To test whether handedness is associated with a change in longevity.
Archival survey.
British Isles.
All first class cricketers born before 1961 whose bowling hand was specified (right, n = 5041; left, n = 1132) in a comprehensive encyclopaedia.
Bowling hand and life span.
Regression analysis of the 5960 players born between 1840 and 1960 (3387 dead, 2573 alive) showed no significant relation between mortality and handedness (P = 0.3). Left handedness was, however, associated with an increased likelihood of death from unnatural causes (P = 0.03, log hazard 0.37, 95% confidence interval 0.04 to 0.70). This effect was especially related to deaths during warfare (P = 0.009, log hazard 0.53, 0.13 to 0.92).
Left handedness is not, in general, associated with an increase in mortality.