Graham Atkinson (cricketer)
Encyclopedia
Graham Atkinson was a cricket
er who played first-class
and List A cricket for Somerset
and Lancashire
. He was born in Lofthouse
, Leeds
, Yorkshire
, England
.
table, having finished bottom for the previous four seasons. In that season, he scored 719 runs, batting mainly in the middle order. Wisden
noted that he "showed promise".
Atkinson played less frequently in the 1957 and 1958 seasons as he was on National Service
with the Royal Air Force
. On leave in July 1958, however, he made his maiden century, scoring 164 for Somerset as an opener in the match against Warwickshire
at Taunton.
Atkinson became Somerset's regular opener from the start of the 1959 season and played in virtually every match for the next eight seasons. In his first full season, he scored 1727 runs at an average of 31, but surpassed that in 1960 with 1928 runs at an average of more than 39, finishing 13th in the national batting averages. In this 1960 season, he made his highest first-class score, 190 against Glamorgan
at Bath
, when he also put on 300 for the third wicket with Peter Wight, then a Somerset county record. In the match against Cambridge University
at Taunton in 1960, Atkinson and Roy Virgin
put on 172 and 112 for the first wicket in the two Somerset innings, and Cambridge University's opening pair of Roger Prideaux
and Tony Lewis
responded with first-wicket partnerships of 198 and 137: this is the first time all four innings of a first-class match have started with three-figure opening partnerships.
side to play the previous season's county champions, Yorkshire
, in the traditional opening fixture of the season. In 1961, he played for the Players in the annual Gentlemen v Players
match at Lord's. And in 1962, he was picked for the MCC match against the Pakistan touring team
, regarded as the most important fixture outside the Test series
in the English season. In none of these matches did Atkinson distinguish himself.
His best season in representative cricket was 1963. He played in the season opener for MCC against Yorkshire, and scored 176, putting on 142 with Peter Richardson
and 209 with Tony Lewis. Three weeks later he was back at Lord's playing for MCC against the West Indies
, opening both innings with John Edrich
. Atkinson scored 2 and 63, and Edrich scored 63 and 39, and it was Edrich who played in the first two Tests of the season. Finally he was picked for Young England – he was still just 25 – in the end of season match with an England XI at Scarborough
and for the final match of the West Indies' tour against T. N. Pearce XI, but he was not selected for the England tour of India in 1963-64. And with Edrich cementing his England Test place and the emergence of Geoffrey Boycott
and Bob Barber
as openers, the opportunity never came again.
In 1964, though, Atkinson was part of a general and sudden decline in Somerset's batting. He was less affected than his previous opening partner, Brian Roe
, and also less than Somerset's leading run-scorer of the past 10 years, Peter Wight, both of whom lost their places in the team through lack of form. But Atkinson's own aggregate dipped to 1207 runs for the season and his average to just 26; he failed to score a century. He was always an unspectacular accumulator of runs rather than a quick scorer, but Wisden noted that he "looked only a shadow of his former self because he became so constricted in his style".
There was some improvement in 1965, when Atkinson's solidity was seen as necessary to counter the "brittleness" of much of Somerset's batting. "Atkinson was sometimes criticised for being over cautious and slow—only ten runs in an hour on a batsman's wicket at Weston-super-Mare—but the county would have been badly off without his dogged defence and imperturbability," said Wisden. He made more than 1400 runs and headed the Somerset averages at 31 runs per innings. But 1966 saw a further decline in his average to just 24, and at the end of the season he rejected the terms of the contract that was on offer and left to join Lancashire on special registration for 1967.
In 1969, the arrival of Clive Lloyd
meant more competition for batting places at Lancashire, and the county, under the captaincy of Jack Bond
, embarked on a policy of concentrating on success in one-day cricket, where Atkinson's slow scoring and fielding limitations were shown up by a group of new and younger players. Atkinson played regularly in first-class matches until the middle of the season, but did not appear at all in the new John Player League, the Sunday one-day competition which Lancashire won in its first season. He was dropped from the side in mid July, and never appeared again in first-class cricket. He was 31 at the time.
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 first-class
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
and List A cricket for Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset 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 Somerset...
and Lancashire
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
. He was born in Lofthouse
Lofthouse, West Yorkshire
Lofthouse is a village in West Yorkshire, England between the cities of Wakefield and Leeds. It is in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough but with a Wakefield postal address . It is mentioned as Locthuse also Loftose in the 1086 Domesday Book....
, Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Early career
A slim, dark-haired right-handed opening batsman, Atkinson made his debut for Somerset as a 16-year-old in 1954, and two years later was a regular member of the 1956 side that managed, late in the season, to raise itself to 15th out of 17 in the County ChampionshipCounty Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
table, having finished bottom for the previous four seasons. In that season, he scored 719 runs, batting mainly in the middle order. Wisden
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
noted that he "showed promise".
Atkinson played less frequently in the 1957 and 1958 seasons as he was on National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
with the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
. On leave in July 1958, however, he made his maiden century, scoring 164 for Somerset as an opener in the match against Warwickshire
Warwickshire County Cricket Club
Warwickshire 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 Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...
at Taunton.
Atkinson became Somerset's regular opener from the start of the 1959 season and played in virtually every match for the next eight seasons. In his first full season, he scored 1727 runs at an average of 31, but surpassed that in 1960 with 1928 runs at an average of more than 39, finishing 13th in the national batting averages. In this 1960 season, he made his highest first-class score, 190 against Glamorgan
Glamorgan County Cricket Club
Glamorgan 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 Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County...
at Bath
Recreation Ground (Bath)
The Recreation Ground is a large open space in the centre of Bath, England, next to the River Avon, used for recreational purposes by Bath residents and the public generally....
, when he also put on 300 for the third wicket with Peter Wight, then a Somerset county record. In the match against 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...
at Taunton in 1960, Atkinson and Roy Virgin
Roy Virgin
Roy Thomas Virgin, born at Taunton, Somerset, on 26 August 1939, was a cricketer who played for Somerset and Northamptonshire.A right-handed opening batsman, Virgin had a mostly solid but unspectacular career in first-class cricket, except for two individual seasons, one for each of his two...
put on 172 and 112 for the first wicket in the two Somerset innings, and Cambridge University's opening pair of Roger Prideaux
Roger Prideaux
Roger Malcolm Prideaux is an English former cricketer, who played in three Tests for England from 1968 to 1969.-Life and career:...
and Tony Lewis
Tony Lewis
Anthony Robert Lewis CBE is a former Welsh cricketer, who went on to become the face of BBC Television cricket coverage in the 1990s, and become president of the MCC. Lewis attended Christ's College, Cambridge and played for Cambridge University. He also played county cricket for Glamorgan, and...
responded with first-wicket partnerships of 198 and 137: this is the first time all four innings of a first-class match have started with three-figure opening partnerships.
Representative cricket
Atkinson appears to have been on the verge of selection for international cricket in the early 1960s. In 1960, he was picked for the MCCMarylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
side to play the previous season's county champions, Yorkshire
Yorkshire County Cricket Club
Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....
, in the traditional opening fixture of the season. In 1961, he played for the Players in the annual Gentlemen v Players
Gentlemen v Players
The Gentlemen v Players game was a first-class cricket match that was generally played on an annual basis between one team consisting of amateurs and one of professionals . The first two games took place in 1806 but the fixture was not revived until 1819. It was more or less annual thereafter...
match at Lord's. And in 1962, he was picked for the MCC match against the Pakistan touring team
Pakistani cricket team in England in 1962
The Pakistan cricket team toured England in the 1962 season to play a five-match Test series against England.England won the series 4-0 with 1 match drawn.-Test series summary:* at Edgbaston – England won by an innings and 24 runs...
, regarded as the most important fixture outside the Test series
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
in the English season. In none of these matches did Atkinson distinguish himself.
His best season in representative cricket was 1963. He played in the season opener for MCC against Yorkshire, and scored 176, putting on 142 with Peter Richardson
Peter Richardson (cricketer)
Peter Edward Richardson is an English former cricketer, who played for Worcestershire, Kent and, in thirty four Tests, for England....
and 209 with Tony Lewis. Three weeks later he was back at Lord's playing for MCC against the West Indies
West Indian cricket team in England in 1963
The West Indian cricket team in England in 1963 played 30 first-class matches of which they won 15, lost 2 and drew 13. West Indies played five Tests and won the series against England by three matches to one, with one game drawn....
