Timothy Alan Munton (born 30 July 1965) is an English cricketer. He had a long career in county cricket, playing over 500 games combined between first-class and List A, primarily with Warwickshire before ending his career at Derbyshire. He also played two Test matches for England in the 1992 series against Pakistan, and went on a number of England A tours. A medium pace bowler and lower order batsman, cricket writer Colin Bateman stated, "at 6ft 6in, with an ability to make the ball swing, Munton is at his best in English conditions". His time at Warwickshire was a particularly successful one for the club, winning 6 trophies between 1993 and 1995; as a crucial part of that side, Munton was honoured as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1995.
Early life Munton was born in Melton Mowbray to parents Alan and Brenda.Cricketers' Who's Who 1988, p. 287 He attended Sarson High School and Edward VII Upper School, where he achieved 8 O-levels and 1 A-level. He made his county second XI debut for his native Leicestershire in 1982, taking three wickets that season in limited action.Wisden 1983, p. 877 The 1983 season was similar, with Munton taking 4 wickets for 182 runs across the campaign.Wisden 1984, p. 808 His breakthrough to regular second team action came in 1984, where he took 9 second XI wickets at 23.88 each, while scoring 91 runs at 18.20.Wisden 1985, p. 820 However, at the end of that season, he was released by Leicestershire, who did not believe he was good enough.
Professional career After his release from Leicestershire, Munton struggled to find another county to take him on. He came to Warwickshire's attention after dismissing one of the Warwickshire committee, then playing for Nuneaton, in a Central League match, and participating in Webster's Bitter Find-a-Fast-Bowler competition at Edgbaston, where he was invited to winter nets at Edgbaston. He was subsequently offered a contract for the 1985 season by Warwickshire, where he would play the bulk of his career. He made his first-class debut for the county against the touring Zimbabweans in 1985. In a heavily rain affected three day game, in which over 6 hours were lost to the weather, he did not bat and failed to take a wicket in either innings, conceding 35 runs from his 9 overs.Wisden 1986, p. 312 In the winter of 1985/6 he played for Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand.
1986-89 seasons: county regular Munton's first County Championship appearance came in the season following his first-class debut. Over the course of the season, he played in 17 of Warwickshire's 24 County Championship matches, taking 25 wickets at 32.12, with best bowling figures of 4/60 versus Kent.Playfair Cricket Annual 1987, p. 147
Munton was a core member of the Warwickshire squad for the 1987 season, playing in 15 of the 24 County Championship matches. His returns improved considerably over 1986, taking 38 wickets across the season at 25.84 each, outperforming overseas player Allan Donald in both respects. Against Surrey in May his contribution was described by Wisden as "match winning" as he had match figures of 8/89;Wisden 1988, p. 590 while against Nottinghamshire his "accurate seam bowling" returned him 6/96 in the first innings.Wisden 1988, p. 592 However, a mid-season injury meant that he missed all of July's fixtures, and on his return to action he did not take any further five wicket hauls. In List A cricket, he appeared in one of the three Warwickshire matches in the Natwest Trophy; in the Benson & Hedges Cup matches against Yorkshire and Scotland; and was a regular in the Warwickshire side which finished bottom of the Refuge Assurance League.
The 1988 season saw Munton continue his "steady progress" in his returns in the county championship, increasing his season's tally to 46 wickets while lowering his bowling average to 22.76.Playfair Cricket Annual 1989, p. 138 He also set a new career best bowling analysis, in a game where he "combined hostility and accuracy" to take 6/21 against Worcestershire. Munton's progress continued in 1989, surpassing 50 County Championship wickets for the first time in his career, finishing with 56 at 24.41 apiece,Playfair Cricket Annual 1990, p. 137 second for Warwickshire only to his new ball partner Donald.
