{"id":455738,"date":"2026-02-03T13:11:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/455738\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T13:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T13:11:08","slug":"former-england-cricketer-dies-at-the-age-of-67-as-tributes-flood-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/455738\/","title":{"rendered":"Former England cricketer dies at the age of 67 as tributes flood in"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former England cricketer and Sussex seam bowler Tony Pigott has died at the age of 67, prompting an outpouring of tributes from across the cricketing world.<\/p>\n

Pigott enjoyed a distinguished career spanning nearly two decades, during which he became known for his wholehearted commitment to every team he represented.<\/p>\n

The ECB expressed its condolences, stating: “Everyone at the ECB is deeply saddened by the news, and our thoughts are with Tony’s family and friends.”<\/p>\n

Sussex Cricket also acknowledged the loss of their former player and chief executive, saying they were “saddened to learn of the passing” of a man who left an indelible mark on the county game.<\/p>\n

Pigott announced himself to the cricketing world in spectacular fashion during his first-class debut against Surrey in 1978, claiming a hat-trick with his opening three deliveries.<\/p>\n

That extraordinary start set the tone for a prolific career that would see him amass more than 1,000 wickets across first-class and List A cricket.<\/p>\n

Over 260 first-class matches for Sussex and Surrey, he took 672 wickets at an average of 30.99, while also contributing 4,841 runs including a century and 20 half-centuries.<\/p>\n

His List A record proved equally impressive, with 377 wickets from 270 matches at an average of 24.39.<\/p>\n

\"Tony<\/p>\n

Tony Pigott enjoyed a distinguished career spanning nearly two decades<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

The seamer spent 18 years at Sussex before moving to Surrey in 1994.<\/p>\n

Pigott’s sole international appearance came during England’s tour of New Zealand in 1984, when he was summoned at short notice as injury cover for the Christchurch Test.<\/p>\n

The late call-up forced him to postpone his wedding to represent his country.<\/p>\n

Despite the difficult circumstances, he acquitted himself respectably, claiming two wickets in the first innings with figures of 2 for 75 from 17 overs, dismissing opener Bruce Edgar and Jeremy Coney.<\/p>\n

\"Tony<\/p>\n

The seamer spent 18 years at Sussex before moving to Surrey in 1994<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

However, the match proved a chastening experience for England, who suffered an innings and 132-run defeat after Richard Hadlee’s devastating bowling dismissed them twice for under 100.<\/p>\n

Pigott contributed 12 runs with the bat in what would remain his only Test match.<\/p>\n

Following his playing career, Pigott returned to Hove in 1997 to spearhead a boardroom takeover at Sussex, serving as chief executive until 1999.<\/p>\n

Under his stewardship, the county became the first cricket ground in Britain to install floodlights and he brought Chris Adams from Derbyshire to captain the side in 1998.<\/p>\n

\"Tony<\/p>\n

Tony Pigott’s sole international appearance came during England’s tour of New Zealand in 1984<\/p>\n

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GETTY<\/p>\n

Adams credited Pigott with transforming the club’s fortunes.<\/p>\n

He told the Sussex website: “Tony was one of, if not, the biggest positive transformative influences in the history of the club.<\/p>\n

“The 2003 Championship in my eyes will always be dedicated to you and the brave few who stood up and were counted in 1997.”<\/p>\n

Pigott later joined the ECB in 2005 as a Pitch Liaison Officer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former England cricketer and Sussex seam bowler Tony Pigott has died at the age of 67, prompting an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,588,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-455738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cricket","11":"tag-sport","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}