa	Rassie van der Dussen
Sri Lanka	Angelo Mathews
West Indies	Shannon Gabriel
Zimbabwe	Craig Ervine

Note: The above lists include players who have played Test cricket within the past 24 months and have not formally announced their retirement.

Longest-lived Test cricketers

See also Oldest living Test cricketers above.

Name	Country	Date of birth	Debut	Last match	Date of death	Age
	South Africa	6 August 1911	24 December 1938	14 March 1939	2 September 2014
	New Zealand	18 December 1910	26 June 1937	25 March 1947	1 August 2010
	England	9 April 1848	2 January 1879	4 January 1879	27 February 1947
	South Africa	10 April 1923	24 December 1949	5 January 1957	3 September 2021
	South Africa	6 February 1919	7 June 1947	9 March 1949	5 September 2016
	England	14 June 1923	20 June 1957	27 July 1957	10 January 2021
	New Zealand	28 December 1910	27 June 1931	27 July 1937	27 May 2007
	England	29 October 1877	1 June 1899	12 April 1930	8 July 1973
	Australia	31 July 1912	8 June 1934	29 June 1948	16 March 2008
	New Zealand	2 June 1908	24 January 1930	17 August 1937	31 October 2003
	West Indies	26 February 1925	21 January 1948	31 March 1958	1 July 2020
	India	27 October 1928	5 June 1952	18 January 1961	13 February 2024
	Australia	17 January 1928	22 December 1950	5 December 1951	14 April 2023
	West Indies	22 January 1921	11 February 1948	16 February 1948	17 February 2016
	England	19 April 1873	13 December 1901	18 February 1914	26 December 1967
	West Indies	21 November 1916	27 March 1948	21 January 1954	10 June 2011
	India	6 June 1909	5 January 1934	8 January 1934	21 December 2003
	Australia	25 November 1915	28 February 1947	5 January 1948	24 March 2010
	South Africa	12 December 1914	6 December 1948	6 March 1950	10 March 2009
	New Zealand	3 July 1902	27 February 1932	3 April 1933	23 September 1996

Source:^{[2] [3]}

Oldest Test debutants

Name	Country	Date of birth	Debut	Age at debut
	England	16 November 1827	15 March 1877
	Pakistan	20 April 1907	29 January 1955
	Australia	5 April 1882	14 December 1928
	Australia	7 April 1882	30 November 1928
	West Indies	4 June 1887	1 February 1930
	England	25 March 1879	25 February 1921
	India	18 November 1892	15 December 1933

Oldest Test debutant by country

Country	Name	Age at debut
Australia	Don Blackie	46 years, 253 days
Bangladesh	Enamul Haque	35 years, 58 days
England	James Southerton
India	Rustomji Jamshedji	41 years, 27 days
Ireland	Ed Joyce	39 years, 232 days
New Zealand	Herb McGirr	38 years, 101 days
Pakistan	Miran Bakhsh	47 years, 284 days
South Africa	Omar Henry	40 years, 295 days
Sri Lanka	Somachandra de Silva	39 years, 251 days
West Indies	Nelson Betancourt	42 years, 242 days
Zimbabwe	Andy Waller	37 years, 84 days

Note: John Traicos debuted for Zimbabwe at the age of, but had already played three Tests for South Africa 22 years prior.^[4]

Note: The oldest debutant, James Southerton, was also the first Test cricketer to die (on 16 June 1880). Miran Bakhsh was known as Miran Bux during his playing career.

