Thomas Mitchell (Kent cricketer)

Mitchell was born at Johannesburg in South Africa,[1] the son of Frank Mitchell who had played Test cricket for both England and South Africa.[2] He was educated at Tonbridge School in Kent, being described in 1922 as a very young batsman of "distinguished cricketing stock".[3] As a schoolboy he was described as having a "steadiness" when batting[4] and a "pretty good" batsman who watched the ball well[5] who bowled "quite well enough" to be considered an allrounder.[6]

He played for Lord's schools against The Rest and the Public Schools against the Army in both 1924 and 1925 and captained Tonbridge in 1925, his final year at school.[7][8] He first played for Kent's Second XI the same year and scored a century for the side in 1927 before making his Kent First XI debut in June 1928 in a match against Sussex at Tunbridge Wells. He went on to play 24 times for the county as an amateur, usually appearing in May and June. He made one half-century for Kent, scoring 64 runs against Northants in 1930, and played occasional matches for the Second XI. He played his final First XI match in 1934.[7]

Mitchell also played six times for MCC and once for HDG Leveson Gower's XI in first-class matches and played club cricket for Blackheath, Old Tonbridgians and Band of Brothers.[2][7] He also played rugby union for Kent.[7]

Professionally Mitchell worked as a broker at Lloyd's of London. During the Second World War he served in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, ending the war as a Squadron Leader, although he did not learn to fly until after the war. Mitchell married Joan Hall in 1925 and died at St John's Wood in London in 1960 aged 52.[7][1]

Thomas Mitchell at ESPNcricinfo