Somerset and Devon's oldest former cricket dies aged 98

WAR hero, former First Class cricketer, first-rate rugby player, a member of the Magic Circle and an active sportsman into his early 90s. Tony Sutton was all of them and more.

Sutton, who has died aged 98, packed a huge amount into an active life as a sportsman, solicitor, soldier and family man.

He was the oldest former Somerset cricketer, Devon cricketer, South Devon CC cricketer and captain and Bath rugby player – and the oldest former president of Teignmouth RFC and the Devon Rugby Referees Society.

Sutton was probably the oldest member of Teignmouth Golf Club – and the oldest former Barbarian RFC rugby player.

Michael Tony Sutton, the son of Brigadier William Sutton and Barbara was born in Weymouth in 1921 and educated at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire where Basil Hume, the future Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, was a fellow student and rugby team-mate.

A planned career in the law was interrupted by World War Two, in which Sutton served as a tank commander in the Westminster Dragoons. He saw action in the D-Day campaign, arriving four days after the main attack force, and fought his way through Holland.

Lt Sutton was awarded the Military Cross on the recommendation of General Montgomery for his bravery rescuing a colleague from a stricken tank.

The French Government recognised Sutton’s contribution to the liberation of their country by awarding him the Legion d’Honneur in 2016.

It was while training as a tank driver that Sutton first showed his aptitude for magic with his own take on producing a rabbit out of a hat, He conjured a duck out of soldier’s tin helmet.

Sutton went up to Oxford after the war to complete his law degree and played rugby and cricket for the university, earning the coveted ‘Double Blue’.

He was subsequently articled to a firm of solicitors in Bath. It was while in Bath that Sutton played rugby for the city side, appearing 45 times between 1948-49. It was during the same period that he appeared for Somerset, ironically against his old university.

He played for the Barbarians invitation rugby team against Nottingham and also represented top London club Richmond.

Sutton moved to Devon in 1953 to work for Tozers solicitors and stayed with the firm until he retired. He specialised in ecclesiastical law on behalf of the Catholic Diocese of Plymouth.

Sutton was able to juggle his legal career with his love for cricket during the 50s and 60s, turning out for Devon CCC, South Devon CC, the Devon Dumplings and the Free Foresters.

South Devon asked Sutton to skipper the 1st XI, which he did for nine seasons between 1954-1962. He also served the club as secretary for a year.

Among his significant cricket achievements was taking 10 wickets in an innings for the Devon Dumplings – and 14 in all in the match – and dismissing two of the leading batsmen in the world.

Hanif Mohammed and Len Hutton held the records for the greatest First Class and Test scores in the 1950s. Sutton bagged them both with his off-spin bowling.

“I got Hutton out in another game, but he was on a hundred at the time,” Sutton later recalled.

Sutton played 18 First Class games for Oxford University and Somerset. He claimed 46 wickets at 25 runs each. Batting was not his forte. He took a vicarious pleasure in having bagged a ‘pair’  (two ducks) at Lords playing for the university against the MCC in 1947.

When South Devon CC hosted a benefit game against Somerset for Jamie Hildreth in 2017, Sutton was invited along as guest of honour and enjoyed getting to know member of the current Somerset side.

First-class rugby was followed by a second career as a hockey player with Dawlish Men. He took up rugby refereeing almost by accident.

“I was injured and could not play when a friend suggest I might like to try rugby refereeing,” said Sutton. He went on to referee well into the 1960s and was president of the Devon RRS. Rugby refereeing led to an involvement with Teignmouth RFC and a subsequent term as president.

Tony met wife-to -be Gillian at a hunt ball in the South Hams in 1957 and were married the following year. The couple had five children – Veronica, Bridget, Theresa, Philip and Michael – who between them produced 15 grand-children and two great grandchildren. Gillian died four years ago.

Retirement allowed Sutton to play golf, tennis and in later years he joined a keep-fit club.

Sutton had the unreal experience of reading his own obituary in The Cricket magazine, which mistakenly reported his death in 1993.

A humorous letter to the editor produced an apology, accompanied by a case of champagne, which was drunk at an Obituary Party hosted by Tony and Gillian at their Teignmouth home.

Tony Sutton inherited his catholic faith from his mother and his commitment to it included serving as governor at Trinity School and Notre Dame Convent School in Teignmouth.

Tony Sutton’s funeral will take place on Monday, July 15 (2pm) at Our Lady and St Patrick’s Catholic Church in Teignmouth.