Alan Frank Skinner was an English cricket

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...

er who played for first class cricket for Derbyshire

Derbyshire County Cricket Club

Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...

, Cambridge University

Cambridge University Cricket Club

Cambridge University Cricket Club is a first-class cricket team. It now plays all but one of its first-class cricket matches as part of the Cambridge University Centre of Cricketing Excellence , which includes Anglia Ruskin University...

  and Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the...

 between 1931 and 1949.

Skinner was born at Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

, Sussex

Sussex

Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

 and educated at The Leys School

The Leys School

The Leys School is a co-educational Independent school, located in Cambridge, England, and is a day and boarding school for about 550 pupils aged between 11 and 18 years...

 and Cambridge University. He was captain of his school XI and played once for Derbyshire in the 1931 season

Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1931

Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1931 represents the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for sixty years. It was their thirty-third season in the County Championship and they won seven matches to finish seventh.-1931 season:...

. He scored 4 as an opening batsman in a match that was abandoned after one day. He played regularly for the county from the 1932 season

Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1932

Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1932 represents the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for sixty one years. It was their thirty-fourth season in the County Championship and they won six matches to finish tenth-1932 season:...

 and made a century in the 1934 season

Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1934

Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1934 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for sixty-three years. It was their thirty-sixth season in the County Championship and they won ten matches in the County Championship, to finish third.-1934 season:Derbyshire played...

 in a match against Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....

. In 1934 he also played two matches for Cambridge University. In the 1935

Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1935

Derbyshire Country Cricket Club' in 1935 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire were runners up in the County Championship for the first time, as a prelude to winning the Championship in the 1936 season. They had been playing for sixty four years and it was their thirty-seventh...

 season he achieved an average of 36.66 but was unable to devote himself full time to the county. He was a member of the championship winning side in the 1936 season

Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1936

Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1936 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire won the County Championship for the first and only time. They had been playing for sixty five years and it was their thirty-eighth season in the County Championship....

 and played his last season for the county in 1938

Derbyshire County Cricket Club in 1938

Derbyshire Country Cricket Club in 1938 was the cricket season when the English club Derbyshire had been playing for sixty seven years. It was their fortieth season in the County Championship and they came fifth.-1938 season:...

During the Second World War Skinner was Deputy Air Raid Precautions Controller in Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

 and from 1940 to 1945 played several matches for Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...

 while the County Championship was suspended. In 1946 was awarded the OBE

Order of the British Empire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 for his war services. He played a one-off match for Northamptonshire in 1949.

Skinner was a right-hand batsman who played 142 innings in 86 first class matches with an average of 26.20 and a top score of 102. As a bowler he took 6 first-class wickets with an average of 41.66 and a best performance of 2 for 12. He was also a fine slip, taking 60 catches in his career and acted as captain for Derbyshire in several matches. Wisden wrote "Though he watched the ball carefully, he was a good stroke-player and could be the most attractive bat on the side".

Skinner played some minor counties games for Nottinghamshire second XI in 1950 and 1951 and for Suffolk in 1954. He was Clerk of the West Suffolk County Council for many years. He died at the West Suffolk Hospital at Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

 at the age of 69.

Skinner's brother David

David Skinner (cricketer)

David Anthony Skinner was an English cricketer who played first class cricket for Derbyshire in 1947 and captained the side in 1949....

also played for Derbyshire and was captain of the side in 1949.