Alfred Percy “Tich” Freeman is regarded as one of the greatest cricketers to ever play first-class cricket. He is the second-highest wicket-taker in this highest-standard form of the game. A small man with small hands, Freeman was a nightmare for the opposition due to his ability to suffocate the batters with his leg-spin deliveries and occasional googlies.
The London-born star has represented Kent County Cricket Club and the England national team in his illustrious cricketing career. On this day in 1932, Kent registered an epic win over Warwickshire and it was Freeman who wreaked havoc with his wizardry. The right-arm spinner registered figures of 8 for 31 and 8 for 61 to help his team win by 74 runs.
Batting first, Kent scored 174 runs in the first innings on the back of FE Woolley’s 92-run knock. Mayer and Foster shone for Warwickshire with five wickets each. In their reply innings, Warwickshire batters failed to put up a fight as they were bundled out for 129 runs, going clueless against Freeman.
In the second innings, Kent managed to score 169 runs and set their opponents a target of 215 runs. Freeman removed both the Warwickshire openers early on and provided a flying start for his team. Continuing his onslaught, he took nine wickets and tore the opposition apart. Eventually Warwickshire were bowled out for 140 runs. Watt was the only other bowler to take a wicket for Kent in both the innings.
Freeman holds numerous records in first-class cricket. He is the only bowler to take 300 wickets in an English season. He took 1673 wickets in six consecutive seasons from 1928 to 1933, taking more than 250 wickets in each of these seasons.
The Lewisham cricketer has grabbed 10 wickets in an innings in three seasons (1929, 1930 and 1931). He also holds the record of taking the most five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Coming to his international career, Freeman represented the Three Lions in 12 Test matches and took 66 wickets, including three 10-wicket and five five-wicket hauls.
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