John Howarth (cricketer)

John Stirling Howarth (born 26 March 1945) is a former English county cricketer who played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. A right-arm fast-medium bowler of some success, he is believed to hold the unfortunate record of most first-class matches played without scoring a run.

Howarth was born in Stockport, Cheshire and played for Notts in the 1966 and 1967 English cricket seasons. In 13 first-class games he took 19 wickets at an average just below 34.[1] He is, however, best known for his remarkable record of scoring no runs in this time. A career of 13 first-class matches without a run is the world record.[2] However, Howarth only batted seven innings in these matches (out of a theoretical maximum of 26, had he batted in two innings per game). In those he was dismissed four times for a duck, and finished not out without scoring on three other occasions, giving him a career best score of 0*.[1] According to Lynch, the record for most innings in a career without scoring a run appears to belong to Seymour Clark, who played for Somerset County Cricket Club as a wicket-keeper in the 1930 season. In five matches he batted nine innings, with seven ducks and two scores of 0*.[3]

Howarth, who also played for Minor Counties, had success in his one-day cricket career, although he was limited to 5 List A matches spread from 1967 to the 1977 season. He took 8 wickets at the low average of 18.12, with a strike rate of 35 balls per wicket and an economy rate of just 3.08 runs per over. His best bowling figures were 3/30, coincidentally identical to his first-class best. Howarth also had (slightly) more success with his right-handed batting, being dismissed only twice in four innings for a total of nine runs at an average of 4.50. His highest score was 5.[1]