Source:^[5]

Oldest Test cricketers on final appearance

Name	Country	Date of birth	Test Debut	Last match	Age at last Test
	England	29 October 1877	1 June 1899	12 April 1930
	Australia	7 April 1882	30 November 1928	28 February 1933
	England	18 July 1848	6 September 1880	3 June 1899
	England	13 June 1879	13 December 1907	12 April 1930
	England	16 November 1827	15 March 1877	4 April 1877
	Pakistan	20 April 1907	29 January 1955	16 February 1955
	England	16 December 1882	1 January 1908	22 August 1930
	England	27 May 1887	9 August 1909	22 August 1934
	Australia	5 April 1882	14 December 1928	8 February 1929
	England	28 January 1880	1 January 1910	18 August 1926

Oldest Test cricketers on final appearance by country

Country	Name	Age
Australia	Bert Ironmonger	50 years, 327 days
Bangladesh	Mohammad Rafique
England	Wilfred Rhodes
India	Vinoo Mankad	41 years, 305 days
Ireland	Ed Joyce	39 years, 231 days
New Zealand	Jack Alabaster	41 years, 247 days
Pakistan	Miran Bakhsh	47 years, 302 days
South Africa	Dave Nourse	45 years, 207 days
Sri Lanka	Somachandra de Silva	42 years, 78 days
West Indies	George Headley	44 years, 236 days
Zimbabwe	John Traicos	45 years, 304 days

Note: The Test career of Wilfred Rhodes spanned a record 30 years, 315 days. England's youngest Test cricketer and another Yorkshireman, Brian Close (born 24 February 1931), lies second in this regard. He made his debut against New Zealand in 1949 and was recalled, after an absence of almost nine years, to oppose West Indies in 1976 (his career lasting 26 years, 356 days). Source:^[6]

Longest-lived first-class cricketers

This list includes all those first-class players who are known to have lived to 100.^[7]

Rank	Name	Team(s)	Birth date	Death date	Age	Nationality
1	John Manners	Hampshire, Combined Services	25 September 1914	7 March 2020	105 years, 225 days
2	Jim Hutchinson	Derbyshire	29 November 1896	7 November 2000	103 years, 344 days
3	Syd Ward	Wellington	5 August 1907	31 December 2010	103 years, 148 days
4	Norman Gordon	South Africa, Transvaal	6 August 1911	2 September 2014	103 years, 27 days
5	Rupert de Smidt	Western Province	23 November 1883	3 August 1986	102 years, 253 days
6	Edward English	Hampshire	1 January 1864	5 September 1966	102 years, 247 days
7	Cyril Perkins	Northamptonshire, Minor Counties	4 June 1911	21 November 2013	102 years, 170 days
8	John Wheatley	Canterbury	8 January 1860	19 April 1962	102 years, 101 days
9	Archie Scott	Scotland	26 January 1918	1 November 2019	101 years, 272 days
10	Ted Martin	Western Australia	30 September 1902	9 June 2004	101 years, 253 days
11	D. B. Deodhar	Hindus, Maharashtra	14 January 1892	24 August 1993	101 years, 222 days
12	George Harman	Dublin University	6 June 1874	14 December 1975	101 years, 191 days
13	Fred Gibson	Leicestershire	13 February 1912	28 June 2013	101 years, 135 days	(lived in)
14	Alan Finlayson	Eastern Province	1 September 1900	28 October 2001	101 years, 57 days
15	Neil McCorkell	Hampshire, Players	23 March 1912	28 February 2013	100 years, 342 days
16	Raghunath Chandorkar	Bombay	21 November 1920	3 September 2021	100 years, 286 days
17	Geoffrey Beck	Oxford University	16 June 1918	5 March 2019	100 years, 262 days
18	Harold Stapleton	New South Wales	7 January 1915	24 September 2015	100 years, 260 days
19	Alan Burgess	Canterbury	1 May 1920	5 January 2021	100 years, 249 days
20	Rusi Cooper	Parsees, Bombay, Middlesex	14 December 1922	31 July 2023	100 years, 229 days
21	Charles Braithwaite	English Residents, Players of USA	10 September 1845	15 April 1946	100 years, 217 days
22	Harry Forsyth	Dublin University	18 December 1903	19 July 2004	100 years, 214 days
23	Jack Laver	Tasmania	9 March 1917	3 October 2017	100 years, 208 days
24	Tom Pritchard	Wellington, Warwickshire	10 March 1917	22 August 2017	100 years, 165 days
25	Bernarr Notley	Nottinghamshire	31 August 1918	22 January 2019	100 years, 144 days
26	Vasant Raiji	Bombay, Baroda	26 January 1920	13 June 2020	100 years, 139 days
27	George Deane	Hampshire	11 December 1828	26 February 1929	100 years, 77 days

