Norman Lang Stevenson (25 November 1875 – 21 August 1967) was a Scottish all-round amateur sportsman. In international terms his greatest sporting achievement was winning a bronze medal for hockey at the 1908 Summer Olympics as a member of the Scotland hockey team. However it was for cricket that he was best known, as a veteran cricket captain for a leading Scottish cricket club. Between 1902 and 1948 he was Captain of Edinburgh’s Carlton Cricket Club for a total of 29 seasons, retiring at the age of 73. At every stage of his long captaincy there were years when Carlton won over 80% of their matches. He was “one of the great characters of Scottish cricket” according to The Encyclopedia of Scottish Cricket. Carlton members dubbed him the ‘W.G. Grace’ of Scottish cricket in comparison with England’s famously long playing cricketer. Stevenson also wrote a substantial book about the Scottish cricket of his era which has remained in use as a reference book into the 21st century.
Early life and talent for sport
Norman Lang Stevenson was born in 1875, the sixth son among six boys and a younger sister. His father was a prosperous manufacturer and retailer of drapery who died when Stevenson was three years old. The family lived in the Grange district of Edinburgh, where Stevenson was to raise his own family and play much of his cricket at the nearby Carlton Club ground.
By his early teens Stevenson was a promising rugby player while also spending much spare time at Carlton’s cricket ground. By the age of 21 he was at Edinburgh University, training as a doctor. He was also building a reputation as a University rugby player, cricketer and sprinter. According to the Carlton Cricket Club website, he trialled for the Scotland rugby team. Then in 1898 a serious skull fracture during a rugby match led him to abandon his rugby career.
After qualifying as a doctor, Stevenson specialised lifelong as a dental surgeon, a workstyle easier to combine with a busy amateur sporting life. In consequence of his medical qualification, Scotland’s cricket enthusiasts later sometimes referred to Stevenson simply as ‘The Doctor’.
Stevenson formally joined Edinburgh’s Carlton Cricket Club in 1892 and in 1895 was selected for its First XI. He distinguished himself as a fast bowler, then in 1902 became Carlton Captain.
Hockey career and 1908 Olympic Bronze Medal
Stevenson’s meteoric hockey career began in 1906 when he started the Carlton Hockey Club with fellow enthusiasts. It rapidly won championships and Stevenson was a prolific scorer, achieving 53 goals in his second season. In consequence, along with two other Carlton players he was selected to play for the Scotland hockey team in the 1908 Olympics, held in London. The hockey nations in these Games, the fourth Olympics in modern times, were Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, Germany and France. In their first match Scotland beat Germany easily, by four goals to nil, with Scotland on the attack for much of the time. A pass by Stevenson, who played as a forward, assisted one of these goals. But in their second match Scotland were beaten six to one by England, who went on to win the hockey tournament. The Scotland team received a Bronze Medal. Between the 1908 Games and World War I, when much sport was temporarily suspended, Stevenson and the Carlton Hockey Club enjoyed two more very successful seasons.
Career as cricket captain
Stevenson became Captain of Edinburgh’s Carlton Cricket Club’s First XI from 1902 until the suspension of sporting activities during World War I. After the war he recommenced as Captain until 1926. Then in 1934, at the age of 59, he was asked to return as Captain. He continued until 1948, retiring at the age of 73. Throughout every stage of his 29-year captaincy Carlton enjoyed some very successful cricket seasons. For instance, in 1909 Carlton enjoyed 20 wins, four draws and one loss out of 25 matches. In 1920 it was 22 wins, four draws and one loss and, in 1934, 24 wins, three draws and one loss out of 28 matches.
Regularly in summer Stevenson led cricket tours in the Scottish Highlands, his ‘Northern Tours’. These often included a match against a Royal Household team at Balmoral Castle. A consequence of these matches was an invitation for Carlton to play the Royal Household at Windsor and in 1936 Stevenson was made a Life Member of the Royal Household Cricket Club by King George V, who had watched Stevenson’s team playing.