William Shipman (1 March 1886 – 26 August 1943) was an English

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er who played over 100 first-class matches for

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

. A right-arm

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

, he took 366 wickets during his 13-year career, at an average of 27.21. Shipman was a lower-order batsman and scored a total of 2,474 runs, with an average score of 14.30. Shipman played 110 of his 111 matches for Leicestershire between 1908 and 1914, but returned to make a single appearance for the county in the summer of 1921.

Biography

Shipman was born in the village of Ratby,

on 1 March 1886. He was one of three brothers who played cricket for Leicestershire;

Alan Shipman Alan Wilfred Shipman (7 March 1901, Ratby, Leicestershire – 12 December 1979) was a first-class cricketer for Leicestershire between 1920 and 1936. As an all-rounder, he batted right-handed, and was a right-handed fast-bowler between 1920 and ...

played almost 400 matches for the county, while Albert Shipman appeared in seven matches for the second XI during the 1914 season. He died in Ratby on 26 August 1943, at the age of 57.

Cricket career

Shipman began his Leicestershire career in the summer of 1908 and took four wickets on his

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

debut in the drawn match against

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

in July of that year. Throughout the next five seasons, he was an almost ever-present for the county. Shipman attained personal-best figures of 9–83 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 ...

in September 1910, and went on to bowl three

ten-wicket haul In cricket, a ten-wicket haul occurs when a bowler takes ten wickets in either a single innings or across both innings of a two-innings match. The phrase ten wickets in a match is also used. Taking ten wickets in a match at Lord's earns the bowle ...

s in his career. His form for Leicestershire earned him appearances in two

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trial matches in the 1911 season; one for The Rest against the

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Test side, and one for

Gilbert Jessop Gilbert Laird Jessop (19 May 1874 – 11 May 1955) was an English cricket player, often reckoned to have been the fastest run-scorer cricket has ever known. He was Wisden Cricketer of the Year for 1898. Career Jessop was born in Cheltenham, ...

's XI against a team selected by

Plum Warner Sir Pelham Francis Warner, (2 October 1873 – 30 January 1963), affectionately and better known as Plum Warner or "the Grand Old Man" of English cricket, was a Test cricketer and cricket administrator. He was knighted for services to sport ...

. In August 1911, Shipman scored 69 runs, his highest ever in a first-class match, in the County Championship defeat to

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

. He scored half-centuries on six occasions during his career. For the 1915 season, Shipman was the club professional for

Nelson Cricket Club Nelson Cricket Club, based at Seedhill in Nelson, Lancashire, are a cricket club in the Lancashire League. They play at the Seedhill ground in Nelson. Their captain for the 2024 season is Khurrum Nazir and their professional is Ankit Sharma. ...

in the Lancashire League. He scored 417 runs and took 77 wickets during his time at Seedhill. In July 1921, after a seven-year absence from the Leicestershire team, Shipman returned to play his final first-class game for the county, taking six wickets in the win against

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 ...

Aylestone Road Aylestone Road, now also known as the Leicester Electricity Sports Cricket Ground, is a cricket ground in Leicester, England, which was the headquarters of Leicestershire County Cricket Club from 1901 to 1939. Although the playing area is much ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shipman, Bill 1886 births 1943 deaths English cricketers Leicestershire cricketers People from Ratby Cricketers from Leicestershire 20th-century English sportsmen