Lists of oldest cricketers

This is a set of lists of the oldest Test and first-class cricketers.

Oldest living Test cricketers

Name	Country	Date of birth	Debut	Last match	Age as of 5 February 2021
John Watkins	South Africa	10 April 1923	24 December 1949	5 January 1957	97 years, 301 days
Ronald Draper	South Africa	24 December 1926	10 February 1950	6 March 1950	94 years, 43 days
Ken Archer	Australia	17 January 1928	22 December 1950	5 December 1951	93 years, 19 days
Neil Harvey	Australia	8 October 1928	22 January 1948	20 February 1963	92 years, 120 days
Datta Gaekwad	India	27 October 1928	5 June 1952	18 January 1961	92 years, 101 days
Ian Thomson	England	23 January 1929	4 December 1964	16 February 1965	92 years, 13 days
Sonny Ramadhin	West Indies	1 May 1929	8 June 1950	3 January 1961	91 years, 280 days
Alan Davidson	Australia	14 June 1929	11 June 1953	20 February 1963	91 years, 236 days
Jack Rutherford	Australia	25 September 1929	26 October 1956	31 October 1956	91 years, 133 days
Trevor McMahon	New Zealand	8 November 1929	13 October 1955	6 February 1956	91 years, 89 days

Oldest living Test cricketers by country

Country	Player	Age as of 5 February 2021
Afghanistan	Mohammad Nabi	36 years, 35 days
Australia	Ken Archer	93 years, 19 days
Bangladesh	Enamul Haque	54 years, 344 days
England	Ian Thomson	92 years, 13 days
India	Datta Gaekwad	92 years, 101 days
Ireland	Ed Joyce	42 years, 136 days
New Zealand	Trevor McMahon	91 years, 89 days
Pakistan	Wazir Mohammad	91 years, 45 days
South Africa	John Watkins	97 years, 301 days
Sri Lanka	Somachandra de Silva	78 years, 239 days
West Indies	Sonny Ramadhin	91 years, 280 days
Zimbabwe	John Traicos	73 years, 264 days

Note: Twenty-five first-class cricketers are known to have attained centenarian status (see relevant section below).

Source:[1]

Oldest Test cricketers still playing at Test level

Name	Country	Date of birth	Debut	Age as of 5 February 2021
Dilruwan Perera	Sri Lanka	22 July 1982	17 January 2014	38 years, 198 days
James Anderson	England	30 July 1982	22 May 2003	38 years, 190 days
Shaun Marsh	Australia	9 July 1983	8 September 2011	37 years, 211 days
Ross Taylor	New Zealand	8 March 1984	8 November 2007	36 years, 334 days

Oldest Test cricketers still playing at Test level, by country

Country	Name	Age as of 5 February 2021
Afghanistan	Asghar Afghan	33 years, 45 days
Australia	Shaun Marsh	37 years, 211 days
Bangladesh	Mahmudullah	35 years, 1 day
England	James Anderson	38 years, 190 days
India	Wriddhiman Saha	36 years, 104 days
Ireland	William Porterfield	36 years, 152 days
New Zealand	Ross Taylor	36 years, 334 days
Pakistan	Azhar Ali	35 years, 352 days
South Africa	Francois du Plessis	36 years, 207 days
Sri Lanka	Dilruwan Perera	38 years, 198 days
West Indies	Shannon Gabriel	32 years, 283 days
Zimbabwe	Craig Ervine	35 years, 170 days

Note: The above lists include players who have played Test cricket within the past 24 months and have not formally announced their retirement.

Longest-lived Test cricketers

Norman Gordon of South Africa, the only Test cricketer to live to 100

Bill Brown, longest-lived Australian Test cricketer

See also Oldest living Test cricketers above.