Note: Although born in New South Wales, Australia, Syd Ward and John Wheatley appear to have been raised in New Zealand. George Harman, who acquired two Rugby Union caps for Ireland, died in Cornwall. Charles Braithwaite was born in England. Fred Gibson moved to England in 1944. Neil McCorkell was born in England, but lived in South Africa from 1951. The prominent Antiguan cricketer, Sir Sydney Walling, who died aged 102 years, 88 days in October 2009, never appeared in matches accorded first-class status.

The oldest person, and only septuagenarian, to play first-class cricket was Raja Maharaj Singh, aged 72, his sole appearance being for the Bombay Governor's XI against a Commonwealth XI in November 1950.^[8] Thirteen players have played first-class cricket in their sixties, most of them in England in the 19th century.^[9]

Oldest women cricketers

England women's cricketer Eileen Whelan (later Eileen Ash), born 30 October 1911, was the first female Test cricketer to attain centenarian status; she died on 3 December 2021, aged 110 years 34 days.^[10]

Oldest living ODI cricketers

The first One-Day International took place on 5 January 1971 when Australia played England.

Name	Country	Date of birth	Debut	Last match	Age as of
	West Indies	29 September 1934	5 September 1973	7 June 1975
	West Indies	26 December 1935	5 September 1973	21 June 1975
	Australia	3 February 1936	22 February 1978	12 April 1978
	West Indies	28 July 1936	5 September 1973	5 September 1973
	Australia	11 February 1937	5 January 1971	5 January 1971
	India	25 February 1938	13 July 1974	14 June 1975
	Sri Lanka	23 March 1939	7 June 1975	14 June 1975
	Australia	29 June 1939	5 January 1971	5 January 1971
	West Indies	29 June 1939	7 September 1973	7 September 1973
	New Zealand	23 March 1940	11 February 1973	18 June 1975

Oldest living Twenty20 International cricketers

The first Twenty20 International took place on 17 February 2005 when Australia played New Zealand.

Name	Country	Date of birth	Debut	Last match	Age as of
Osman Göker	Turkey	1 March 1960	29 August 2019	29 August 2019
Cengiz Akyüz	Turkey	1 June 1962	29 August 2019	29 August 2019
Serdar Kansoy	Turkey	6 July 1962	29 August 2019	31 August 2019
Christian Rocca		8 March 1965	13 May 2022	14 May 2022
Hasan Alta	Turkey	25 May 1965	29 August 2019	31 August 2019
		8 August 1965	20 May 2019	7 November 2021
Mark Oman		5 September 1966	25 July 2022	30 July 2022
		17 October 1968	2 August 2008	10 February 2010
Tony Whiteman		24 May 1969	29 August 2019	5 September 2021
	Sri Lanka	30 June 1969	15 June 2006	25 June 2011

Notes and References

1. https://www.espncricinfo.com/records/oldest-living-players-283742 Cricinfo: Oldest living players
2. http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283740.html Cricinfo: Longest lived players
3. http://www.rediff.com/cricket/2003/dec/22old.htm Rediff: Oldest Test cricketers at the time of death
4. http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/player/55802.html?class=1;template=results;type=allround;view=match Cricinfo: Traicos debut
5. https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tms/2007/12/ask_bearders_160.shtml BBC Test Match Special, Ask Bearders: "Can you tell me who is the oldest cricket player to make a Test match debut"
6. http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283722.html Cricinfo: Oldest players
7. Web site: It takes a rare cricketer to reach a century, not just make one . ESPN Cricinfo . 2 August 2018.
8. http://content-www.cricinfo.com/india/content/story/304620.html Cricinfo: Ripe old age
9. Web site: First-Class Oldest Players . The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians . 9 January 2021.
10. Web site: Eileen Ash, 1911-2021 . England and Wales Cricket Board . 4 December 2021.