Albert Lightfoot (8 January 1936 – 30 April 2023) was an English cricketer who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

from 1953 to 1970.

County career

Lightfoot joined Northamptonshire in 1953, and was awarded his county cap in 1961. He also made First-Class appearances for the Combined Services (in 1955), TN Pearce's XI (1962), a Players team (1962 also), and AER Gilligan's XI (1963). He played 294 first-class matches, and also 31 one-day matches from 1963 up until his retirement, a format he never quite adapted to with bat or ball. Lightfoot bowled for the last time in 1968, before retiring altogether in 1970. Lightfoot was signed principally as a medium-fast bowler, but he soon emerged as a talented left-handed batsman, with his breakthrough being a maiden century against

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

in 1958, when he helped

Raman Subba Row Raman Subba Row (29 January 1932 – 17 April 2024) was an English cricketer who played for the national team, Cambridge University, Surrey and Northamptonshire. Life and career Born in Streatham, Surrey, England on 29 January 1932, to an I ...

add a record-breaking 376 for the sixth wicket. However, many Northamptonshire fans who witnessed his career will be quicker to mention the one run that he didn't make rather than the 12,000 that he did. Against

Richie Benaud Richard Benaud (; 6 October 1930 – 10 April 2015) was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales cricket team, New South Wales and Australia national cricket team, Australia. Following his retirement from international cricket in ...

's 1961

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizenship, citizens, nationality, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Aust ...

, Northamptonshire mounted a spirited challenge after being left to score 198 for victory in two and a half hours, and Lightfoot's gallant half-century helped reduce the target to four runs off the final over. With one ball to go, the scores were level. Alan Davidson bowled to Malcolm Scott who missed, but set off for a bye to acting wicketkeeper Bobby Simpson; Lightfoot, inexplicably, stayed put at the non-striker's end, Scott was run out, and Australia escaped with a draw. It is possible that Lightfoot stayed in the team at times when his batting average drooped due to his ability to 'bowl a bit'. Despite such droops, particularly in the mid-1960s, he managed some very productive batting seasons, especially 1962 when he scored 1,795 runs for Northamptonshire including five hundreds. He also managed two career-reviving seasons in 1968 and 1969, reaching 1,000 runs in each. In the years in between colleagues felt that it was a lack of 'drive' which held him back. He took a benefit in 1970, having already told the club that he would not be staying in the game for the following season. (This passage was adapted from the book ''100 Greats: Northamptonshire County Cricket Club''.) Lightfoot was the head

groundsman Groundskeeping is the activity of tending an area of land for aesthetic or functional purposes, typically in an institutional setting. It includes mowing grass, trimming hedges, pulling weeds, planting flowers, etc. The U.S. Department of Labor e ...

at the County Ground between 1973 and 1978, and spent his later years in the north-west of England.

Death

Lightfoot died on 30 April 2023, at the age of 87.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lightfoot, Albert 1936 births 2023 deaths English cricketers Northamptonshire cricketers Cricketers from Crewe Players cricketers Combined Services cricketers A. E. R. Gilligan's XI cricketers T. N. Pearce's XI cricketers 20th-century English sportsmen