Name	Country	Date of birth	Debut	Last match	Date of death	Age
Norman Gordon	South Africa	6 August 1911	24 December 1938	14 March 1939	2 September 2014	103 years, 27 days
Eric Tindill	New Zealand	18 December 1910	26 June 1927	25 March 1947	1 August 2010	99 years, 226 days
Francis MacKinnon	England	9 April 1848	2 January 1879	4 January 1879	27 February 1947	98 years, 324 days
Lindsay Tuckett	South Africa	6 February 1919	7 June 1947	9 March 1949	5 September 2016	97 years, 212 days
Donald Smith	England	14 June 1923	20 June 1957	27 July 1957	10 January 2021	97 years, 210 days
Jack Kerr	New Zealand	28 December 1910	27 June 1931	27 July 1937	27 May 2007	96 years, 150 days
Wilfred Rhodes	England	29 October 1877	1 June 1899	12 April 1930	8 July 1973	95 years, 252 days
Bill Brown	Australia	31 July 1912	8 June 1934	29 June 1948	16 March 2008	95 years, 229 days
Lindsay Weir	New Zealand	2 June 1908	24 January 1930	17 August 1937	31 October 2003	95 years, 151 days
Everton Weekes	West Indies	26 February 1925	21 January 1948	31 March 1958	1 July 2020	95 years, 126 days
Andy Ganteaume	West Indies	22 January 1921	11 February 1948	16 February 1948	17 February 2016	95 years, 26 days
Sydney Barnes	England	19 April 1873	13 December 1901	18 February 1914	26 December 1967	94 years, 251 days
Esmond Kentish	West Indies	21 November 1916	27 March 1948	21 January 1954	10 June 2011	94 years, 201 days
M. J. Gopalan	India	6 June 1909	5 January 1934	8 January 1934	21 December 2003	94 years, 198 days
Ron Hamence	Australia	25 November 1915	28 February 1947	5 January 1948	24 March 2010	94 years, 119 days
Denis Begbie	South Africa	12 December 1914	6 December 1948	6 March 1950	10 March 2009	94 years, 88 days
Jack Newman	New Zealand	3 July 1902	27 February 1932	3 April 1933	23 September 1996	94 years, 82 days
Don Cleverley	New Zealand	23 December 1909	27 February 1932	30 March 1946	16 February 2004	94 years, 55 days

Source:[2][3]

Oldest Test debutants

James Southerton, the oldest player on debut

Name	Country	Date of birth	Debut	Age at debut
James Southerton	England	16 November 1827	15 March 1877	49 years, 119 days
Miran Bakhsh	Pakistan	20 April 1907	29 January 1955	47 years, 284 days
Don Blackie	Australia	5 April 1882	14 December 1928	46 years, 253 days
Bert Ironmonger	Australia	7 April 1882	30 November 1928	46 years, 237 days
Nelson Betancourt	West Indies	4 June 1887	1 February 1930	42 years, 242 days
Rockley Wilson	England	25 March 1879	25 February 1921	41 years, 337 days
Rustomji Jamshedji	India	18 November 1892	15 December 1933	41 years, 27 days

Oldest Test debutant by country

Country	Name	Age at debut
Australia	Don Blackie	46 years, 253 days
Bangladesh	Enamul Haque	35 years, 58 days
England	James Southerton	49 years, 119 days
India	Rustomji Jamshedji	41 years, 27 days
Ireland	Ed Joyce	39 years, 232 days
New Zealand	Herb McGirr	38 years, 101 days
Pakistan	Miran Bakhsh	47 years, 284 days
South Africa	Omar Henry	40 years, 295 days
Sri Lanka	Somachandra de Silva	39 years, 251 days
West Indies	Nelson Betancourt	42 years, 242 days
Zimbabwe	Andy Waller	37 years, 84 days

Note: John Traicos debuted for Zimbabwe at the age of 45 years, 154 days, but had already played three Tests for South Africa 22 years prior.[4]

Note: The oldest debutant, James Southerton, was also the first Test cricketer to die (on 16 June 1880). Miran Bakhsh was known as Miran Bux during his playing career.

The longest-lived first-class cricketer is believed to have been John Manners. See also Longest-lived first-class cricketers below.

Source:[5]

Oldest Test cricketers on final appearance

Name	Country	Date of birth	Test Debut	Last match	Age at last Test
Wilfred Rhodes	England	29 October 1877	1 June 1899	12 April 1930	52 years, 165 days
Bert Ironmonger	Australia	7 April 1882	30 November 1928	28 February 1933	50 years, 327 days
WG Grace	England	18 July 1848	6 September 1880	3 June 1899	50 years, 320 days
George Gunn	England	13 June 1879	13 December 1907	12 April 1930	50 years, 303 days
James Southerton	England	16 November 1827	15 March 1877	4 April 1877	49 years, 139 days
Miran Bakhsh	Pakistan	20 April 1907	29 January 1955	16 February 1955	47 years, 302 days
Sir Jack Hobbs	England	16 December 1882	1 January 1908	22 August 1930	47 years, 249 days
Frank Woolley	England	27 May 1887	9 August 1909	22 August 1934	47 years, 87 days
Don Blackie	Australia	5 April 1882	14 December 1928	8 February 1929	46 years, 309 days
Bert Strudwick	England	28 January 1880	1 January 1910	18 August 1926	46 years, 202 days

