John Thompson, a batsman of rare polish who finished fifth in the national averages in 1949 and was one of the greatest rackets players of all time, was revered by generations of pupils at Marlborough College as a master in charge of his two main sports, a housemaster and quietly effective teacher of maths and physics.
Outstanding in school cricket for Tonbridge, he was prolific as a freshman for Cambridge in 1938 and made two hundreds at Fenner’s the following season, including an elegant 130 against Leicestershire when he shared a then record opening stand of 262 with F. G. Mann. He continued to play as an amateur for Warwickshire after the war, often usefully despite being confined to holiday cricket. He also played Minor County cricket for Wiltshire from 1955 to 1963.
The effortlessness and style of Thompson’s batting were more remarkable than the weight of his scoring but C. B. Fry was among good judges who believed that he could have played for England. He was always in demand when teaching duties allowed, toured Canada with MCC in 1951 and as manager in 1959. A modest man, he had a wry humour and showed little emotion.
As master in charge of cricket at Marlborough from 1948 to 1963 Thompson encouraged captains to make their own decisions and left much of the technical coaching to his professionals, George Jennings and David Essenhigh. His aim was to produce not future professionals but good, honourable club cricketers who would enjoy their game. The emphasis was on sharp fielding, positive batting, accurate bowling and high standards of behaviour. He supervised an exceptional unbeaten team in 1961 that included the future Sussex captain, Mike Griffith.
British Open rackets champion in 1959, Thompson was amateur champion five times and won the amateur doubles eleven times with David Milford, another Marlborough master. He was a long time vice-president of the Tennis and Rackets Association and also an outstanding squash player who played for England and was South of England champion three times.
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His biggest legacy to his winter sport, however, was his work with the Marlborough professional, Bill Gordon, on the development of the polythene ball which is still used. Research based on work by the plastics division of ICI led to balls ground down to an inch in diameter, to which Gordon would add tape, but it took him half an hour to produce a single ball until Thompson invented a “Heath Robinson contraption” that doubled the speed of production. The home-made machine went on to produce more than 40,000 rackets balls.
He is survived by his wife, Patricia, and two children.
John Ross Thompson, schoolmaster, cricketer and rackets champion, was born on May 10, 1918. He died on June 15, 2010, aged 92