Compton, Denis Charles Scott (1918–1997)

English cricketer and football player. He played cricket for Middlesex and England, and was a right-handed batsman of prodigious talent and great style. In the 1947 English season he scored 3,816 runs (at an average of 90.85) and 18 hundreds, records that are unlikely ever to be surpassed. As a footballer he won Football League and FA Cup winners' medals with Arsenal and played in 12 wartime internationals for England.

Career highlights

Test cricket (1937–57)

All first-class cricket (1936–64)

Awards

Wisden Cricketer of the Year

In 1936, at the age of 18, he became the youngest player to score 1,000 runs in his first season. He scored 65 on his test debut in 1937 against New Zealand, and the following summer, 102 against Australia in his second test innings. After World War II he became the dominant figure in English cricket. His record season of 1947 included four test centuries against South Africa and a third wicket partnership of 370 at Lord's with Middlesex team-mate Bill Edrich. In 1948, on the MCC tour of South Africa, he made 300 against Transvaal in 181 minutes, the fastest triple century on record.