Oldest Test cricketers on final appearance by country

Wilfred Rhodes, England Test cricketer from 1899 until 1930

Country	Name	Age as of 5 February 2021
Australia	Bert Ironmonger	50 years, 327 days
Bangladesh	Mohammad Rafique	37 years, 180 days
England	Wilfred Rhodes	52 years, 165 days
India	Vinoo Mankad	41 years, 305 days
Ireland	Ed Joyce	39 years, 231 days
New Zealand	Jack Alabaster	41 years, 247 days
Pakistan	Miran Bakhsh	47 years, 302 days
South Africa	Dave Nourse	45 years, 207 days
Sri Lanka	Somachandra de Silva	42 years, 78 days
West Indies	George Headley	44 years, 236 days
Zimbabwe	John Traicos	45 years, 304 days

Note: The Test career of Wilfred Rhodes spanned a record 30 years, 315 days. England's youngest Test cricketer and another Yorkshireman, Brian Close (born 24 February 1931), lies second in this regard. He made his debut against New Zealand in 1949 and was recalled, after an absence of almost nine years, to oppose West Indies in 1976 (his career lasting 26 years, 356 days).

Source:[6]

Longest-lived first-class cricketers

This list includes all those first-class players who are known to have lived to 100.[7]

  Deceased   Living

Rank	Name	Team(s)	Birth date	Death date	Age	Nationality
1	John Manners	Hampshire, Combined Services	25 September 1914	7 March 2020	105 years, 225 days	England
2	Jim Hutchinson	Derbyshire	29 November 1896	7 November 2000	103 years, 344 days	England
3	Syd Ward	Wellington	5 August 1907	31 December 2010	103 years, 148 days	New Zealand
4	Norman Gordon	South Africa, Transvaal	6 August 1911	2 September 2014	103 years, 27 days	South Africa
5	Rupert de Smidt	Western Province	23 November 1883	3 August 1986	102 years, 253 days	South Africa
6	Edward English	Hampshire	1 January 1864	5 September 1966	102 years, 247 days	England
7	Cyril Perkins	Northamptonshire, Minor Counties	4 June 1911	21 November 2013	102 years, 170 days	England
8	John Wheatley	Canterbury	8 January 1860	19 April 1962	102 years, 101 days	New Zealand
9	Archie Scott	Scotland	26 January 1918	1 November 2019	101 years, 272 days	Scotland
10	Ted Martin	Western Australia	30 September 1902	9 June 2004	101 years, 253 days	Australia
11	D. B. Deodhar	Hindus, Maharashtra	14 January 1892	24 August 1993	101 years, 222 days	India
12	George Harman	Dublin University	6 June 1874	14 December 1975	101 years, 191 days	Ireland
13	Fred Gibson	Leicestershire	13 February 1912	28 June 2013	101 years, 135 days	Jamaica (lived in  England)
14	Alan Finlayson	Eastern Province	1 September 1900	28 October 2001	101 years, 57 days	South Africa
15	Neil McCorkell	Hampshire, Players	23 March 1912	28 February 2013	100 years, 342 days	England
16	Geoffrey Beck	Oxford University	16 June 1918	5 March 2019	100 years, 262 days	England
17	Harold Stapleton	New South Wales	7 January 1915	24 September 2015	100 years, 260 days	Australia
18	Alan Burgess	Canterbury	1 May 1920	5 January 2021	100 years, 280 days	New Zealand
19	Charles Braithwaite	English Residents, Players of USA	10 September 1845	15 April 1946	100 years, 217 days	United States
20	Harry Forsyth	Dublin University	18 December 1903	19 July 2004	100 years, 214 days	Ireland
21	Jack Laver	Tasmania	9 March 1917	3 October 2017	100 years, 208 days	Australia
22	Tom Pritchard	Wellington, Warwickshire	10 March 1917	22 August 2017	100 years, 165 days	New Zealand
23	Bernarr Notley	Nottinghamshire	31 August 1918	22 January 2019	100 years, 144 days	England
24	Vasant Raiji	Bombay, Baroda	26 January 1920	13 June 2020	100 years, 139 days	India
25	George Deane	Hampshire	11 December 1828	26 February 1929	100 years, 77 days	England
26	Raghunath Chandorkar	Bombay	21 November 1920	Living	100 years, 76 days	India

