Raymond Flood (cricketer)

Flood made his first-class debut for Hampshire against Essex at the Portsmouth during the 1956 County Championship, one of two first-class matches he played that season.[1] He did not feature for Hampshire in 1957, while in 1958 he played just once against Derbyshire.[1] Flood found his first–team appearances limited with the established presence of Roy Marshall, Jimmy Gray and Henry Horton limited his appearances, in what was a strong Hampshire side for the time.[2]

He made his breakthrough into the Hampshire first-team in 1959, making twenty first-class appearances in a season characterised by good weather and an early experiment with covered wickets.[2] He scored 780 runs in 1959, averaging 25.16 and made his only first-class century,[3] an unbeaten 138 against Sussex at Hove. With the emergence of Dennis Baldry and Danny Livingstone, and with Mike Barnard's move from The Football League to playing for Hampshire on a full-time basis, Flood's career did not survive much longer;[2] he made one further appearance, in 1960 against Oxford University.[1] After a serious knee injury, he was released by Hampshire prior to the 1961 season.[4]

His batting strengths were described by John Arlott in 1959 Cricket Journal, with Arlott remarking "His strength lies in two strokes... a truly bucolic swing to, or over, mid-wicket and the archaic square-cut off the front foot”.[5] Following his retirement from first-class cricket, Flood lived in the New Forest, working as a window cleaner and playing club cricket for Lyndhurst for thirty seasons.[6] He was diagnosed with liver cancer in 2013 and died six months later on 13 March 2014 in Lyndhurst.[4] His brother, John, was a footballer who played 129 matches for Southampton.[4]

• Raymond Flood at ESPNcricinfo