, opening both innings with John Edrich
John Edrich
John Edrich, MBE is a former English cricketer, who played for Surrey and England. He earned a reputation as a dogged and fearless batsman, and his figures show that he was amongst the best players of his generation...
. Atkinson scored 2 and 63, and Edrich scored 63 and 39, and it was Edrich who played in the first two Tests of the season. Finally he was picked for Young England – he was still just 25 – in the end of season match with an England XI at Scarborough
Scarborough Festival
The Scarborough Festival is an end of season series of cricket matches featuring Yorkshire County Cricket Club which has been held in Scarborough, on the east coast of Yorkshire, since 1876. The ground, at North Marine Road, sees large crowds of holiday makers watching a mixture of first class...
and for the final match of the West Indies' tour against T. N. Pearce XI, but he was not selected for the England tour of India in 1963-64. And with Edrich cementing his England Test place and the emergence of Geoffrey Boycott
Geoffrey Boycott
Geoffrey Boycott OBE is a former Yorkshire and England cricketer. In a prolific and sometimes controversial playing career from 1962 to 1986, Boycott established himself as one of England's most successful opening batsmen...
and Bob Barber
Bob Barber
Robert William Barber is a former English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Cambridge University, Lancashire and Warwickshire from 1954 to 1969. He also played 28 Test matches for England...
as openers, the opportunity never came again.
In county cricket
Atkinson's several opportunities in representative matches came about because of his consistency in county cricket. In both 1961 and 1962, he passed 2000 runs for the season, and he was only just short of 1800 runs in 1963, when Somerset finished third in the County Championship, equalling the best position ever.In 1964, though, Atkinson was part of a general and sudden decline in Somerset's batting. He was less affected than his previous opening partner, Brian Roe
Brian Roe
Brian Roe, born at Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, on 27 January 1939, played first-class cricket for Somerset between 1957 and 1966.Roe, a diminutive and defensive right-handed batsman, played mostly as an opener, and was a regular member of the Somerset side between 1961 and 1964. He scored 1,000 runs...
, and also less than Somerset's leading run-scorer of the past 10 years, Peter Wight, both of whom lost their places in the team through lack of form. But Atkinson's own aggregate dipped to 1207 runs for the season and his average to just 26; he failed to score a century. He was always an unspectacular accumulator of runs rather than a quick scorer, but Wisden noted that he "looked only a shadow of his former self because he became so constricted in his style".
There was some improvement in 1965, when Atkinson's solidity was seen as necessary to counter the "brittleness" of much of Somerset's batting. "Atkinson was sometimes criticised for being over cautious and slow—only ten runs in an hour on a batsman's wicket at Weston-super-Mare—but the county would have been badly off without his dogged defence and imperturbability," said Wisden. He made more than 1400 runs and headed the Somerset averages at 31 runs per innings. But 1966 saw a further decline in his average to just 24, and at the end of the season he rejected the terms of the contract that was on offer and left to join Lancashire on special registration for 1967.
Lancashire cricketer
Atkinson's career with Lancashire was not long. In his first season, 1967, he played in almost all the county's first-class matches and formed a useful opening partnership with Barry Wood. He made just over 1300 runs at an average of just under 31, and Wisden noted that he "proved a reliable if somewhat slow run gatherer". The following year, though, he lost his place halfway through the season and though he reappeared towards the end, it was a middle-order batsman rather than an opener.In 1969, the arrival of Clive Lloyd
Clive Lloyd
Clive Hubert Lloyd CBE AO is a former West Indies cricketer. He captained the West Indies between 1974 and 1985 and oversaw their rise to become the dominant Test-playing nation, a position that was only relinquished in the latter half of the 1990s...
meant more competition for batting places at Lancashire, and the county, under the captaincy of Jack Bond
Jack Bond
John David "Jack" Bond, born in Kearsley, near Bolton, Lancashire, on 6 May 1932, is a former cricketer who played for Lancashire and, for one season, for Nottinghamshire....
, embarked on a policy of concentrating on success in one-day cricket, where Atkinson's slow scoring and fielding limitations were shown up by a group of new and younger players. Atkinson played regularly in first-class matches until the middle of the season, but did not appear at all in the new John Player League, the Sunday one-day competition which Lancashire won in its first season. He was dropped from the side in mid July, and never appeared again in first-class cricket. He was 31 at the time.