Note: Although born in New South Wales, Australia, Syd Ward and John Wheatley appear to have been raised in New Zealand. George Harman, who acquired two Rugby Union caps for Ireland, died in Cornwall. Charles Braithwaite was born in England. Fred Gibson moved to England in 1944. Neil McCorkell was born in England, but lived in South Africa from 1951. The prominent Antiguan cricketer, Sir Sydney Walling, who died aged 102 years, 88 days in October 2009, never appeared in matches accorded first-class status.

The oldest person, and only septuagenarian, to play first-class cricket was Raja Maharaj Singh, aged 72, his sole appearance being for the Bombay Governor's XI against a Commonwealth XI in November 1950.[8] Thirteen players have played first-class cricket in their sixties, most of them in England in the 19th century.[9]

Oldest women cricketers

England women's cricketer Eileen Whelan (born 30 October 1911) was the first female Test cricketer to attain centenarian status; she is currently aged 109 years, 98 days. Thelma McKenzie (Australia, born 6 April 1915) was the second to achieve this landmark; she is currently aged 105 years, 305 days.

Oldest living ODI cricketers

The first One-Day International took place on 5 January 1971 when Australia played England.

Name	Country	Date of birth	Debut	Last match	Age as of 5 February 2021
Ray Illingworth	England	8 June 1932	5 January 1971	20 July 1973	88 years, 242 days
Lance Gibbs	West Indies	29 September 1934	5 September 1973	7 June 1975	86 years, 129 days
Rohan Kanhai	West Indies	26 December 1935	5 September 1973	21 June 1975	85 years, 41 days
Bob Simpson	Australia	3 February 1936	22 February 1978	12 April 1978	85 years, 2 days
Sir Garfield Sobers	West Indies	28 July 1936	5 September 1973	5 September 1973	84 years, 192 days
Bill Lawry	Australia	11 February 1937	5 January 1971	5 January 1971	83 years, 360 days
Farokh Engineer	India	25 February 1938	13 July 1974	14 June 1975	82 years, 346 days
John Nagenda	East Africa	25 April 1938	7 June 1975	7 June 1975	82 years, 286 days
Michael Tissera	Sri Lanka	23 March 1939	7 June 1975	14 June 1975	81 years, 319 days
Alan Connolly	Australia	29 June 1939	5 January 1971	5 January 1971	81 years, 221 days
Ron Headley	West Indies	29 June 1939	7 September 1973	7 September 1973	81 years, 221 days

Oldest living Twenty20 International cricketers

The first Twenty20 International took place on 17 February 2005 when Australia played New Zealand. The oldest living T20I cricketers are:

1. Osman Göker of Turkey, currently aged 60 years, 341 days
2. Cengiz Akyüz of Turkey, currently aged 58 years, 249 days
3. Serdar Kansoy of Turkey, currently aged 58 years, 214 days
4. Hasan Alta of Turkey, currently aged 55 years, 256 days
5. James Moses of Botswana, currently aged 55 years, 181 days
6. Sunil Dhaniram of Canada, currently aged 52 years, 111 days
7. Tony Whiteman of Luxembourg, currently aged 51 years, 257 days
8. Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka, currently aged 51 years, 220 days
9. Sanjayan Thuraisingam of Canada, currently aged 51 years, 147 days

References

1. Cricinfo: Oldest living players
2. Cricinfo: Longest lived players
3. Rediff: Oldest Test cricketers at the time of death
4. Cricinfo: Traicos debut
5. BBC Test Match Special, Ask Bearders: "Can you tell me who is the oldest cricket player to make a Test match debut"
6. Cricinfo: Oldest players
7. "It takes a rare cricketer to reach a century, not just make one". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
8. Cricinfo: Ripe old age
9. "First-Class Oldest Players". The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 9 January 2021.