Jack Davey (cricketer)

Born in Tavistock, Davey was the son of an auctioneer's clerk who played and administered club cricket for over 30 years, as well as playing for Devon. He was educated at Tavistock Grammar School and Tavistock Comprehensive School, where when playing cricket for the school, as well as in his early club cricket days, Davey wanted to be a slow left-arm bowler. It wasn't until when he was playing for his village club side, Milton Abbot, that the team found itself short of a seam bowler. Davey, who at the time was 14, was given the new ball. He performed so well in his new role, that for the rest of his career he would become a seam bowler. Davey played Minor counties cricket for Devon on four more occasions in 1965. ==Gloucestershire==

It was in 1965 that he came to Gloucestershire's attention, appearing for the county Second XI on a couple of occasions in that year. The following season, Davey made his first-class debut for the county against Cambridge University, although he spent the majority of 1966 in the county Second XI. His first full season playing for Gloucestershire was a successful one, with his left-arm bowling taking 60 wickets at a bowling average of 27.65. He took his first five wicket haul, one of two that season, against Surrey when he took 5/40. However, it was in that season that he took his career best bowling figures, 6/95 against Nottinghamshire. Standing over 6 feet tall, Davey was an opening bowler, often sharing the new ball with South Africa Test cricketer Mike Procter, who had joined Gloucestershire in the season before Davey's debut. With South Africa being banned from international cricket due to their governments apartheid policies, this ended Procter's international career, thus allowing him and Davey to form a highly productive partnership over the next decade. Throughout the 1970s, Davey played an important support role for Procter, taking over 40 wickets in 1971 and 1972, plus chipping in with 26 in 1973. He considers this the bowling performance he is most proud of. a batsman though not known for his fast scoring rate. He won the 1973 Gillette Cup with Gloucestershire, playing through the majority of the tournament with painkilling injections in both his knees, a fact kept quiet among his contemporaries in cricket. His most successful first-class season was in 1975, in which he took 64 wickets at an average of 26.26, and which included his highest quantity of five wicket hauls, claiming 5 of them in 20 matches. Davey generally batted at number 11 in the Gloucestershire batting order, and was well known as a blocker. An example of his defensive nature came against Glamorgan on the last day of the 1973 season. Davey came to the crease with Gloucestershire 210/9, still requiring 57 runs to win. Davey scored 17 runs off 94 balls, supporting number 10 John Mortimore, who scored the majority of the runs in their partnership as Gloucestershire went on to win. He scored 918 runs during his first-class career, at a batting average of 7.77. He made a solitary half century, which came against Glamorgan in 1977, which was his only first-class appearance that season. His final season also saw him play 9 List A matches, the last coming against Lancashire in the 2nd round of the 1978 Gillette Cup. ==Later life==

With the end of his career with Gloucestershire, Davey embarked on new pursuits. In an interview for the ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'' in 1975, he stated his desire to become a heavy goods vehicle driver on a full-time basis, having worked as one for the winters of 1973 and 1974 after acquiring his licence. In previous winters he had worked as a carpet salesman in Bristol, where he had made his home with his wife, Melora, who was originally from Princetown, Devon. Davey appeared in the 1997 documentary Grace & Favour: A Portrait of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, alongside former teammates Zaheer Abbas and David Allen, and later Gloucestershire player Mark Alleyne. In 2009, he appeared in a short comedy film entitled Dow Jones, where he played the part of Dow Jones' girlfriend. When his lifelong friend and former teammate David Shepherd died, Davey described him as being "like a brother". At the time of Shepherd's funeral, Davey was semi-retired and living in Topsham, Devon. ==References==