4/8/24, 12:18 PM Wisden - Wisden Obituaries - 2013

He became MCC treasurer in 1980, but resigned as a gesture of solidarity when his friend Jack Bailey was
forced out as secretary seven years later. Clark was chairman of Kent between 1970 and 1974, and president
in 1990. Happily, there was no lasting rift with Illingworth, who said: "We always got on well and he was
complimentary about my captaincy whenever I went down to Canterbury with Leicestershire."

COMMINS, JOHN EUGENE, was killed by intruders at his home in South Africa on January 2. He was 71,
and had played ten matches for Western Province during the 1960s, taking five for 32 with his leg-breaks
against Eastern Province at Cape Town in January 1961. His son, Donne, was the agent for several
prominent players, including Mark Boucher, who cancelled his farewell parade planned for the New Year Test
against New Zealand at Cape Town a few days later; flags at Newlands flew at half mast instead. His
nephew, also John Commins, played three Tests for South Africa in 1994-95.

DE ALWIS, RONALD GUY, died of cancer on January 12, aged 52. Guy de Alwis was a tall wicketkeeper
who played in 11 of Sri Lanka's early Tests in the 1980s, usually vying for a place with Amal Silva, a better
batsman but inferior gloveman. "He was one of the best wicketkeepers produced by Sri Lanka," said Arjuna
Ranatunga, their long time captain and a team-mate at the Sinhalese Sports Club. De Alwis was not a rabbit
with the bat: his two international fifties came in the space of three days during the 1983 World Cup in
England. He became a selector, and also coached the national women's team, later marrying one of his
former charges, Rasanjali Chandima Silva, who played one women's Test, in 1998.

DE MESQUITA, SAMUEL NORMAN BUENO, died on July 25, aged 81. Norman de Mesquita, scion of an
old Sephardi Jewish family, was a much underrated cricket commentator. In the 1970s and '80s, as sports
editor of BBC Radio London, he would take over the station to broadcast single-handed on Sunday League
matches. Almost unique among cricket journalists in actually enjoying the 40-over game, he conveyed his
relish to the listeners with great skill. His authoritative voice gave him regular work as an announcer at
Middlesex outgrounds, tennis tournaments and - a sport he loved - ice hockey. But like a county stalwart
whose face doesn't quite fit, he never caught the radio selectors' eye for a crack at the big time. Even after
the Sunday coverage was axed, "Mosquito" was a regular at Lord's, and would assiduously keep score in the
press box, to the point of sonorously announcing "halfway!" after 27.3 overs of a 55-over Benson and
Hedges Cup innings: he was truly a natural broadcaster. His voice was cruelly weakened after illness in 1999,
but he continued to write for The Times and Wisden. He was the Almanack's Middlesex correspondent from
1994 until he died, and his early-season 2013 match reports are in this edition. Norman loved Lord's and,
until the 2013 Ashes, was proud to have attended at least a day of every post-war Test there, including the
1945 Victory Tests. A teetotal bachelor, he adored the camaraderie of colleagues.

DIAS, SYLVESTER ALLAN SOLAMAN, who died on December 1, aged 76, was an opening bowler swift
enough to earn the nickname "Typhoon" from admiring team-mates and opponents in Ceylon. He took five
wickets - all current or future Test players - on his first-class debut as the Ceylon Board President's XI beat a
Pakistan A touring team in August 1964. Dias played only four more first-class matches (opportunities at
home were rare), but spent eight years in England, where he appeared in the northern leagues.

DIXON, GRAHAM JOHN, who died on July 27, aged 61, saw Queensland's promise develop into
achievement, with seven Sheffield Shield titles and five one-day successes during his tenure as the state
cricket association's chief executive from 1996. He supported the appointments as coach of John Buchanan
and, later, Darren Lehmann, and drove the development of new headquarters at the Allan Border Field.
Queensland Cricket chairman Jim Holding said: "We will miss his counsel, his generosity, his willingness to
embrace innovation and think laterally."

DOLLERY, KEITH ROBERT, who died on August 18, aged 88, was an itinerant seamer who played two
matches for his native Queensland in 1947-48, two for Auckland in 1949-50, and three for Tasmania in 1950-
51, before moving to England to spend two years qualifying for Warwickshire. Once eligible, he took 74
wickets in 1953, including a hat-trick against Gloucestershire at Bristol, which gave him match figures of ten
for 60.

Dollery was capped the following year, after 72 more wickets, with a career-best eight for 42 against Sussex
at Edgbaston - "swinging the ball in the heavy atmosphere," according to Wisden. He claimed another hat-
trick, against Kent at Coventry in 1956, but that was his final county season. He was not related to Tom
Dollery, his captain at Edgbaston.

DRUKER, KALMAN GORDON, died on June 16, aged 78. "Clem" Druker was the first president of the
unified Western Province Cricket Association after South Africa's readmission. A lawyer specialising in the
entertainment business, Druker had arranged the first floodlit match in Cape Town, in the late 1970s, and
later helped found a cricket club - VOB Cavaliers - which welcomed players of all races.

DURITY, LEO ANTHONY, who died on May 13, aged 72, was a stalwart of Irish cricket, a stylish batsman
who captained Cork County CC after moving from his native Trinidad. He also represented Munster over
some 20 seasons - he was president of the Munster Cricket Union at the time of his death - and served on
the board of Cricket Ireland.

ENGLAND, ERNEST JAMES, died on December 7, 2012, aged 85. England's medical studies required him
to criss-cross the Nullarbor in order to study at the universities of Western Australia and Adelaide, and his
sporting skills earned him selection at cricket and hockey for both states. Short and compact, he was a
sound and entertaining batsman, who made a bright 102 for South Australia against Victoria in November
1951. Two years later, in his final first-class match, he made a more sedate 71 for Western Australia against
his former team, adding 161 with future Test player John Rutherford.

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