RARE Ball of Fire Fred Trueman 1976 f/e hb (cricket)

Illustrated with numerous rare public & private photographs.

Frederick Sewards Trueman (born February 6, 1931 in Stainton, Yorkshire, died July 1, 2006) was an English cricketer, regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers in history.

Trueman's bowling abilities shone through early on, when he took six wickets for one run playing against a top English league side at the age of fifteen. This performance attracted the attention of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, for whom Trueman made his first-class debut in 1949. He rose through the English cricketing ranks, quickly cementing himself at county level before moving on to become one of the best true fast bowlers of his generation.

Not particularly tall for a fast bowler at 5 foot 10, he nevertheless made good use of his wide shoulders and strong legs to produce genuine pace from his classic sideways-on action. Garry Sobers regards him as one of the finest fast bowlers he has ever played against. "Fiery Fred", as he was known, also taunted batsmen with his Yorkshire humour and the icy glare that went with his aggressive nature. He made his sensational debut in Test cricket in 1952, helping reduce India to four wickets down for no runs, working up tremendous pace to shake up the Indian batsmen.

Trueman was the first man to take 300 Test wickets, and no doubt could have taken many more had it not been for numerous clashes and problems with the Yorkshire and England cricketing hierarchies.

Trueman took 2,302 first class wickets (including four hat tricks) at an average of 18.27 and 307 Test wickets at an average of 21.54. His first class career spanned a remarkable twenty years (1949-1969) and when he did eventually hang up his boots he became renowned for telling his tall stories and anecdotes from his cricketing past, spending many years as an expert summariser for the BBC's Test Match Special radio programme. Alongside Henry Blofeld, he appeared as one of the cricket commentators in the "Tertiary Phase" of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series.

Famous for his dislike of many aspects of the modern game, especially one-day cricket, Trueman was criticised by some, such as Ian Botham, for being unduly negative about modern players and for glorifying cricket "in my day". However, he was respected for his unsurpassed knowledge of the mechanics of fast bowling and many feel he should have been used as a bowling coach for England's under-achieving sides of the 1980s and 1990s.

In the 1970s Trueman presented the Yorkshire Television ITV programme "Indoor League", which was broadcast at 5.15pm on a Thursday evening, at the end of children's programmes. This show had a notably Northern, working class focus, and featured pub games such as darts (broadcast for the first time on television), bar billiards, shove ha'penny, skittles and arm-wrestling. Trueman anchored the programme with a pint of bitter and his pipe to hand, and signed off each week with his catchphrase "I'll sithee".

He was diagnosed with small cell carcinoma in May 2006.

Fred Trueman also holds the record for most consecutive matches (67) played, taking at least a wicket.

A little known fact is that Trueman also played football with Lincoln City F.C..

He passed away on the 1st July 2006.