Tim Curtis

Tim Curtis

Personal information
Full name	Timothy Stephen Curtis
Born	15 January 1960 Chislehurst, Kent, England
Batting style	Right-handed
Bowling style	Right-arm leg-break
Role	Opening batsman
International information
National side	England
Test debut	21 July 1988 v West Indies
Last Test	14 August 1989 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1979–97	Worcestershire
1983	Cambridge University
Career statistics
Competition Test FC List A Matches 5 339 304 Runs scored 140 20832 10280 Batting average 15.55 40.68 39.69 100s/50s –/– 43/103 6/83 Top score 41 248 136* Balls bowled 18 1133 38 Wickets – 14 2 Bowling average – 58.07 17.50 5 wickets in innings – – – 10 wickets in match – – – Best bowling –/7 2/17 1/6 Catches/stumpings 3/– 192/– 93/–
Source: CricketArchive, 23 December 2010

Timothy Stephen "Tim" Curtis (born 15 January 1960, Chislehurst, Kent)^[1] is a former England cricketer, English teacher and Director of Sport at RGS Worcester. He retired from teaching in 2016.

A right-handed batsman, Curtis was a prolific scorer for Worcestershire and county captain between 1992 and 1995. He is one of only two players to score 10,000 one day runs for the county, and during the late 1980s he had a brief but unsuccessful international career.

As cricket correspondent, Colin Bateman, stated Curtis was "a diligent, determined opener... brought in to stop the rot against the 1988 West Indians with about as much success as those who had gone before him".^[1]

Curtis was perhaps unfortunate to play in an era of very poor England performances and much was made of Curtis's batting stance and technique during his England career. In 1989, Terry Alderman frequently had Curtis lbw playing across the line and much of the TV media blamed this on his stance and backlift. This despite the fact that his opening partner Graham Gooch had a very similar set-up at the crease. While Curtis showed considerable patience and courage during his encounters with the West Indies, he looked highly suspect against Australia and at age 29 was not considered for the rebuilding process which England began under Graham Gooch's captaincy in 1990.

Life and career

Curtis moved to Worcestershire in the 1960s to live in Malvern, where he attended The Grove county primary school. He entered the Royal Grammar School Worcester, where he became captain of rugby and cricket and Head Boy of the school. He moved on to Hatfield College, University of Durham in 1979, where he captained the University cricket team. That year also saw his debut in first-class cricket.

In 1983, Curtis went to Magdalene College, Cambridge and gained a blue for cricket. After returning to Worcester to teach English at the Royal Grammar School, he played cricket for Worcestershire. Curtis is the only man, other than Graeme Hick, to have scored more than 10,000 runs in List A cricket for Worcestershire.^[2] In 1988, he was selected for England and played in a total of five Test matches against Australia and West Indies as an opening batsman. However, his international career was unsuccessful, and he never reached fifty in a Test innings.

In 1992, Curtis was appointed captain of Worcestershire,^[1] leading the county to success in that season's NatWest Trophy. He retired from first-class cricket in 1996 and continues to write about, and coach, cricket.

Curtis had a spell as chairman of the Professional Cricketers' Association.^[1]

References

1. Bateman, Colin (1993). If The Cap Fits. Tony Williams Publications. p. 46. ISBN 1-869833-21-X.
2. "Most Runs for Worcestershire". CricketArchive. Retrieved 17 May 2007.

External links

• Player profile: Tim Curtis from CricketArchive
• Player profile: Tim Curtis from ESPNcricinfo