Len Wilkinson
Encyclopedia
Leonard Litton Wilkinson (5 November 1916, Northwich
, Cheshire
–3 September 2002, Barrow-in-Furness
, Cumbria
) was an English
cricket
er who played in 3 Tests
from 1938 to 1939. He was a leg spin
bowler and played first-class cricket
for Lancashire County Cricket Club
between 1937 and 1947, although his career was interrupted by the Second World War.
After a remarkable season in 1938, in which he took 151 wickets, Wilkinson was selected for the England team. After 3 Tests, he was dropped. He was less successful on his return to county cricket
and after the Second World War only played 3 more first-class matches. He continued to play in local leagues and became a newsagent.
, Wilkinson began bowling
leg spin at the age of 15. He represented Heaton Cricket Club
in the Bolton Cricket League
. Wilkinson joined Lancashire in 1936 after trials and give up his job at a cotton mill. He made his debut in 1937 against the touring New Zealanders
. In his first over, Wilkinson bowled
the New Zealand captain, Curly Page
. He played 7 first-class matches in 1937, taking 22 wickets.
, a feat he managed against Sussex
. He had a remarkable August in which he took 58 wickets from in the last nine games of the season. He managed 11 five wicket hauls and two ten wicket hauls in the season, gaining the notice of the national selectors. Wilkinson was awarded his cap
by Lancashire in the same season. Wilkinson was 21 at the time, and only Yorkshire
spinner Wilfred Rhodes
has managed to take more wickets at a younger age (Rhodes was 20 when he took 154 wickets in 1898).
On the tour, there were three more senior spinners than Wilkinson: Tom Goddard
, Hedley Verity
, and Doug Wright
. Despite this, Wilkinson debuted in the first Test of the series, being chosen ahead of Wright to play against South Africa (the other two spinners played in the match). He was the fifth bowler England used, turned to ahead of Goddard and finished with match figures of 2/111. Wilkinson did not play the second Test, but played in the third and fourth, finishing with match figures of 4/115 and 1/45 respectively on pitches that were considered perfect for batting. Although the selectors lost confidence in Wilkinson's bowling after he managed seven wickets at 38.71 in Tests, he finished the tour top of the bowling averages with 44 wickets at an average of 18.86.
in May 1939. Talking about why he thought he hadn't matched his success from the previous year, Wilkinson said "I don't know why but nothing really went right. The only thing I can think of is that I tried to be too perfect, particularly with the googly. I had an England cap and as an England player I had to be good".
The Second World War prevented Wilkinson from playing first-class cricket until 1946, although he did play for the army. His 1946 season was curtailed after just one match when he injured his the cartilage in his knee and had to undergo an operation. He returned to fitness in 1948 but only played two matches, taking a single wicket. He retired from first-class cricket, although continued to play cricket in local leagues. He became a newsagent and died on 3 September 2002. He was married and had two sons.
Northwich
Northwich is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane...
, Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
–3 September 2002, Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
, Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
) was an English
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...
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 in 3 Tests
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...
from 1938 to 1939. He was a leg spin
Leg spin
Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in the sport of cricket. A leg spinner bowls right-arm with a wrist spin action, causing the ball to spin from right to left in the cricket pitch, at the point of delivery. When the ball bounces, the spin causes the ball to deviate sharply from right to left, that...
bowler and played first-class cricket
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...
for Lancashire County Cricket Club
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...
between 1937 and 1947, although his career was interrupted by the Second World War.
After a remarkable season in 1938, in which he took 151 wickets, Wilkinson was selected for the England team. After 3 Tests, he was dropped. He was less successful on his return to county cricket
County cricket
County cricket is the highest level of domestic cricket in England and Wales. For the 2010 season, see 2010 English cricket season.-First-class counties:...
and after the Second World War only played 3 more first-class matches. He continued to play in local leagues and became a newsagent.
Early career
Originally a seamerSeam bowling
Seam bowling is a phrase used for a bowling technique in cricket whereby the ball is deliberately bowled on to its seam, to cause a random deviation. Practitioners are known as seam bowlers or seamers....
, Wilkinson began bowling
Bowling (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, bowling is the action of propelling the ball toward the wicket defended by a batsman. A player skilled at bowling is called a bowler; a bowler who is also a competent batsman is known as an all-rounder...
leg spin at the age of 15. He represented Heaton Cricket Club
Heaton, Greater Manchester
Heaton is a mostly residential district and council ward of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It lies about two miles north west of Bolton town centre...
in the Bolton Cricket League
Bolton Cricket League
The Bolton Cricket League is a cricket league comprising fourteen teams in and around Bolton, Greater Manchester in North West England. The league runs competitions at First Team, Second Team, Under 18, Under 15, Under 13 and Under 11 levels.-Teams:...
