This is a set of lists of the oldest Test and first-class cricketers.

Oldest living Test cricketers

Oldest living Test cricketers by country

Note: Twenty-seven first-class cricketers are known to have attained centenarian status (see relevant section below).

Source:^[1]

Oldest Test cricketers still playing at Test level

Oldest Test cricketers still playing at Test level, by country

Note: The above lists include players who have played Test cricket within the past 24 months and have not formally announced their retirement.

Longest-lived Test cricketers

Norman Gordon of South Africa, the only Test cricketer to live to 100

Bill Brown, longest-lived Australian Test cricketer

See also Oldest living Test cricketers above.

Source:^[2][3]

Oldest Test debutants

James Southerton, the oldest player on debut

Oldest Test debutant by country

Note: John Traicos debuted for Zimbabwe at the age of 45 years, 154 days, but had already played three Tests for South Africa 22 years prior.^[4]

Note: The oldest debutant, James Southerton, was also the first Test cricketer to die (on 16 June 1880). Miran Bakhsh was known as Miran Bux during his playing career.

Source:^[5]

Oldest Test cricketers on final appearance

Oldest Test cricketers on final appearance by country

Wilfred Rhodes, England Test cricketer from 1899 until 1930

Note: The Test career of Wilfred Rhodes spanned a record 30 years, 315 days. England's youngest Test cricketer and another Yorkshireman, Brian Close (born 24 February 1931), lies second in this regard. He made his debut against New Zealand in 1949 and was recalled, after an absence of almost nine years, to oppose West Indies in 1976 (his career lasting 26 years, 356 days).

Source:^[6]

Longest-lived first-class cricketers

This list includes all those first-class players who are known to have lived to 100.^[7]

  Deceased   Living

Rank	Name	Team(s)	Birth date	Death date	Age	Nationality
1	John Manners	Hampshire, Combined Services	25 September 1914	7 March 2020	105 years, 225 days	England
2	Jim Hutchinson	Derbyshire	29 November 1896	7 November 2000	103 years, 344 days	England
3	Syd Ward	Wellington	5 August 1907	31 December 2010	103 years, 148 days	New Zealand
4	Norman Gordon	South Africa, Transvaal	6 August 1911	2 September 2014	103 years, 27 days	South Africa
5	Alexander McAllister	Scotland	19 December 1920	Living	103 years, 30 days	Scotland
6	Rupert de Smidt	Western Province	23 November 1883	3 August 1986	102 years, 253 days	South Africa
7	Edward English	Hampshire	1 January 1864	5 September 1966	102 years, 247 days	England
8	Cyril Perkins	Northamptonshire, Minor Counties	4 June 1911	21 November 2013	102 years, 170 days	England
9	John Wheatley	Canterbury	8 January 1860	19 April 1962	102 years, 101 days	New Zealand
10	Archie Scott	Scotland	26 January 1918	1 November 2019	101 years, 272 days	Scotland
11	Ted Martin	Western Australia	30 September 1902	9 June 2004	101 years, 253 days	Australia
12	D. B. Deodhar	Hindus, Maharashtra	14 January 1892	24 August 1993	101 years, 222 days	India
13	George Harman	Dublin University	6 June 1874	14 December 1975	101 years, 191 days	Ireland
14	Fred Gibson	Leicestershire	13 February 1912	28 June 2013	101 years, 135 days	Jamaica (lived in  England)
15	Alan Finlayson	Eastern Province	1 September 1900	28 October 2001	101 years, 57 days	South Africa
16	Neil McCorkell	Hampshire, Players	23 March 1912	28 February 2013	100 years, 342 days	England
17	Raghunath Chandorkar	Bombay	21 November 1920	3 September 2021	100 years, 286 days	India
18	Geoffrey Beck	Oxford University	16 June 1918	5 March 2019	100 years, 262 days	England
19	Harold Stapleton	New South Wales	7 January 1915	24 September 2015	100 years, 260 days	Australia
20	Alan Burgess	Canterbury	1 May 1920	5 January 2021	100 years, 249 days	New Zealand
21	Rusi Cooper	Parsees, Bombay, Middlesex	14 December 1922	31 July 2023	100 years, 229 days	India
22	Charles Braithwaite	English Residents, Players of USA	10 September 1845	15 April 1946	100 years, 217 days	United States
23	Harry Forsyth	Dublin University	18 December 1903	19 July 2004	100 years, 214 days	Ireland
24	Jack Laver	Tasmania	9 March 1917	3 October 2017	100 years, 208 days	Australia
25	Tom Pritchard	Wellington, Warwickshire	10 March 1917	22 August 2017	100 years, 165 days	New Zealand
26	Bernarr Notley	Nottinghamshire	31 August 1918	22 January 2019	100 years, 144 days	England
27	Vasant Raiji	Bombay, Baroda	26 January 1920	13 June 2020	100 years, 139 days	India
28	George Deane	Hampshire	11 December 1828	26 February 1929	100 years, 77 days	England

Note: Although born in New South Wales, Australia, Syd Ward and John Wheatley appear to have been raised in New Zealand. George Harman, who acquired two Rugby Union caps for Ireland, died in Cornwall. Charles Braithwaite was born in England. Fred Gibson moved to England in 1944. Neil McCorkell was born in England, but lived in South Africa from 1951. The prominent Antiguan cricketer, Sir Sydney Walling, who died aged 102 years, 88 days in October 2009, never appeared in matches accorded first-class status.

The oldest person, and only septuagenarian, to play first-class cricket was Raja Maharaj Singh, aged 72, his sole appearance being for the Bombay Governor's XI against a Commonwealth XI in November 1950.^[8] Thirteen players have played first-class cricket in their sixties, most of them in England in the 19th century.^[9]

Oldest women cricketers

England women's cricketer Eileen Whelan (later Eileen Ash), born 30 October 1911, was the first female Test cricketer to attain centenarian status; she died on 3 December 2021, aged 110 years 34 days.^[10]

Oldest living ODI cricketers

The first One-Day International took place on 5 January 1971 when Australia played England.

Oldest living Twenty20 International cricketers

The first Twenty20 International took place on 17 February 2005 when Australia played New Zealand.

References