Andrew Corran came into county cricket by the well-established route of school first XI – he attended Gresham’s School in Norfolk – University, a blue at Oxford in each of his three years at Trinity College, and Minor Counties – representing his home county of Norfolk.
With Reg Simpson at the twilight of his career, Notts were looking for an amateur to take over the captaincy and Corran fitted the bill; he signed for the county as an amateur and appointed assistant secretary. However with him not completing his university studies until June, John Clay was appointed Notts First team captain for 1961 (thus becoming the first professional captain of Notts in the 20th Century. Corran made his first-class debut for Notts versus Middlesex at Trent Bridge on 24th-27th June 1961.
He was pretty much an ever-present in his first season and in 1962 duly took on the role of captain but it was not a successful season for Notts, finishing a disappointing fifteenth in the County Championship. His best season was in 1965 when he took 109 wickets at 20.30 with his right-arm medium pacers. He was not a regular member of Notts’ limited overs sides, playing just three List-A matches in which he took six wickets, four of those in one game.
Corran emigrated to Australia in 1965, thus ending his First-Class cricket, and resumed his teaching career; he eventually returned to the UK and taught maths and cricket at Cranleigh School from 1968 until his retirement.
In 132 First-Class matches, he scored 2,476 runs with a top score of 75, at an average of 16.28; his bowling was rather more productive, bringing 410 wickets at 25.74 with 21 five-wicket hauls and one ‘ten-fer’.
Andrew Corran was born in Eaton, Norwich on 25 November 1936. He died peacefully on 27 October 2024 at the age of 87.
November 2024
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 430