. Wilkinson joined Lancashire in 1936 after trials and give up his job at a cotton mill. He made his debut in 1937 against the touring New Zealanders
New Zealand cricket team in England in 1937
The New Zealand cricket team toured England in the 1937 season. The team was the third from New Zealand to tour England, following those of 1927 and 1931 and the second to play Test matches. Three Tests were arranged: England won the second match at Manchester, and the games at Lord's and The Oval...
. In his first over, Wilkinson bowled
Dismissal (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a dismissal occurs when the batsman is out . Colloquially, the fielding team is also said to have snared, bagged or captured a wicket. At this point a batsman must discontinue batting and leave the field permanently for the innings...
the New Zealand captain, Curly Page
Curly Page
Milford Laurenson "Curly" Page was a cricketer who played for New Zealand and Canterbury. He was New Zealand's second Test captain, and captained 7 of the Tests in which he played...
. He played 7 first-class matches in 1937, taking 22 wickets.
Success and England selection
In the 1938 English cricket season, his first and only full season, Wilkinson took 151 wickets in 36 games at an average of 23.28, and earned selection for England's tour of South Africa in 1938/39. In his first eight games of the season, all in May, he took only 16 wickets at an average of about 40. He improved the following month, taking his first hat-trickHat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
, a feat he managed against Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
. He had a remarkable August in which he took 58 wickets from in the last nine games of the season. He managed 11 five wicket hauls and two ten wicket hauls in the season, gaining the notice of the national selectors. Wilkinson was awarded his cap
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
by Lancashire in the same season. Wilkinson was 21 at the time, and only 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....
spinner Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes
Wilfred Rhodes was an English professional cricketer who played 58 Test matches for England between 1899 and 1930. In Tests, Rhodes took 127 wickets in and scored 2,325 runs, becoming the first Englishman to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test matches...
has managed to take more wickets at a younger age (Rhodes was 20 when he took 154 wickets in 1898).
On the tour, there were three more senior spinners than Wilkinson: Tom Goddard
Tom Goddard
Tom Goddard was the fifth highest wicket taker in first-class cricket....
, Hedley Verity
Hedley Verity
Hedley Verity was a professional cricketer who played first-class cricket for Yorkshire and England between 1930 and 1939. A slow left arm orthodox bowler, he took 1,956 wickets in first-class cricket at an average of 14.90 and in 40 Tests he took 144 wickets at an average of 24.37...
, and Doug Wright
Doug Wright (cricketer)
Douglas Vivian Parson Wright, better known as Doug Wright was an English cricketer. A leg-spinner for Kent and England from 1932 to 1957 he took a record seven hat-tricks in first class cricket. He played for Kent for 25 years and was their first professional captain from late 1953 to 1956...
. Despite this, Wilkinson debuted in the first Test of the series, being chosen ahead of Wright to play against South Africa (the other two spinners played in the match). He was the fifth bowler England used, turned to ahead of Goddard and finished with match figures of 2/111. Wilkinson did not play the second Test, but played in the third and fourth, finishing with match figures of 4/115 and 1/45 respectively on pitches that were considered perfect for batting. Although the selectors lost confidence in Wilkinson's bowling after he managed seven wickets at 38.71 in Tests, he finished the tour top of the bowling averages with 44 wickets at an average of 18.86.
Decline
After the tour of South Africa, Wilkinson's 1939 season was disappointing. A hand injury prevented him from playing early on in the season. He finished the year with 63 wickets at an average of 30.85, although he did manage career best figures of 8/53 against HampshireHampshire County Cricket Club
Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...
in May 1939. Talking about why he thought he hadn't matched his success from the previous year, Wilkinson said "I don't know why but nothing really went right. The only thing I can think of is that I tried to be too perfect, particularly with the googly. I had an England cap and as an England player I had to be good".
The Second World War prevented Wilkinson from playing first-class cricket until 1946, although he did play for the army. His 1946 season was curtailed after just one match when he injured his the cartilage in his knee and had to undergo an operation. He returned to fitness in 1948 but only played two matches, taking a single wicket. He retired from first-class cricket, although continued to play cricket in local leagues. He became a newsagent and died on 3 September 2002. He was married and had two sons.