George Buckston

George Buckston (March 12, 1881 — November 24, 1942) was an English cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a wicket-keeper who played for Derbyshire between 1905 and 1907, and in 1921. Buckston was born in Hope, Derbyshire and died in Sutton-on-the-Hill.

Buckston started his career for Cambridge University during the 1903 season, during which he played five games. However, he joined Derbyshire in 1905, where his first-class career took off. Buckston made his County Championship debut for Derbyshire against Northamptonshire. Derbyshire won the match by an innings margin, Northamptonshire limited to just 52 runs in their first innings. Buckston played no further matches during the 1905 season, and Derbyshire finished third-bottom in the Championship.

Buckston played more of a role during the 1906 sesaon, playing eight County Championship games, and making his career-high total score of 96, though Derbyshire finished bottom of the table, and Buckston was to last just one more season at the club before being dropped, after suffering from a poor average.

When Buckston had reached forty years old, fourteen years following his exit from the club, he returned to the team, where, having played as an opening batsman during his early years, he managed to regain this position, seeing off competition for the position from Leonard Oliver. While the Derbyshire team had evolved over the previous fourteen years, their occasional spates of good form would prove outnumbered by their appearances in the bottom half of the table.

Though Buckston had returned, Derbyshire's form during 1921 remained mostly the same, characterised by a wild inconsistency which would see the team lose twelve games from the twenty played during the season. Buckston would, for a second time, leave the team.

Buckston was club captain during his last season at the club. His brother-in-law, Henry Allsopp, played first-class cricket for Cambridge University during 1876, while his son, Robin Buckston, played first-class cricket for Derbyshire between 1928 and 1939, designated club captain during his final three years within the team.

External links

* [http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/28/28262/28262.html George Buckston] at Cricket Archive