George Louden
George Marshall Louden (6 September 1885 – 28 December 1972) was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket for Essex from 1912 to 1927. A tall right-arm fast-medium bowler, he stood about 190 cm and had a smooth bowling action that could lift the ball and trouble batsmen, even on good pitches. Because of business commitments, Louden could rarely play more than seven or eight county games a season, and much of his cricket was with the Ilford club. In 94 first-class matches he took 451 wickets at 22.35, with 36 five-wicket hauls and best figures of 8 for 36. He scored 931 runs at 9.21, with a top score of 74, and took 62 catches.
Louden’s most memorable moments came after World War I. In 1919 he impressed with seven for 42 against Lancashire and eight for 122 against Sussex on good wickets. He took thirteen wickets in two innings against the Australians in 1921. For the Gentlemen at Lord's and The Oval, he produced brilliant spells, including seven for 84 against Surrey at the Oval in 1922—the best English bowling in the series since Sydney Barnes. Yet he never played a Test match for England, a fate some contemporaries felt was unfair.
Health problems curtailed his cricket after 1925. Born in Forest Gate, Essex, he served in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and later as a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Artillery during World War I. He married Lucette Edith Shuter (Edie) in 1917. Louden worked as a stockbroker and lived in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, where he died on 28 December 1972. He left no children.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 12:16 (CET).