Richard Williams (cricketer, born 1901)

Richard Harry Williams (23 April 1901—19 December 1982) was an English first-class cricketer who played 37 matches for Worcestershire between 1923 and 1932. He averaged barely 11 in his career, though his obituary in Wisden suggested that he had played "some useful innings".[1]

Richard Williams
Personal information
Full name
Richard Harry Williams
Born(1901-04-23)23 April 1901
Brockmoor, Staffordshire, England
Died19 December 1982(1982-12-19) (aged 81)
Stourbridge, England
BattingLeft-handed
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1923—1932Worcestershire
Career statistics
Competition FC
Matches 37
Runs scored 713
Batting average 11.14
100s/50s 0/3
Top score 81
Balls bowled 0
Wickets 0
Bowling average -
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling -
Catches/stumpings 17/0
Source: [1], 1 August 2008

Williams' career began very badly. In his first game, against Derbyshire, he made 4 and 2* in 1923.[2] He did not appear again until 1925, when in his first nine innings of the season he made just 13 runs.[3] He brought this dreadful sequence to a close with 23 against Sussex in early June, then followed it up with the first of just three half-centuries: 56 versus Nottinghamshire.[4]

This innings was a false dawn, however, and in Williams' next 30 innings he never made more than 41.[3] By now it was August 1926, but then — admittedly after the match was dead[1] — he produced what was to be his career-best innings: 81 against Nottinghamshire (again) at Trent Bridge.[5] Another lengthy run of failures followed, and although he made an unbeaten 76 against Yorkshire in early May 1928,[6] he was out of the side again by the start of June.

Williams was to make only three more first-class appearances: two in 1931 and one in 1932. His four innings produced scores of 2, 0, 0 and 1, bringing an unhappy end to his largely unsuccessful career in county cricket.

Notes

edit
  1. ^ a b Obituary. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 1984.
  2. ^ "Worcestershire v Derbyshire in 1923". CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Player Oracle". CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  4. ^ "Worcestershire v Nottinghamshire in 1925". CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  5. ^ "Nottinghamshire v Worcestershire in 1926". CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  6. ^ "Worcestershire v Yorkshire in 1928". CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 August 2008.

References

edit