Tommy Mitchell and Creswell Colliery

Tommy Mitchell (1902–1996), the Derbyshire leg-spinner who played five Tests for England and toured Australia with the 'Bodyline' side of 1932–33, was a face worker at Creswell Colliery before he played cricket for a living. He was found during the 1926 miners' lockout, when Derbyshire's captain Guy Jackson brought a team to play at Creswell, and he at first turned down the county's offer of £3 a week because he could earn more at the pit.

The mining history in this record

Thomas Bignall Mitchell was born at Creswell, near Bolsover, on 4 September 1902 and worked at the coalface at Creswell Colliery; he is said to have learned to spin a ball by spinning a billiard ball. When the 1926 lockout left miners with time on their hands, many turned to sport and colliery cricket sides picked up men who would not otherwise have been seen. Derbyshire's captain Guy Jackson took a team to play at Creswell, and was taken by Mitchell's bowling; Wikipedia dates this to the General Strike of 1926, which fell within the months-long lockout. Mitchell first refused Derbyshire's £3 a week as less than his pit wage, and eventually accepted £4. He played his first county match in 1928.

The Morning Star places him in a wider pattern: Derbyshire's only County Championship, in 1936, was won by a side whose professionals were all raised in the county and mostly in the coalfield, and the fast bowler Bill Copson, who was working at Morton Colliery during the 1926 strike, was found the same way.

People

Tommy Mitchell (Thomas Bignall Mitchell, 1902–1996), face worker at Creswell Colliery. Guy Jackson, the Derbyshire captain who saw him bowl at Creswell in 1926. Bill Copson, the Morton Colliery miner and Derbyshire fast bowler found in the same lockout. Bob Wyatt, the England captain he fell out with.

Legacy today

Mitchell took more than a hundred wickets in ten successive seasons and 1,483 in first-class cricket, including 168 in 1935, a Derbyshire record, and all ten Leicestershire wickets for 64 that year; he was part of the attack that won the 1936 Championship. Chosen for the 1932–33 tour of Australia, he played in the fourth Test and, against New South Wales, dismissed Don Bradman for one. His relations with the amateurs who ran the game were poor: he was dropped in 1933 for swearing at an amateur team-mate and never played for England after telling the captain Bob Wyatt what he thought of his captaincy. During the Second World War he played league cricket in Bradford, and he played for Hickleton Main well into his fifties. He is quoted as saying he was 'as good a workman down the pit as on the cricket field'. When he died at Hickleton on 27 January 1996 he was the oldest surviving English Test cricketer.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each tagged with how solidly it's grounded and attached to the source(s) that support it. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The leg-spinner Tommy Mitchell was a face worker at Cresswell Colliery; during the 1926 strike Derbyshire captain Guy Jackson brought a team to play at Cresswell and was taken by his bowling. (documented fact) ¹
• Mitchell was born at Creswell, Bolsover, Derbyshire, was a faceworker in the coal mines, and was first spotted by Derbyshire during the General Strike of 1926. (documented fact) ²
• Mitchell at first rejected Derbyshire's offer of £3 a week because he could earn more in the pit, and eventually accepted £4. (later recollection, uncertain) ¹
• Mitchell played for Derbyshire from 1928 to 1939, took 1,483 first-class wickets, played five Tests between February 1933 and June 1935, and was part of the Derbyshire attack that won the 1936 County Championship. (documented fact) ^1,2
• Mitchell played for Hickleton Main well into his fifties and died at Hickleton in 1996 as the oldest surviving English Test cricketer. (documented fact) ²

Mines

• Creswell Colliery — Derbyshire
  Tommy Mitchell worked at this colliery as a face worker before playing for Derbyshire.

People

• Tommy Mitchell (1902–1996) · worker, to 1926 — Face worker at Creswell Colliery before becoming Derbyshire's leg-spinner.

Regions

Derbyshire

Real-world mining concepts used here

Miners' Strike

Sources

1. (secondary) The strike that forged a cricketing generation (Jon Gemmell, 4 May 2026) — Morning Star
2. (secondary) Tommy Mitchell — Wikipedia

Record created: 19 September 2026 · Last researched: 19 September 2026