Tarrant Frank Image 1 Middlesex 1908

Description

Fitzroy, Victoria born all-rounder Frank Tarrant first played for Victoria in 1898-1899, and met with little success either as a batsman or a bowler then or in 1900-1901, when he next represented the State. However, he moved to England in 1903 to join the Lord’s ground staff and played a number of matches for the Marylebone Cricket Club (M.C.C.) while qualifying for Middlesex. In these, he showed himself developing into a left-arm spinner of above average pace but with nothing beyond steadiness when pitches did not help him. In 1904, the first year he represented Middlesex, he showed development as a solid right-handed batsman, and in 1905, when fully qualified, he was a valuable aid to Middlesex. his superb batting on a difficult pitch to draw the game with Essex at Leyton showed he was a player of exceptional resolution during the most difficult crisis.

In 1906, while his bowling was impotent on the rock-hard wickets prevailing in the Home Counties for most of the season, Tarrant was unplayable on rain-affected pitches at Old Trafford and in Yorkshire, and he scored 1,000 runs for the first time.

1907 saw Tarrant take a leap into cricket’s elite, with his batting, at least for three months, marking him as a player of remarkable patience even if he failed to use all the strokes he was capable of playing. Though he lacked sting when pitches were hard, on rain-affected pitches Tarrant could turn the ball extremely quickly from a perfect length. This was seen at its clearest when he took 9-59 against Nottinghamshire at Lord’s – some of the batsmen said they “had never seen a finer piece of bowling”. For the whole season Tarrant took 183 wickets for 15.70 each and scored 1,552 runs with an average of 32.

That winter, Tarrant returned to Australia and in six matches scored 762 runs for an average of 76, including 159 against the touring M.C.C. team and 206 against New South Wales at the S.C.G.. Between 1908 and 1914, he was always one of the best all-rounders in the game – a safe catcher, a skilful opening batsman (who formed with Pelham Warner one of the best opening partnerships in the game), and a deadly bowler when the wicket was helpful and steady when it did not. His batting also grew beyond the purely defensive as he developed his on-side strokes – so much that against Surrey at Lord’s in 1911 he scored 89 in seventy minutes when Middlesex wanted quick runs for a declaration.

That year he achieved the rare feat of scoring 2,000 runs and taking 100 wickets, and carried his bat for 207 against Yorkshire. His performance of taking 16 for 176 followed by 101 not out against Lancashire in 1914 remains one of the greatest all-round feats in county cricket. That same year, he scored a brilliant 250 not out at Leyton after Johnny Douglas had put Middlesex in to bat on a rain-affected pitch. As he scored 200 against Worcestershire in the following match, he accomplished the remarkable feat of scoring two successive double hundreds. With J.W. Hearne he forged a partnership that, almost single handed, allowed Middlesex to come second in the County Championship to Surrey.

During the First World War, Tarrant played in India, and his bowling was unplayable on the matting wickets against weak batting. In 1918-1919 he achieved the incredible feat of scoring a century and taking all ten wickets in an innings. After the First World War, he was mostly active in India, appearing for the Europeans in the Bombay Quadrangular tournament.

Tarrant continued to organise touring teams to India after the War, and only played rarely outside India. However, he managed to make 78 in one final first class match as late as 1936-1937, when he was 57, and he umpired England’s first two Tests on Indian soil, as well as several other M.C.C. matches on that tour. Tarrant and his son Louis stood together in the match between M.C.C. and Southern Punjab, which provides one of the few instances when a father and son umpired in a match, and later also appeared together in a first class match during the 1935-36 season.

On 26th August 1909, playing for Middlesex against Gloucestershire, Tarrant did the double by taking a hat-trick and carrying his bat in the same match; he is the only cricketer to do so.

In 329 first class matches, he scored 17,952 runs at an average of 36.41, with 33 centuries, a top score of 250 not out, and 39 half centuries. With his bowling he took 1,512 wickets at only 17.49 apiece, with 38 ten wicket matches and 133 five wicket innings. He also took 303 catches in first class play.

He was a nephew of ex-Victoria player Ambrose Tarrant. Also his son Louis Tarrant played first class cricket in India in the 1930’s.

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