1990 and 1991 seasons: England A call-up The 1990 first-class season was an outstanding one for Munton, taking 75 county championship wickets at 27.81 apiece, with Wisden commenting that "it was fortunate for [Warwickshire] that this shortfall [of wickets from Allan Donald and Gladstone Small] was more than made up for by the advance of Tim Munton"Wisden 1991, p. 616 Outstanding performances came in the championship game at Northamptonshire, with match figures of 9/77, the best match figures of his career to date,Wisden 1991, p. 537 and against Glamorgan at Edgbaston, with 3/44 in the first innings and 5/64- including all of the Glamorgan top 4- in the second inningsWisden 1991, p. 631 Munton did not feature in either of Warwickshire's Natwest Bank Trophy matches; and played in all four of Warwickshire's Benson & Hedges matches without any notable performances as Warwickshire were eliminated at the group stage. In the Refuge Assurance League, in which he played regularly, he took 5/23 from 8 overs against Gloucestershire, which would remain the best List A analysis of his career.Wisden 1991 p. 777
Following this successful season, Munton was selected in the England A tours of both Pakistan and Sri Lanka over the 1990/91 winter. He made his England A debut in a List A match against the Karachi Cricket Association in Karachi, taking 3/28 in his eight overs. However, the tour was called off due to the start of the Gulf War after this one match, with the England side having to flee Pakistan on a "hastily-arranged" flight. Instead, England A toured Sri Lanka from January until March. Munton played in all 5 A team ODIs against Sri Lanka A, along with the first of the three A team Tests. His best bowling analysis on the tour came in the single A team test he played, with 4/61 off 35 overs in the first innings. He finished the tour with 10 first-class wickets at 17.60, with only Andy Pick finishing above him in the averages.Wisden 1992, p. 988
After returning from Sri Lanka the 1991 season proceeded in a similar vein to 1990. He played in all 22 of Warwickshire's county championship matches, taking 71 wickets at 25.28, including no fewer than five five-wicket innings, and two ten-wicket matches.Playfair Cricket Annual 1992, p. 141 His best bowling performance came against Middlesex at Edgbaston, where he had figures of 8/89 in the first innings and 3/38 in the second innings in an 89-run Warwickshire victory, a performance described by Wisden: "Munton bowled superbly to take a career-best eight for 89 in an unchanged spell of 30.2 overs, underlining both his stamina and his skill".Wisden 1992, p. 607 He also had a seven wicket haul in the first innings against Worcestershire at Edgbaston, helping to skittle Worcestershire for 166 in a Warwickshire victory.Wisden 1992, p. 610 By this stage there was increasing pressure for Munton to be called up to England's test side; he "was unlucky not to be selected for the Edgbaston Test, where conditions would have suited him so well".Wisden 1992, p. 597 Munton was also a first choice List A player for Warwickshire, and performed particularly strongly against Surrey in the Benson & Hedges Cup, taking 4/35, his career best figures in that competition;Wisden 1992, p. 725 and took a five wicket haul against Gloucestershire in the Refuge Assurance League, including three wickets in four balls.Wisden 1992, p. 820
1992 season: Test debut Munton was included in the England Test squad from the start of the 1992 summer, with Phil Tufnell, David Lawrence and Dermot Reeve all recovering from injuries.Wisden 1993, p. 283 However, he was omitted from the side from the first Test, as England chose an extra batsman in the shape of Mark Ramprakash, and from the second Test as Devon Malcolm returned after a year out of the side.Wisden 1993, p. 287 He came into the side for the third Test, after Ian Botham was dropped and Phil Defreitas was declared unfit with a groin strain.Wisden 1993, p. 291 However, he struggled with the ball throughout the match, with figures of 1/112 in the first innings and 0/26 in the second, as Pakistan scored nearly 750 runs for the loss of 14 wickets. He was more successful with the bat, scoring 25 not out and putting on a partnership of 64 for the 9th wicket with Ian Salisbury. He kept his place in the XI for the fourth Test at Headingley and took 2/22 in the first innings and 1/40 in the second, with Inzamam-ul-Haq and Ramiz Raja among his victims, as England won by five wickets.Wisden 1993, p. 297 He was, however, dropped for the final Test of the summer at the Oval, as Malcolm and Tufnell returned to the side, and did not make the squad for either of the 1992/3 overseas tours.Wisden 1993, p. 555
Despite his appearances for England, Munton played in 15 of Warwickshire's 22 County Championship matches in the 1992 season, and bowled the second most overs in the side after only Allan Donald.Wisden 1993, p. 558 He took 42 wickets from those games, at an average of 33.07. He played key roles in several matches: against Derbyshire he took 5/44 in the first innings, including the crucial last wicket when Derbyshire needed a single run to avoid the follow on;Wisden 1993, p. 559 and against Leicestershire he took 5/46 in the first innings, with four wickets falling in his first four overs to break the back of the innings, and 7/64 in the second innings.Wisden 1993, p. 566 He appeared in all of Warwickshire's fixtures as they made a run to the semi-finals of the Natwest Trophy, conceding just 17 runs off his 11 overs in their semi-final defeat;Wisden 1993, p. 624 and played in three of Warwickshire's four games in the Benson & Hedges Cup.
1993 county season: Natwest Trophy win Munton started the season well, taking 7/41 in the first innings of Warwickshire's match against Kent in mid-May. However, that was to prove to be his only five wicket haul of the season, as he missed around a third of the season, from mid-July, with a hip injury sustained in the match against Middlesex.Wisden 1994, p. 605 He finished the County Championship with just 25 wickets at 27.08, well short of his returns the previous season, as Warwickshire slumped to 16th in the championship table.Playfair Cricket Annual 1994, p. 144 With the bat, he accrued just 51 runs in 13 innings.
Despite his injury, he was able to return in time for the final of the Natwest Trophy, against Sussex, bowling 9 overs for 67 runs as Warwickshire won a high-scoring game, which "redeemed an otherwise poor season".Wisden 1994, p. 596
1994 season: the treble From both an individual and a team perspective, the high point of Munton's career came in the 1994 season. Warwickshire won the treble of County Championship, Sunday League and Benson & Hedges Cup, and lost in the final of the Natwest Trophy in what was described by Wisden as "the most remarkable season by any side in the history of English county cricket".Wisden 1995, p. 625 With skipper Dermot Reeve playing in fewer than half of Championship matches due to injury, Munton captained the Warwickshire side for nine matches in his absence, and was spectacularly successful, with eight wins from those nine games.Wisden 1995, p. 626