1. Godfrey Evans was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1951.
47 Facts About Godfrey Evans
1. 2.
Godfrey Evans was a very good boxer, winning all his amateur and professional fights, but at the age of 17 was forced by the Kent committee to choose between cricket and boxing.
3.
Godfrey Evans worked on the ground staff at Dover in 1937, operating the scoreboard on the occasion that Kent made 219 runs in 71 minutes to beat Gloucestershire.
4.
Godfrey Evans made his Kent debut on 22 July 1939 against Surrey at Blackheath.
5.
Godfrey Evans made 8 in the first innings as the match ended in a draw.
6.
Godfrey Evans made his Test debut in 1946 against India, when he was chosen for the third Test at The Oval, replacing Paul Gibb.
7.
Godfrey Evans did not concede a bye in Australia's first innings of 365 at Adelaide in the third Test either, this took the tally past 1,000 runs before he conceded his first bye in Ashes Tests.
8.
Godfrey Evans took 97 minutes before scoring his first run, a Test record which stood until 1999 when beaten by Geoff Allott.
9.
Godfrey Evans did play the first three Tests but after scoring 49 runs in five innings was replaced for the final two Tests by Billy Griffith.
10.
West Indies were the tourists in 1950, in the first Test at Old Trafford, Godfrey Evans made his maiden Test century.
11.
The tour ended with a two Tests in New Zealand, Godfrey Evans played both matches his most noteworthy act occurred in the second Test at Wellington where he conceded 30 byes in New Zealand's second innings total of 189.
12.
The 1951 home Test series with South Africa proved to be a poor one for Godfrey Evans, who was dropped for the final two Tests of the summer having scored just seven runs in the first three Tests.
13.
Godfrey Evans's keeping was not up to his usual standards either, in the South Africa second innings at Old Trafford he conceded 13 byes, significant in a low score of 191.
14.
An MCC 'A' team toured India that winter and Godfrey Evans was approached, however he declined the invitation believing that the constant cricket of the past five years had been the cause for his drop in form.
15.
In India's first innings Godfrey Evans took what Wisden described as a "brilliant stumping off a ball which had turned sharply towards the slips", the dismissal was Godfrey Evans' 100th at Test level, he became the first English wicket-keeper to reach the landmark and the second keeper after Bert Oldfield.
16.
In England's response Godfrey Evans scored his second Test century, scoring 104 in 135 minutes with 16 boundaries, his scoring was so quick that he nearly reached 100 in a session, he lunched on 98 not out.
17.
Godfrey Evans shared a 159-run sixth wicket partnership with Tom Graveney as England scored quickly to build a 302-run first innings lead.
18.
The final Test at The Oval was a rain affected draw, Godfrey Evans scored one to finish the series with an aggregate of 242 runs at 60.50, with the gloves he took eight dismissals.
19.
In England's innings, Godfrey Evans scored a quick 44 not out in 39 minutes on what was at that stage a wet wicket.
20.
Batting first England scored 167 in 109.4 overs, Godfrey Evans's contribution was 25 runs in 90 minutes.
21.
Australia, after winning the toss for the fifth time in the series, chose to bat first and scored 275, Godfrey Evans taking four catches.
22.
Godfrey Evans finished the series with 117 runs at 23.40 and 16 dismissals.
23.
Godfrey Evans finished the series with 72 runs at 12.00 and six dismissals.
24.
Godfrey Evans scored 0 and 3 in his two innings, but by taking three catches he became the Test record holder for dismissals.
25.
Godfrey Evans missed the first Test, after failing to recover from sunstroke.
26.
Godfrey Evans returned to the team for the second Test, but fared poorly with the bat scoring three and four.
27.
Neville Cardus described the catch: "Harvey flicked the seventh ball of the morning round the corner and this time Godfrey Evans dived full length to the right, clutching the ball in his out-stretched glove".
28.
Godfrey Evans came to the wicket with only four needed and with only one needed he scored a boundary that won the match and retained the Ashes.
29.
The match was drawn after no play was possible until the fourth day, Godfrey Evans scored 10 in England's innings and took two catches.
30.
Godfrey Evans played the first three matches before an injury forced him to miss the final two.
31.
England won the first Test at Trent Bridge by an innings; Godfrey Evans contributed 12 runs in England's innings and took two catches, the second was his 150th Test dismissal.
32.
Godfrey Evans shared a 48-run partnership with Trevor Bailey that increased South Africa's target from 97 to 145.
33.
Godfrey Evans scored 115 runs at 19.16, three of his seven innings were ducks.
34.
Godfrey Evans innings was his first Test score of more than fifty runs since 1952.
35.
Godfrey Evans scored 21 in England's second innings but the tourists fell 58 runs short of their target.
36.
Godfrey Evans took six catches and in the difficult conditions conceded just one bye.
37.
Godfrey Evans took a total of 20 dismissals in the series, a record for his career.
38.
Godfrey Evans played in all five Tests, scoring 201 runs and taking 15 dismissals.
39.
Godfrey Evans was an ever present in the team but his batting was poor with 28 runs at an average 5.60.
40.
Godfrey Evans played three Test matches, missing the third with a finger injury and, despite his returning for the fourth, a recurrence of that injury resulted in his missing the fifth.
41.
Wisden wrote that Godfrey Evans was among several established players who showed a 'decline in power'.
42.
However, Godfrey Evans remained and in the first Test of the summer he justified his selection with a run-a-ball innings of 73, which contained 12 boundaries.
43.
Godfrey Evans published two memoirs: Behind the Stumps and The Gloves are Off.
44.
The pub was adorned with cricketing photographs and Godfrey Evans was always ready to reminisce about his cricketing days.
45.
Godfrey Evans became a cricket expert for bookmakers Ladbrokes, famously offering odds of 500 to 1 on an England victory against Australia at Headingley in 1981, the match in which Ian Botham and Bob Willis fought back from following-on at 227 runs behind to achieve an improbable victory.
46.
Godfrey Evans played himself in an episode of the television adaptation of the play Outside Edge.
47.
Godfrey Evans appeared as himself along with Colin Cowdrey and Frank Tyson in the 1956 episode of Hancock's Half Hour titled "The Test Match".