OTD | Bruce French, one of the talented but accident-prone wicket-keeper was born in 1959

On this day in 1959, Bruce French was at Market Warsop in Nottinghamshire. The star player was a good right-handed batter and was a great wicketkeeper. He was nicknamed ‘Frog’ by his teammates for his ability to catch the ball. Bruce played for England from 1985 to 1988. He made his Test debut on the 19th of June 1986 against India.

In a home series which was challenging, French kept the wickets well and saved a lot of runs from his end. In the same Indian tour of England before the Test series, Bruce got his ODI cap. On the 27th of January 1985, he made his ODI debut and made a name for himself as a WK batter. Bruce played his last Test on the 3rd March 1988 against New Zealand. Against the same opponent, he played his last ODI on the 19th Match 1988.

From 1976 to 1995, French played for Nottinghamshire at the domestic level. At the highest level, he got to play a total of 29 matches. In Tests, Bruce played 16 Tests and scored 308 runs at a batting average of 18.11 with a best score of 59. He inflicted a stumping and claimed 38 catches as a wicketkeeper. French was considered a safe customer behind the stumps and hence found a spot in the team.

In ODIs, Bruce played 13 matches and scored 34 runs which was not up to his standards. While his batting average of 6.80 was poor, Bruce claimed 13 catches and inflicted 3 stumpings as a wicketkeeper. It showed how the nature of the wicketkeeper was before the arrival of Adam Gilchrist. His record as a wicketkeeper in the First Class Cricket and List A was good.

In first-class cricket, he played 360 matches and scored 7160 runs batting mostly lower down the order. French averaged 18.89 as a batter and claimed 817 catches with a total of 100 stumpings to his name. In the List A career, he played 296 matches and scored 2026 runs at a batting average of 15.00. Behind the stumps, Bruce claimed 275 catches and inflicted 26 stumpings.

Also read: Former West Indies bowler Pedro Collins was born in 1976