Victor Cannings

Victor Henry Douglas Cannings (3 April 1919 – 27 October 2016) was an English cricketer, cricket coach and colonial police officer. Born in Hampshire in April 1919, Cannings joined the Palestine Police Force in 1938 and spent World War II in its service. After the war he secured a contract in county cricket with Warwickshire, playing first-class cricket for the county from 1947 to 1949, at which point he had fallen out of favour at Warwickshire. He was signed by Hampshire in 1950 and played first-class cricket for the county until 1959, forming a potent bowling partnership with Derek Shackleton. He took 834 wickets for Hampshire, the eighth most taken by any Hampshire player. Following his retirement, Cannings took up numerous coaching roles, most prominently at Eton College, where he spent 24 years.

Early life and war service The son of Fred Cannings, a farm carter, he was born in the Hampshire village of Bighton in April 1919, where he was educated locally at Old Alresford. He moved to Farnham in his teens, where he continued his education at the Farnham West School. From there he gained a scholarship to Guildford Technical College. While studying at Guildford, Cannings played cricket for the Young Players of Surrey, a side which featured the Bedser twins, Alec and Eric. His early club cricket was played for Farnham Cricket Club. After finding employment working on a high-speed lathe, His first season with Warwickshire was a success, with Cannings taking 61 wickets at an average of 29.57, with three five wicket hauls. However, after his first season his returns with the ball were not as successful, with 16 and 9 wickets in 1948 and 1949 respectively. With competition for places in the Warwickshire side stiff, Cannings found himself largely out of the Warwickshire team by 1949, with Tom Pritchard and Charles Grove preferred over him. He left for Hampshire at the end of season, having made 53 first-class appearances for Warwickshire, in which he took 88 wickets. He also scored 755 runs, which included one half century score of 61, which was to be the only time in his career that he would pass fifty.

Hampshire Cannings was signed by Hampshire as a replacement for veteran bowlers George Heath and Lofty Herman, who had recently retired. He made his debut for Hampshire against Middlesex at Lord's in the 1950 County Championship. His dismissal of Denis Compton during the match was to become the first of many, with Compton becoming known as Cannings' 'rabbit'. His move to Hampshire revitalised his bowling, with him taking 83 wickets in his debut season at an average of under 25; he took three five wicket hauls, which included what were to be his best career figures of 7 for 52. In 1951, he took exactly 100 wickets and followed the feat up with 100 wickets or more in 1952, 1953 and 1954. He gained a reputation as a late match-winner, dismissing Kent's Doug Wright to secure victory off the last ball of the match when the sides met in 1955, while the following year against Oxford University, Hampshire won by one run when Cannings took the last two Oxford wickets off the final two balls of the match. Amongst the events organised for his benefit was a football match by Winchester City. His contributions to Hampshire cricket were celebrated in August 1959 with a dinner and dance at the Savoy Ballroom in Southsea. Cannings played his final match for Hampshire against Derbyshire at Bournemouth in the County Championship.

Cannings made additional first-class appearances in the 1950s for T. N. Pearce's XI against Essex at Chelmsford in 1952, and for the Marylebone Cricket Club against Scotland at Edinburgh in 1959.

Later life After leaving Hampshire, Cannings coached in the Caribbean, having previously coached during the English winter in Argentina, Pakistan, South Africa and Trinidad. While in the Caribbean in 1960, he received two letters in the space of a week offering him coaching roles at Eton College and Tonbridge School, with Cannings choosing Eton. He would coach cricket at Eton for 24 years, retiring in 1984, where he was replaced by John Rice. Cannings also coached in Northern Ireland for the Northern Cricket Union in April 1962. In 1963, he stood as an umpire in a single Minor Counties Championship match between Berkshire and Devon. In retirement he became a keen golfer, playing at the Army Golf Club at Aldershot. At the time of his death, he was the second oldest living Hampshire cricketer, behind John Manners, who was 102 at the time.