Thomas Dean

Thomas Arthur Dean (21 November 1920 – 4 June 2004) was an English first-class cricketer.

Dean was born at Gosport in November 1920 and grew up in South Africa, where he played for the Wanderers Cricket Club in Johannesburg. He returned to England in 1938, at the age of 18, aboard the and shortly after his arrival he secured a trial with Hampshire County Cricket Club. He met with success in these matches, taking a hat-trick against Worcestershire in his second match, and against reigning County Champions Yorkshire, with his leg break googly bowling he took his maiden five wicket haul with figures of 5 for 58 in Yorkshire's second innings; despite Dean's performances, Hampshire lost all three matches he featured in at Bournemouth.

With the Second World War bringing first-class cricket in England to an end, Dean would have to wait six years before he next played at first-class level. It was noted that following the war, Dean was less able to turn to the ball and as a result, his effectiveness suffered. He made thirteen appearances in 1946,

Dean left Hampshire at the end of the 1949 season and moved to Torquay, In Devon, he played club cricket for South Devon Cricket Club. He also played minor counties cricket for Devon in 1954, making four appearances in the Minor Counties Championship. Dean left Devon at the end of the 1954 season and returned to South Africa in 1955, where he represented Eastern Province in a single first-class match against Border at Port Elizabeth in 1956. In South Africa, he spent 23 years as a cricket coach at Grey High School in Port Elizabeth, where amongst those he coached as a pupil was Graeme Pollock. He was also the director of coaching for Eastern Province for six years. Dean died in June 2004 at Alexandria, Eastern Cape.