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Jack Birkenshaw must have had the feeling there was someone following
him. After two years as a Yorkshire player in the late 1950s he found
his progress blocked by the presence of Raymond Illingworth as the
county off-spinner, so he upped sticks and moved to Leicestershire (see photo above).
Then, just as Birkenshaw was putting in performances that got him
talked about in England terms, who should turn up as the new county
captain but Illingworth, soon to become England captain as well.
Birkenshaw got his cap, but he had to wait for his older rival to depart
the scene. When Illy declined to tour India and Pakistan in 1972-73
Birkenshaw was sent as the off-spinner, with his left handed batting in
the middle order as a bonus. He made his debut in the fourth Test in
Kanpur, taking 1-42 in the first innings - Gavaskar caught by Tony Greig
- and 2-66 in the second. He also scored 64 in the fifth Test at
Bombay's old Brabourne Stadium, he took 2-67 and made 36 and 12. He only
played in the third Test in Pakistan, when he took 5-57 in the second
innings. His progress got him a place on Mike Denness' tour to the West
Indies in 1973-74, where he played in Guyana and Trinidad, taking only
two wickets and seeing Greig take over as the main off-spinner.
He never
played in a Test in England, suffering the frustration of being picked
for England for an entire summer series and always being made 12th man
on the morning of the match. He took 100 wickets in an English season on
two occasions, his 111 at an average of 21.41 in 1967 being the best.
He was a Test match umpire, officiating in two games in 1986 and 1988. (Bob Harragan).
Jack Birkenshaw was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to cricket.
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