Lewis Pickles

Infobox cricketer biography
playername = Lewis Pickles


country = England
fullname = Lewis Pickles
nickname =
living = true
dayofbirth = 17
monthofbirth = 9
yearofbirth = 1932
placeofbirth = Wakefield, Yorkshire
countryofbirth = England
batting = Right-handed batsman
bowling = Right-arm Off-break
role = Opening batsman
club1 = Somerset
year1 = 1955–58
type1 = First-class
onetype1 =
debutdate1 = 14 May
debutyear1 = 1955
debutfor1 = Somerset
debutagainst1 = Surrey
lastdate1 = 23 May
lastyear1 = 1958
lastfor1 = Somerset
lastagainst1 = Yorkshire
deliveries = balls
columns = 1
column1 = First-class
matches1 = 47
runs1 = 1702
bat avg1 = 20.50
100s/50s1 = -/8
top score1 = 87
deliveries1 = 66
wickets1 = 1
bowl avg1 = 65.00
fivefor1 = -
tenfor1 = -
best bowling1 = 1/22
catches/stumpings1 = 21/0
date = 31 May
year = 2008
source = http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Players/3/3760/3760.html CricketArchive

Lewis Pickles, born at Wakefield, Yorkshire on September 17, 1932, was a cricketer who played as an opening batsman for Somerset for just over three seasons in the mid 1950s.

Somerset's recruitment policy for new players after falling to the bottom of the County Championship from 1952 to 1955 ranged far and wide, and Lewis Pickles was one of the recruits. A fair-haired right-handed opening batsman from Wakefield, who had made appearances for Yorkshire's Second Eleven, he played a couple of games in 1955 and then became the regular opener for the 1956 season. He did well enough to win his county cap, scoring 1,136 runs at an average of 24. [The figure given at the time was 1137.Cite book
title = Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
edition = 1957
publisher = Wisden
chapter = Somerset in 1956
pages = p515] He made a top score of 87 against the bowling of Brian Statham, Roy Tattersall and Malcolm Hilton against Lancashire at Old Trafford. [Cite book
title = Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
edition = 1957
publisher = Wisden
chapter = Lancashire in 1956
pages = p425] Wisden noted that Pickles and fellow Yorkshireman Malcolm Walker looked at one stage capable of forming a regular opening partnership, but Walker lost form.

The 1957 season proved more difficult for Pickles, with more competition for batting places after the arrival of Bill Alley to join the side. Alley often opened, and Pickles' uncertain form saw him play in less than half the first-class matches.

In 1958, he played just four times and his last first-class match was also the last match played by Walker. Pickles left the county's staff at the end of the season, returning to Yorkshire where he played League cricket for Pudsey St Lawrence (Leonard Hutton's old club) and from 1970 until 1985 for Lightcliffe Cricket Club in the Bradford League, where his off-spin was a useful adjunct to his status as an opening batsman. [cite web |url=http://www.bradfordcricketleague.org/lightcliffecc.html |title=Bradford League: Lightcliffe CC |accessdate=2008-06-01 ]

References