Former England great Ted Dexter has died at Wolverhampton after a bout of illness, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) said on Thursday. He was 86. “After a recent illness he passed away peacefully in the Compton Hospice in Wolverhampton at midday, surrounded by his family,” the MCC said. A powerful middle-order batsman and medium-pace bowler, Dexter played 62 Tests between 1958 and 1968, leading the side in 30 of those and scoring 4502 runs at an average of 47.89, besides taking 66 wickets. Known for his ability to dominate top-class fast bowling, he slammed nine hundreds, six of which were scores of above 140. He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame earlier this year.
“Ted was a cherished husband, father and grandfather and one of England's greatest ever cricketers. He played the game with the same sense of adventure and fun that captures much of the story of his remarkable life,” said the MCC, where he had served as the president.
“His off-field contribution to the game was substantial too, most notably his work, with Colin Cowdrey, on Spirit of Cricket. Through his own PR Agency, he became a pioneer in cricket's digital technology revolution.”
Dexter worked as a journalist and broadcaster post retirement and also served as England's chairman of selectors. He was also instrumental in devising the players' ranking system that was later adopted by the ICC and is currently known as the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings.
