Frank Holmes Tyson (6 June 1930 – 27 September 2015) was an England international cricketer of the 1950s, who also worked as a schoolmaster, journalist, cricket coach and cricket commentator after emigrating to Australia in 1960. Nicknamed "Typhoon Tyson" by the press, he was regarded by many commentators as one of the fastest bowlers ever seen in cricket and took 76 wickets at an average of 18.56 in 17 Test matches.
In 2007, a panel of judges declared Tyson Wisden Leading Cricketer in the World for 1955 due to his outstanding tour of Australia in 1954–55 where his 28 wickets (20.82) was instrumental in retaining the Ashes. Tyson coached Victoria to two Sheffield Shield victories and later coached the Sri Lankan national cricket team. He was a cricket commentator for 26 years on ABC and Channel Nine.
Early life
Tyson's mother was Violet Tyson (born 1892) and his father worked for the Yorkshire Dyeing Company, but died before his son was selected for England. As a boy he played cricket with his elder brother David Tyson, who served in Australia during the war; at school he practised his run-up on the balcony.
He was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Middleton, and studied English literature at Hatfield College, Durham University
As a university graduate, Tyson was unusual among professional cricketers in the 1950s. He was a qualified schoolmaster and used to read the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, George Bernard Shaw and Virginia Woolf on tour. Instead of sledging batsmen he quoted Wordsworth: "For still, the more he works, the more/Do his weak ankles swell". He completed his National Service in the Royal Corps of Signals in 1952 as a Keyboard Operator and Cypher. Sportsmen were generally retained on headquarters staff and he played cricket for his platoon, squadron, regiment, area command and the Army. He served at the Headquarters Squadron 4 Training Regiment where he controlled the movements of men transferring in and out of Catterick, but not very well. He abhorred guns and when he took his rifle training he made sure that he always missed the target. In 1952–53 he worked felling trees, which John Snow regarded as an excellent exercise for developing the muscles of a fast bowler and attended Alf Gover's East Hill Indoor School for cricketers. In 1954–55 Gover covered the Ashes tour as a journalist and advised Tyson to use the shorter run-up from his league cricket days, which proved to be a turning point in the series.