Levi Wright
Encyclopedia
Levi George Wright was an English footballer and cricketer
. He played association football for Derby County
and Notts County
and cricket for Derbyshire
from 1883 to 1909 being captain for a season and a half in 1906/1907. He scored over 15,000 runs in his first class career and took 237 catches. He was one of nineteen sportsman who achieved the Derby sporting double.
Wright was born at Oxford
and moved to Derby
in 1881 to become a teacher at St Anne's School. He first played for the Napier Cricket Club, a pub team based at 'Sir Charles Napier' in Derby and then for the Derby Midland Club. He played for Derbyshire from 1883 through to 1909, his career including the period from 1888 to 1894 when Derbyshire were demoted from first-class
status because of poor results. They were reinstated in 1894 and admitted to the County Championship
in 1895. He captained Derbyshire for part of 1906 and for the whole season in 1907, although the team finished bottom of the Championship in both seasons.
Wright was a right-handed batsman and a renowned fieldsman at point. He also occasionally kept wicket. Wright made almost 15,000 runs for Derbyshire at an average of 26 runs per innings. His best seasons came as he got older: he scored 1,000 runs in a season six times, the first when he was 37 years old, and his best season of all was 1905, when in all matches he scored 1,855 runs, at an average of more than 42 runs per innings. The citation as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in the 1906 edition of Wisden
paid tribute not just to his run-getting at the age of 43, but also his continued quick reactions as a fielder.
He took many brilliant catches, standing within four or five yards of the bat, and on one occasion came in so close that he caught the bat instead of the ball.
Wright's football career began at the Derby Midland Club, in their inaugural season of 1881. He performed consistently at half-back, and was invited to join Derby County when it was formed in 1884. His early games for Derby County were before the League was formed, but he made four appearances during the first Football League season of 1888-89.
Wright died at Normanton, Derbyshire at the age of nearly 91.
Cricketer
A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....
. He played association football for Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...
and Notts County
Notts County F.C.
Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system...
and 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...
from 1883 to 1909 being captain for a season and a half in 1906/1907. He scored over 15,000 runs in his first class career and took 237 catches. He was one of nineteen sportsman who achieved the Derby sporting double.
Wright was born at Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and moved to Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
in 1881 to become a teacher at St Anne's School. He first played for the Napier Cricket Club, a pub team based at 'Sir Charles Napier' in Derby and then for the Derby Midland Club. He played for Derbyshire from 1883 through to 1909, his career including the period from 1888 to 1894 when Derbyshire were demoted from 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...
status because of poor results. They were reinstated in 1894 and admitted to the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
in 1895. He captained Derbyshire for part of 1906 and for the whole season in 1907, although the team finished bottom of the Championship in both seasons.
Wright was a right-handed batsman and a renowned fieldsman at point. He also occasionally kept wicket. Wright made almost 15,000 runs for Derbyshire at an average of 26 runs per innings. His best seasons came as he got older: he scored 1,000 runs in a season six times, the first when he was 37 years old, and his best season of all was 1905, when in all matches he scored 1,855 runs, at an average of more than 42 runs per innings. The citation as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in the 1906 edition of Wisden
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
paid tribute not just to his run-getting at the age of 43, but also his continued quick reactions as a fielder.
He took many brilliant catches, standing within four or five yards of the bat, and on one occasion came in so close that he caught the bat instead of the ball.
Wright's football career began at the Derby Midland Club, in their inaugural season of 1881. He performed consistently at half-back, and was invited to join Derby County when it was formed in 1884. His early games for Derby County were before the League was formed, but he made four appearances during the first Football League season of 1888-89.
Wright died at Normanton, Derbyshire at the age of nearly 91.