| Personal information | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Barkley Raikes | |||
| Born | 16 December 1902 Malabar Hill, Bombay, Maharashtra, India |
|||
| Died | 2 March 1984 (aged 81) Rickinghall Superior, Suffolk, England |
|||
| Nickname | Tom[1] | |||
| Batting style | Right-handed | |||
| Bowling style | Right-arm medium | |||
| Domestic team information | ||||
| Years | Team | |||
| 1922–1925 | Oxford University | |||
| Career statistics | ||||
| Competition | FC | |||
| Matches | 38 | |||
| Runs scored | 554 | |||
| Batting average | 12.88 | |||
| 100s/50s | 0/0 | |||
| Top score | 44 | |||
| Balls bowled | 6,704 | |||
| Wickets | 132 | |||
| Bowling average | 25.03 | |||
| 5 wickets in innings | 7 | |||
| 10 wickets in match | 2 | |||
| Best bowling | 9/38 | |||
| Catches/stumpings | 23/0 | |||
| Source: CricketArchive, 16 March 2009 | ||||
Thomas Barkley Raikes (16 December 1902 – 2 March 1984), often known as Tom, was an Indian-born English cricketer who played 38 first-class games for Oxford University in the 1920s. He also played minor counties cricket for Norfolk.
He was educated at Winchester College, and in 1921 had a particularly fine year: he captained the side, topped the bowling averages and was second in the batting averages. In July against Charterhouse, he scored 94 and then took 8/14, no runs at all being conceded by him until he had taken all eight wickets.[1] After going up to Oxford and taking 5/5 in the (non-first-class) Freshmen's match, Raikes was brought into the full university side.
Wisden considered that "[a]t this point it seemed that he might well take his place among the leading bowlers of the day", but although he had a good 1923 season, he never lived up to this early promise as he put on weight, having found "the pleasure of life at Oxford too alluring".[1] He did, however, turn in an excellent performance against the Army in 1924, taking 13 wickets in the match.[2] Neither his match figures of 13/80 nor his second-innings return of 9/38 have been beaten since (as of 2009) by an Oxford bowler.[3][4]
In June 1922, during Oxford's match against Surrey at The Oval, Raikes was involved in a bizarre run-out incident: he and his batting partner R. C. Robertson-Glasgow became hopelessly confused over a second, then third, run, and ended up at the same end on both occasions. Meanwhile, the Surrey fielders repeatedly fumbled the ball before eventually wicket-keeper Herbert Strudwick managed to remove the bails. Even then, it was unclear which of the batsmen was out: Robertson-Glasgow said that Raikes walked off of his own accord, while another tale says that the matter was settled by the toss of a coin.[5]
Two of Raikes' relatives played first-class cricket: his father Ernest Raikes played in India for Europeans and Bombay, while his uncle George Raikes played for Oxford and Hampshire and made four appearances for the England football team.