Raymond Flood (cricketer) explained

Raymond Flood
Country:England
Fullname:Raymond David Flood
Birth Date:21 November 1935
Birth Place:Northam, Hampshire, England
Death Place:Lyndhurst, Hampshire, England
Batting:Right-handed
Bowling:Right-arm off break
Club1:Hampshire
Year1:1956–1960
Columns:1
Column1:First-class
Matches1:24
Runs1:885
Bat Avg1:23.28
100S/50S1:1/5
Top Score1:138
Deliveries1:12
Wickets1:0
Bowl Avg1:
Fivefor1:
Tenfor1:
Best Bowling1:
Catches/Stumpings1:10/–
Date:2 January
Year:2009
Source:http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/12859.html Cricinfo

Raymond David Flood (21 November 1935 – 13 March 2014) was an English first-class cricketer active in the late 1950s and beginning of the 1960s.

Cricket career and life

Flood made his first-class debut for Hampshire against Essex at the Portsmouth during the 1956 County Championship, one of two first-class matches he played that season.[1] He did not feature for Hampshire in 1957, while in 1958 he played just once against Derbyshire.[1] Flood found his first–team appearances limited with the established presence of Roy Marshall, Jimmy Gray and Henry Horton limited his appearances, in what was a strong Hampshire side for the time.[2]

He made his breakthrough into the Hampshire first-team in 1959, making twenty first-class appearances in a season characterised by good weather and an early experiment with covered wickets.[2] He scored 780 runs in 1959, averaging 25.16 and made his only first-class century,[3] an unbeaten 138 against Sussex at Hove. With the emergence of Dennis Baldry and Danny Livingstone, and with Mike Barnard's move from The Football League to playing for Hampshire on a full-time basis, Flood's career did not survive much longer;[2] he made one further appearance, in 1960 against Oxford University.[1] After a serious knee injury, he was released by Hampshire prior to the 1961 season.[4]

His batting strengths were described by John Arlott in 1959 Cricket Journal, with Arlott remarking "His strength lies in two strokes... a truly bucolic swing to, or over, mid-wicket and the archaic square-cut off the front foot”.[5] Following his retirement from first-class cricket, Flood lived in the New Forest, working as a window cleaner and playing club cricket for Lyndhurst for thirty seasons.[6] He was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2013 and died six months later on 13 March 2014 in Lyndhurst.[4] His brother, John, was a footballer who played 129 matches for Southampton.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: First-Class Matches played by Ray Flood. CricketArchive. 4 April 2014.
  2. Web site: Hampshire Cricket History: Ray Flood. www.hampshirecrickethistory.wordpress.com. 5 April 2014.
  3. Web site: First-class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Raymond Flood. CricketArchive. 4 April 2014.
  4. News: Hampshire Cricket Legend Passes Away. 13 March 2014. Southern Daily Echo. Southampton. 5 April 2014.
  5. Book: Arlott. John. John Arlott . John Arlott’s Cricket Journal 2. 2nd . 1959 . Heinemann . London.
  6. Web site: Wisden Obituaries - 2014. ESPNcricinfo. 22 June 2023.