14 Facts About Tich Freeman

Alfred Percy "Tich" Freeman was an English first-class cricketer.

Tich Freeman's height gave his deliveries a low trajectory that was difficult for batsmen to reach on the full toss.

Tich Freeman relied chiefly on a leg-break that pitched on middle-and-leg, so that batsmen had to play at it, and a top-spinner that was notoriously difficult to detect and brought him hundreds of wickets; the googly he used sparingly.

Tich Freeman took 60 wickets in a short season in 1919,102 in 1920,166 in 1921 and 194 in 1922.

Tich Freeman was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1923 and took 17 for 67 on a rain-affected pitch against Sussex in 1922.

However, owing to the rock-hard pitches and the superb footwork of Australia's batsmen, Tich Freeman proved expensive in the two Tests in which he was selected.

In 1929 Tich Freeman took 22 wickets in two Tests against South Africa, but their batsmen's mastery over him in the Fifth Test, when he did not take a wicket in 49 overs and conceded 169 runs, meant that this Test was his last.

Tich Freeman even did well against the 1930 Australians, taking 5 for 78, but he was never selected for a home Ashes Test.

Tich Freeman averaged as little as 11 runs per wicket against Leicestershire, but more than 26 against the strong Surrey batting line-ups.

In 1934 and 1935, although he was still the leading wicket-taker in England, Tich Freeman fell away gradually.

Tich Freeman's average rose from around 15 to over 21 runs per wicket, and he was rarely as successful as before when the ground helped him or against weak batting; however, his work rate still earned him many wickets.

In early 1936, Tich Freeman was again strong, and he took 70 wickets in the first fourteen matches.

Tich Freeman played for Walsall in the Birmingham And District League for a few years after that.

Tich Freeman was granted life membership of Marylebone Cricket Club in 1949.