Alexander Joseph Birtwell (17 December 1908 – 20 November 1974) was an English

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

er. A leg-break spin bowler and tail-end right-handed batsman, Birtwell made fourteen appearances for

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...

between 1937 and 1939.

Career

Born in Burnley, Lancashire in 1908, Birtwell took to cricket in the Lancashire League playing for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

and later Nelson in the

Worsley Cup Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there is e ...

from 1930 – though he was hit for fifteen runs in his only over on his debut Lancashire League match. He featured in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-eas ...

's Minor Counties Championship team from 1934 to 1936, taking five wickets in his debut match against Hertfordshire on 11 August His achievements won him a place in the Lancashire Second XI. He made his debut in the

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It b ...

on 14 July 1937, facing

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

at Aigburth. In a match truncated by rain, Lancashire reached 384 all out with Birtwell contributing four runs. He caught

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

off the bowling of Eddie Phillipson, and sent down seventeen wicketless overs for thirty-nine runs. Birtwell played eleven more County Championship matches that season, hitting 102 runs at 10.20 including a career best 31 as a night watchman against

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

on 11 August He took 24 wickets at 36.62, though he had to wait for his first,

Alfred Croom Alfred John William Croom (23 May 1896 – 16 August 1947) was an English cricketer. He was a right-hand opening batsman and right-arm off-spin bowler who played for Warwickshire. Born in Reading, Berkshire, Croom began his cricketing career ...

, until his third match. His best bowling effort, 4/78, came against

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

on 25 August. He played only one further County Championship match, on 13 May 1939 against

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

. In a drawn game, he went wicketless with his bowling and scored a single run. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Birtwell served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

, and made appearances for their cricket team between 1943 and 1944. He was selected as part of Gubby Allen's XI in 1945, but otherwise returned to Lancashire League cricket for Burnley, Nelson and Colne.

Notes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Birtwell, Alec 1908 births 1974 deaths Cricketers from Burnley English cricketers Buckinghamshire cricketers Lancashire cricketers Royal Navy personnel of World War II