In the aftermath of Datta Gaekwad’s death, at 95 – the oldest living Test cricketer from India at the time of his passing – here is a list of the oldest men’s Test cricketers to have ever lived.
Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match analysis, player interviews, and much more.
Norman Gordon played all five Test matches for South Africa in the 1938/39 series at home. He claimed 5-103 in his debut Test innings, and finished with 20 wickets. Had the Second World War not intervened, he would certainly have played had a longer career.
Gordon did return to first-class cricket for Transvaal after the War, until 1948/49. He finished with 126 wickets at 22.24 from 29 matches, including six five-wicket hauls.
However, he achieved something no male Test cricketer ever had – live past a hundred years. He was 103 years 27 days at the time of his death, in 2014. Even among all first-class cricketers, only John Manners of Hampshire, Jim Hutchinson of Derbyshire, and Syd Ward of Wellington have lived longer.
Eric Tindill, who played five Test matches for New Zealand on either side of the Second World War, died 39 days before his hundredth birthday.
Oldest men’s Test cricketers at the time of their death
Norman Gordon (South Africa) – 103 years 27 days
Eric Tindill (New Zealand) – 99 years 226 days
Francis MacKinnon (England) – 98 years 324 days
John Watkins (South Africa) – 98 years 146 days
Lindsay Tuckett (South Africa) – 97 years 212 days
Don Smith (England) – 97 years 209 days
Jack Kerr (New Zealand) – 96 years 150 days
Wilfred Rhodes (England) – 95 years 252 days
‘Dad’ Weir (New Zealand) – 95 years 151 days
Everton Weekes (West Indies) – 95 years 126 days
Datta Gaekwad (India) – 95 years 109 days
Ken Archer (Australia) – 95 years 87 days
Andy Ganteaume (West Indies) – 95 years 26 days
Note: Among female Test cricketers, Eileen Ash née Whelan lived was 110 years 34 days old when died in 2021.
Oldest living men’s Test cricketers on February 13, 2024
Ronald Draper (South Africa), born December 24, 1926
Neil Harvey (Australia), born October 8, 1928
Trevor MacMahon (New Zealand), born November 8, 1929
Wazir Mohammad (Pakistan), born December 22, 1929
CD Gopinath (India), born March 1, 1930
