On New Year’s Day 2024, Graham Tripp, a former player for Somerset Cricket, passed away at the age of 91. The community of Somerset Cricketers is in grief over the tragic loss of Graham Tripp. Graham Malcolm Tripp was born on June 9, 1932, in Clevedon, which is where he spent his whole life. His father, Charlie, was a devoted member of the Clevedon Cricket Club for many years, and it was there that his son also played cricket. Graham Malcolm Tripp was introduced to the sport of cricket by his father.
Young Tripp made quite an impact in the local cricketing circles as a stylish and steady stroke player who batted right-handed. As a result, he was requested to join the staff at Somerset, which he did in 1952.
His time spent serving his country was spent in the Royal Air Force, where he played cricket for the RAF. After that, he returned to Somerset, where he made his first appearance in a class match against South Africa in June 1955, scoring two and thirteen.
During the subsequent match, Graham continued to be a part of the team and made his debut in the county championship. The match took place at Lord’s and was played against a formidable Middlesex team that included his childhood heroes Denis Compton and Bill Edrich.
In 1956, he had his greatest season, appearing in nine championship matches and scoring 217 runs at an average of 15.50. His top score was 50, which he achieved when he was promoted to start the innings against Derbyshire. He scored a lot of runs for the Second XI, and he had a great season overall.
Graham’s highest score was 62, which he achieved in 1957 when he was batting at three against Essex. The match was played against Colchester. In addition to continuing to score a significant number of runs for the Seconds, he also topped the averages for both the Somerset Minor Counties and the Second XI competitions.
On the other hand, when he played for the senior side in 1958 and 1959, he was unable to achieve anywhere near the same level of success.
