100-year-old islander's cricket success recognised 81 years on

Thursday 15 April 2021

A 100-year-old Jerseyman was “overwhelmed” to learn he had been awarded ‘School Cricketer of the Year 1939’ by one of the most esteemed cricket publications in the UK.

George Knight is being recognised by the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 81 years on from his achievement, where he hit 1,250 runs and took 89 wickets for Victoria College across 1939.

Wisden, which has publishing annual cricket Almanacks for over 150 years, established an award in 2007 called ‘the School Cricketer of the Year'.

Wisden instead decided to go back through their history to 1900, and a name a ‘Cricketer of the Year’ from the leading schools for each year across the century - with George taking the 1939 title for his time playing with Victoria College.

“I told him what had happened, and he was overwhelmed – that’s really the only way I could put it,” George’s son, Michael, told Express of his father’s reaction when he visited him in his care home earlier this week to break the news.

Pictured: Wisden has been digging into the past and naming the 'School Cricketers of the Year' from 1900 onwards.

In that year, starting on his 19^th birthday, George bowled for the Young Amateurs at a fixture against the Young Professionals at Lord’s, as documented in the Almanack.

If playing at Lord’s wasn’t already enough excitement, George’s team won the match by two runs, taking the final wicket with only a couple of minutes to spare.

Michael said his father still remembers the match, with George telling him: “Yes, I remember well playing at Lord’s, and I also remember the final wicket that I took, that won them the match… I believe it was a LBW (Leg Before Wicket).”  

Michael added that when he asked his father if he had any doubt that the LBW decision would be given out, that “he looked at me out of the corner of his eye, and said – 'I never had any doubt.'”

However, though he had previously called this victory at Lord's the highlight of his life, after his recognition by the Almanack, Michael said his father has a new golden moment. 

Asking his father if he still considered Lord’s the highlight following the news, George responded by saying: “No, I think the pinnacle has been raised a notch, and this would have to beat anything that I’ve ever experienced.”  

Pictured: George said that the highlight of playing at Lord's had now been beaten.

Michael said that sharing the news was a particularly special moment, explaining: “I’m 77… to tell my dad this story about his life and to say to him what this award means to us as a family as I’m sure it does to him as an individual, I can’t emphasise how much pleasure it gives to me.”

Outside of his Lord’s victory, George has been a beloved fixture in the island’s sporting community across the past century, working with the Jersey Football Association, taking up the role of chairman of the disciplinary committee, and even competing in the first Muratti after the war.

Michael also explained how his father brought the first floodlights to Jersey, allowing players to play at the old Springfield Stadium during the evenings.

“They provided illumination - even if the winger was expected to use a miner’s lamp to go down the wing! But nevertheless they provided the opportunity for evening football,” he said.

Pictured: George bowled in the Young Amateurs' victorious game against the Young Professionals in 1939.

At 100 years and 8 months, George still keeps up to date with his three favourite sports – cricket, horse racing and football, through television, with Michael saying his father’s “absolute love of sport” has kept him going through this chapter of his long life.

From a cricket-loving schoolboy picked to play at Lord’s in 1939, to being recognised by one of cricket’s most prolific publications in 2021... in many ways, this award doesn’t just represent a year of sport, it represents a life of sport.