George Brown (cricketer, born 1887)

George Brown (6 October 1887 – 3 December 1964) was an English professional cricketer who played in seven Test matches between 1921 and 1923 and had an extensive domestic career in English county cricket with Hampshire from 1908 to 1933. Brown was born in Cowley in October 1887 and made his debut in first-class cricket for Hampshire in 1908. He soon established himself as one of the finest all-rounders in county cricket. After strong performances for Hampshire following the First World War, Brown made his Test debut for England against Australia in the 1921 Ashes series. Despite not being Hampshire's regular wicket-keeper, he was chosen in the England side to fulfill this role. He performed well against the Australian fast bowlers Jack Gregory and Ted McDonald and was described by A. A. Thomson as "one of the few English heroes of the ill-starred 1921 Tests". He toured South Africa in 1922–23, playing in four of the five Tests to conclude his brief Test career. Brown continued to play county cricket with Hampshire until 1933, with injury forcing him to retire. He then spent two seasons on the first-class umpires list.

Brown appeared in 612 first-class matches, scoring 25,649 runs, taking 626 wickets, claiming 567 catches, and making 79 stumpings. An aggressive left-handed batsman, for Hampshire he scored 22,962 runs from 539 appearances. His runs aggregate for the county is bettered only by Roy Marshall and Phil Mead. He took 602 wickets for Hampshire with his right-arm medium pace bowling, which was delivered with sharp, late outswing, and early in his career was said to border on being genuinely fast. He was a renowned fielder, being considered "the finest fielder in the world" by the Hampshire Advertiser in 1920. The cricket historian John Arlott would later write that he was "the most complete all-round cricketer the game has ever known".

After his playing career, Brown settled in Winchester, where he became a publican and later a parking attendant. In his latter years he was afflicted by several illnesses; he died in hospital in Winchester on 3 December 1964, aged 77. His ashes were scattered over the County Ground in Southampton, where he had played for 25 years.