David Denton (cricketer)

David Denton (4 July 1874 – 16 February 1950)^[1] was an English first-class cricketer. An attacking batsman, he had a long career with Yorkshire and played eleven Tests for England. His nickname of 'Lucky' came from his habit of surviving the numerous chances that his attacking batting style created for the opposition. He was a fine deep fielder, and was said to be an excellent judge of a high catch, but did little bowling: his only really significant contribution with the ball came in 1896, when he took 5–42 against South of England. He also had one first-class stumping to his name, against Cambridge University in 1905.

Denton was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire, and showed promise as a teenager, scoring a half-century in a Colts game in 1892. After three friendly (but nevertheless first-class) matches for Yorkshire in 1894, he made his Championship debut for the county in Yorkshire's final game of the season against Somerset, though he did not bat, bowl or take a catch. The following year, he scored useful runs against Cambridge University and also Lancashire, to establish his place in the side. That year he made a thousand runs for the first time, only once thereafter (in 1898) failing to reach that landmark.

In 1905, Denton had a fantastic year, scoring 2,405 runs earning himself Wisden Cricketer of the Year recognition in the 1906 Almanack. Injury to Archie MacLaren resulted in Denton's elevation to the Test team in July 1905, to play against Australia at Headingley, Leeds, but he failed to make the most of his opportunity and was dismissed for 0 and 12, being dropped from the team immediately thereafter. He was recalled for the tour to South Africa that winter, and played in all five Tests. He made just one fifty in ten innings, and was again dropped from the side, but nevertheless played five more matches for England on a second and final tour of South Africa, in 1909/10. In the third Test at Johannesburg he made 104 at about a run a minute, but in no other innings did he even pass 30, and his England career came to a permanent end.

Denton siguió jugando con considerable éxito para Yorkshire hasta después de la Primera Guerra Mundial , logrando su puntuación más alta de 221 contra Kent en 1912, y anotando 209 sin ser eliminado en Worcester en junio de 1920, apenas un mes antes de cumplir 46 años. Se retiró a finales de ese año y, aunque sufrió problemas de salud durante un tiempo, se recuperó lo suficiente como para ejercer como árbitro de primera clase con regularidad desde 1925 hasta 1930, y en partidos ocasionales hasta 1937.

Falleció a los 75 años en su ciudad natal. Su hermano mayor, Joe Denton , también tuvo una breve carrera de primera clase con Yorkshire en 1887 y 1888.

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